Scan Modalities
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Prisma AIRS

Scan Modalities

Table of Contents

Scan Modalities

Learn how Prisma AIRS AI Red Teaming uses scan modalities to deliver attacks to AI targets across different input types.
Where Can I Use This?What Do I Need?
  • Prisma AIRS (AI Red Teaming)
  • Prisma AIRS AI Red Teaming Deployment Profile
  • Application or Agent target with Text, or Files, or Images, or Audio selected under Supported Target Modality
A modality defines the input format through which an AI target receives data. AI systems can be built to process one or more modalities, such as text, files (documents), audio, and images. In AI Red Teaming, the scan modality determines how attacks are packaged and delivered to a target during a scan.
AI Red Teaming supports the following scan modalities:
Supported ModalityDescriptionSupported FormatsTarget Requirement
TextAttacks delivered as plain-text prompts to all targetsto the target.NAText selected under Supported Target Modality on the target.
FileAttacks embedded in PDF or Markdown documents, uploaded alongside a carrier text prompt.PDF, Markdown (.md)Files selected under Supported Target Modality on the target.
ImageAttacks delivered as PNG images from the static attack library, such as harmful requests rendered as text within an image, sent alongside a carrier text prompt.PNG (.png)Images selected under Supported Target Modality on the target.
AudioAdversarial audio clips (.mp3, .wav) delivered to voice-enabled AI targets, or text prompts designed to elicit audio responses from speech-to-speech models.MP3 (.mp3), WAV (.wav)Audio selected under Supported Target Modality on the target.
For a comparison of which modalities each connection method supports, see Connection Methods.

Text Modality

Select Text under Supported Target Modality when adding the target to enable text-based attacks.

File Modality

File-based attacks deliver PDF or Markdown (.md) documents with malicious prompts alongside a carrier text prompt. AI Red Teaming embeds adversarial instructions in the document's text layer to test whether the target processes and acts on content extracted from uploaded files.
AI systems that ingest user-uploaded files present an attack surface that text-only scans cannot reach. An attacker can embed prompt injection instructions, system prompt extraction commands, or data exfiltration payloads in the text layer of a document. When the target processes the file, it may execute the embedded instructions and expose vulnerabilities that are not detectable through text-based testing alone.
Select Files under Supported Target Modality on the target to add file-based attacks on top of your existing text coverage to enable file-based attacks alongside text attacks. You must select Text before you can enable Files. File attacks are relevant for AI systems that accept and process uploaded documents. Common use cases include RAG applications that ingest user-uploaded files, document summarizers that process contracts or legal documents, and agents that handle file attachments such as invoices or reports.
File-based attacks apply to AI systems that accept and process uploaded documents as part of their core function. Common use cases include retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) applications that ingest user-uploaded files, document summarizers that process contracts or legal documents, and agents that handle file attachments such as invoices or reports. For these targets, file-based attacks test whether malicious content embedded in an uploaded document can manipulate the system's behavior.

Image Modality

Image-based attacks deliver PNG images that contain malicious prompts alongside a carrier text prompt. AI Red Teaming sends these attacks to vision-capable targets to test whether the target processes and acts on harmful content that is embedded in an image.
AI systems that accept image inputs present an attack surface that text-only scans cannot reach. Content that a target correctly refuses when it is sent as text can succeed when the same request is delivered as an image. Input filters that inspect only text might also not detect harmful content embedded in an image. Image-based attacks help you identify these gaps in your target's safety guardrails and in any input filters placed in front of it.
Select Images under Supported Target Modality on the target to enable image-based attacks alongside text attacks. You must select Text before you can enable Images. Image attacks are relevant for AI systems that accept image uploads, such as customer support chatbots that accept screenshots and multimodal models that process images together with text.

Audio Modality

Audio modality support enables red teaming of voice-enabled AI agents and speech-to-speech models that cannot be reached by text-only scans. Select Audio under Supported Target Modality on the target to enable audio-based attacks.
Audio modality attacks address two distinct risk surfaces. On the input side, adversarial audio clips can carry inaudible commands layered over noise or music, or use specific tones and accents to bypass identity controls. On the output side, generated audio may contain toxic speech, voice-cloning artifacts, or social-engineering content that text-based judges cannot evaluate. The Multi-Modal Audio Safety Judge handles output evaluation: for audio output, it transcribes the response using automatic speech recognition (ASR) before applying safety checks; for text output from an audio-input scan, it applies the existing text safety judges.