Developing frontier AI defenses with F5 and Google Cloud

Matthew EmesGlobal Solutions Architect | F5

We are truly facing new frontiers when it comes to AI development. Every release of the next AI model represents new capabilities to discover previously unknown vulnerabilities in applications, code, and infrastructure configurations that threat actors can exploit.

In fact, for the first time ever, the Google Threat Intelligence Group believes it has seen an instance of attackers using these newest AI models to develop a real-world, zero-day exploit. All attackers need is the latest AI model to begin attacking any organization, and those who aren’t using AI-powered defenses to protect themselves will be at a loss.

Already, about two-thirds of organizations (64%) allow AI to adjust policies or configurations, according to the latest F5 State of Application Strategy report. It’s not surprising that attackers see opportunities in this shift. They are increasingly targeting API connections and applications.

By using frontier AI models, attackers are discovering unknown vulnerabilities and then building exploits rapidly. Many can create new exploits in just hours or minutes. In fact, according to Anthropic, as quoted in SecurityWeek, the Mythos Preview frontier AI model wrote its first working exploit in just under one hour and created eight different exploits in about 12 hours.

CEOs have taken notice. They identify the advancement of adversarial capabilities as one of the most significant security concerns related to generative AI (GenAI), according to the World Economic Forum's Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2026 survey.

Developing AI-powered defenses against previously unknown vulnerabilities

Frontier AI shortens the time between discovery of vulnerabilities and their exploitation. According to Google Threat Intelligence, “Adversaries continue to leverage AI as a high-speed research assistant for attack lifecycle support, while shifting toward agentic workflows to operationalize autonomous attack frameworks.”

Organizations must take a similar approach with their defenses, using AI to constantly evaluate and shore up their own defense in real-time. Google has developed AI-powered security tools like Big Sleep and CodeMender that continuously scan application vulnerabilities and then automatically develop and deploy code-level patches.

The problem many organizations will face is that several security tools operate on known signatures and public CVEs, yet frontier AI is discovering new vulnerabilities and being used to chain together exploit steps that may not have a signature yet.

To further protect Google Cloud environments from frontier AI models discovering previously unknown vulnerabilities and generating novel attacks, F5 has converged web application firewall (WAF), API security, bot management, and DDoS mitigation into integrated Web App and API Protection (WAAP) solutions with enhanced AI-powered capabilities to catch attack patterns before signatures exist to stop them.

F5 WAF for Distributed Cloud combines signature and robust behavior-based protection for application workloads running in Google Cloud. Using AI, every application request is numerically risk scored using multiple signals to detect and block novel exploit patterns before signatures exist to catch them.

Together, F5 and Google Cloud enable enterprises to build with AI, deploy and scale applications fast, and analyze and secure their data while protecting themselves from frontier AI threats.

Virtual patching to AI-written code patches

Because frontier AI models excel at probing an organization’s defenses and discovering previously unknown vulnerabilities, organizations must be able to immediately close any security gaps discovered while code-level patches are developed, tested, and then deployed. This is where the combination of F5 with Google Cloud provides a great solution.

Using F5 WAF for BIG-IP with F5 Distributed Cloud Web Application Scanning in your Google Cloud environment keeps your applications protected at runtime by automatically determining and deploying virtual patches at the application delivery layer. Once Distributed Cloud Web App Scanning identifies a high-risk issue within an application’s code, BIG-IP Advanced WAF can target and neutralize the exploit behavior by blocking malicious signatures, hardening specific URLs or parameters, tightening input validation to stop payload delivery, and applying anomaly and behavioral patterns to catch variations of the attack.

With the application temporarily protected, Google Cloud can employ AI-driven tools like CodeMender to proactively rewrite and secure existing code to eliminate the newly identified vulnerability.

Using the F5 solutions that are available now helps organizations immediately shore up newly discovered vulnerabilities while patching and remediation teams develop, test, and deploy an official fix. Though CodeMender is available only as a Public Preview, it shows how AI-powered code-level remediation will accelerate the process of shortening the time the virtual patch needs to be in place.

Defending APIs from exploit, even in air-gapped environments

Organizations in highly regulated industries such as government, defense, financial services, healthcare, and critical infrastructure operate in Google Cloud environments where security tools that require outside connection may not be an option. However, even in these secure environments, both internal and public APIs are being used to connect AI, applications, and systems. But the more API connections, the higher the risk. Insiders can accidentally misuse or intentionally abuse APIs to exfiltrate data, jailbreak AI models, and leak or steal models and other intellectual property. A single AI application can have upwards of hundreds of internal API endpoints. However, these environments have had limited access to the API discovery and security they need.

F5 API Security Local Edition is lightweight, deployable software that integrates with F5 BIG-IP to deliver API security for highly regulated Google Cloud environments. This new deployable software solution helps organizations discover APIs and analyze API activity within their secure Google Cloud environments without relying on external connectivity or non-regulated cloud-based services.

This approach offers comprehensive API protections in secure environments through:

• API discovery and visibility to automatically identify API endpoints, map schemas, and surface security risks without outside connectivity.
• Dynamic risk scoring and blocking to evaluate API risks and identify potential threats in real time, enabling the discovery, documentation, and monitoring of APIs effectively.
• Seamless integration with F5 WAF for BIG-IP to provide the enforcement point for rapid blocking of malicious or unknown APIs, ensuring unmatched API protection in your highly regulated Google Cloud environments.
• Secure deployment and management to deliver local analysis and visualizations via a dedicated console operated entirely within an organization’s restricted Google Cloud infrastructure.

Partnering to protect against frontier AI exploits with AI

The constant evolution of AI models will always create a new security threat, but the way forward is to protect against frontier AI threats by leveraging the power of AI. Together, our combined, comprehensive solutions and services ensure that organizations can build with the cloud platform designed for developers and AI, while protecting themselves from the constantly emerging threats generated by the cutting edge of AI development.

Learn more about F5 solutions for Google Cloud.

About the Author

Matthew EmesGlobal Solutions Architect | F5

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