# Vantio > Linux security for AI. Securing AI on Linux. Vantio controls what artificial intelligence can do on the Linux systems you run. ## Who Vantio is Vantio AI, Inc. is a Delaware C corporation, founded in Pittsburgh in 2026. Vantio builds Linux security for artificial intelligence that already has credentials and a network path. ## The problem Artificial intelligence, and the applications around it, run with real credentials and network access. The team may see the program and still not see the destination. A prompt and a written policy do not stop a process that already has access. ## How it works Optics records where AI connects, including the program and the processes it starts, the destination, the time, the size, and a trace id. It shows which paths are under authority and which are still outside it, and it flags the first connection to a destination that is not on the allowlist. Trace context exports into the observability tools a team already uses. See the connection, not the conversation. Prompts and completions are never stored. Optics does not stop the call. Phantom Engine is designed to stop what is not allowed, in the kernel on the Linux systems you run. Allowed destinations pass. There is no proxy to route around. The lab proof does not yet cover child processes. The lab proof is kernel enforcement for enrolled workloads on Ubuntu 24.04 in GCP and AWS, and a clean uninstall. Enterprise is designed so a person approves who may change the rules and AI cannot grant itself permission. Enterprise governance of Phantom Engine is in progress; it has passed only in Vantio's own lab. Use Optics, Phantom Engine, or Enterprise on its own, or run them together. ## Your AI and malicious AI Your AI is the AI you deployed. It can chase a goal, misread an instruction, or coordinate with other AI, and open a path nobody approved. A new application can reach an internal system with credentials it already holds. Nobody reviewed that path, and a prompt will not close it. Optics shows the program, the MCP tool, and the internal destination, and it flags a first connection when that destination is not on the allowlist. Phantom Engine stops internal destinations that program is not allowed to reach, in the kernel. Enterprise is where a person approves who may add an internal destination. Malicious AI is a poisoned model, a compromised package, or an AI-run intrusion that arrives on a server you operate. A coding assistant can open a connection to an outside service while the team sees the assistant and not the destination. Optics records the outside destination, the size, and the time, and it flags a service the first time that destination is not on the allowlist. Phantom Engine stops calls to outside services that are not on the allowed list, and there is no proxy. Enterprise keeps that list with a person. It is the same control either way, because it sits on the Linux system, not inside the AI. Contact Vantio. ## Malicious models, published research In February 2025, ReversingLabs found broken Pickle models on Hugging Face that stopped the scanner early, a technique it named nullifAI. [ReversingLabs, 6 February 2025](https://www.reversinglabs.com/blog/rl-identifies-malware-ml-model-hosted-on-hugging-face) In February 2024, JFrog found malicious models on Hugging Face that opened a reverse shell when they were loaded. [JFrog, 27 February 2024](https://jfrog.com/blog/data-scientists-targeted-by-malicious-hugging-face-ml-models-with-silent-backdoor/) These reports are evidence of the threat. They are not a claim that Vantio stopped them. The ledger is [Evidence](https://vantio.ai/evidence). ## Price Phantom Engine is Contact Vantio. Optics is free and open source: Install the CLI. Vantio Enterprise is Contact Vantio. ## Who it is for Platform and security teams running AI that writes code, MCP tools, and internal applications. ## Primary pages - [Vantio](https://vantio.ai/): AI on your Linux servers, under control. - [Optics](https://vantio.ai/optics): See the AI on your Linux systems. - [Phantom Engine](https://vantio.ai/phantom-engine): Stop what AI isn't allowed to do. - [Enterprise](https://vantio.ai/enterprise): A person holds the rules. Governance of Phantom Engine is in progress. - [Architecture](https://vantio.ai/architecture): The control sits on Linux. - [Solutions](https://vantio.ai/solutions): Your AI and malicious AI, and the places AI runs. - [About](https://vantio.ai/company): Pittsburgh, founded in 2026. - [Evidence](https://vantio.ai/evidence): Published incidents, each figure cited to its source. - [Your AI](https://vantio.ai/solutions/your-ai): When your AI acts on its own. - [Malicious AI](https://vantio.ai/solutions/malicious-ai): When malicious AI gets in. - [Pricing](https://vantio.ai/pricing): Phantom Engine per Linux server, when self-serve billing is open. Enterprise stays Contact Vantio. - [Install Phantom Engine](https://vantio.ai/docs/install/phantom-engine): Self-install on Ubuntu 24.04 x86_64. The sealed bundle has no public download yet. - [Contact](https://vantio.ai/contact): Contact Vantio. - [Documentation](https://vantio.ai/docs): Install Optics and see where a program connects. - [Privacy](https://vantio.ai/privacy): Privacy policy. - [Terms](https://vantio.ai/terms): Terms of use.