Launch HN: MindFort (YC X25) – AI agents for continuous pentesting
May 28, 2025 - news.ycombinator.com
MindFort, founded by Brandon, Sam, and Akul, is developing autonomous AI agents designed to continuously identify, validate, and patch security vulnerabilities in web applications, functioning as a 24/7 AI red team. Traditional security testing methods, such as scanners and manual penetration testing, are plagued by high false positive rates and inefficiencies, especially as code is being shipped faster with AI assistance. MindFort's AI agents aim to address these challenges by performing reconnaissance, exploiting vulnerabilities, and suggesting patches, thereby reducing false positives through runtime validation. The agents use multiple foundational models to understand the attack surface, validate potential vulnerabilities in isolated environments, and generate contextual patches for codebases.
The key differentiators of MindFort's approach include validation through exploitation, codebase integration for identifying complex logic bugs, continuous operation for ongoing testing, and the discovery of multi-step attack chains. Currently in early access, MindFort is collaborating with initial partners to enhance the platform, with their agents already identifying vulnerabilities missed by other tools and performing well on penetration testing benchmarks.
Key takeaways:
MindFort is developing autonomous AI agents to continuously find, validate, and patch security vulnerabilities in web applications, functioning as a 24/7 AI red team.
The AI agents reduce false positives by validating exploits in runtime environments before reporting them, unlike traditional scanners.
The agents integrate with codebases to understand structure, find complex logic bugs, and suggest appropriate fixes, operating continuously as code evolves.
MindFort's approach includes validation through exploitation, codebase integration, continuous operation, and attack chain discovery, setting it apart from existing tools.
