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The security paradox of local LLMs

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146 points jakozaur | 4 comments | 22 Oct 25 12:48 UTC | HN request time: 0.281s | source
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xcf_seetan ◴[22 Oct 25 15:29 UTC] No.45670626[source]▶
>attackers can exploit local LLMs

I thought that local LLMs means they run on local computers, without being exposed to the internet.

If an attacker can exploit a local LLM, means it already compromised you system and there are better things they can do than trick the LLM to get what they can get directly.

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simonw ◴[22 Oct 25 15:31 UTC] No.45670663[source]▶
Local LLMs may not be exposed to the internet, but if you want them to do something useful you're likely going to hook them up to an internet-accessing harness such as OpenCode or Claude Code or Codex CLI.
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Der_Einzige ◴[22 Oct 25 15:38 UTC] No.45670770[source]▶
No, I'm not going to do those things. I find extreme utility in applications that I can do with an LLM in an air-gapped environment.

I will fight and die on the hill that "LLMs don't need the internet to be useful"

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furyofantares ◴[22 Oct 25 15:51 UTC] No.45670993[source]▶
Is anyone fighting you on that hill?

Someone who finds it useful to have a local llm ingest internet content is not contrary to you finding uses that don't.

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1. kgwgk ◴[22 Oct 25 16:21 UTC] No.45671484[source]▶
> Local LLMs may not be exposed to the internet, but if you want them to do something useful you're likely going to hook them up to an internet-accessing harness such as OpenCode or Claude Code or Codex CLI.

is not "someone finding useful to have a local llm ingest internet content" - it was someone suggesting that nothing useful can be done without internet access.

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2. simonw ◴[22 Oct 25 16:23 UTC] No.45671504[source]▶
Yeah, I retracted my statement that they can't do anything useful without the internet here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45670828
3. furyofantares ◴[22 Oct 25 16:35 UTC] No.45671668[source]▶
I guess I don't read that how you do. It says you're likely to do that, which I take to mean that's a majority use case, not that it's the only use case.
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4. kgwgk ◴[22 Oct 25 16:40 UTC] No.45671720[source]▶
It also said "but" and "if you want them to do something useful" which made the "likely" sound much less innocent.