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§ I · Domain ACT · Control 7 of 9
Control
ACT-07
Edition
v.1.3
Status
Public review

ACT · Action & Tool Use Controls · Critical

ACT-07Kill switch

A kill switch allows authorized operators to immediately suspend any agent in production. Propagation behavior across multi-agent chains is governed by MAS-08.

Emergency suspend can be invoked by the risk owner or authorized operator and takes effect within a documented latency. The kill switch is the last line of defense: when all other controls have failed, this is what prevents ongoing harm. Propagation behavior across multi-agent chains is governed by MAS-08. The kill switch is tested at a documented cadence.

(Critical)A Critical failure precludes HI-AAF Certification regardless of the maturity level achieved on any other control.

Table ACT-07.1 · Maturity criteria · v.1.3

L1 to L5 · the lowest level in scope caps the agent
L1Ad hoc

Controls exist informally; documentation is incomplete; no consistent review.

L2Documented

Controls are written down; ownership is assigned; review cadence is defined.

L3Operated

Controls are followed in practice; evidence is collected; deviations are tracked.

Kill switch exists and is operational for all production agents; the switch has been tested in a drill or live incident within the documented cadence; documented latency from invocation to full suspension is measured and within SLA.

L4Measured

Control effectiveness is measured against documented thresholds; trends are reported.

L5Continuously Improved

Controls evolve based on incident learning; maturity gains are evidenced over time.

The v1.3 edition publishes a control-specific criterion at L3 (Operated). The other levels apply the general ladder to this control; see the maturity ladder.

Evidence an assessor asks for

  1. E.1

    Kill switch exists and is operational for all production agents.

  2. E.2

    The switch has been tested in a drill or live incident within the documented cadence.

  3. E.3

    Documented latency from invocation to full suspension is measured and within SLA.

Table ACT-07.2 · Framework mappings

5 of 7 frameworks carry a control-level reference
NIST AI RMFMANAGE 4.2NIST AI Risk Management Framework 1.0
ISO/IEC 42001·ISO/IEC 42001:2023 · Artificial intelligence management system
OWASP LLM Top 10·OWASP Top 10 for Large Language Model Applications
SOC 2 (TSC)CC7.4, A1.2AICPA Trust Services Criteria for SOC 2 Type II
EU AI ActArt. 14(4), Art. 15(3)EU AI Act · Regulation (EU) 2024/1689
MITRE ATLASImpactMITRE ATLAS · Adversarial Threat Landscape for AI Systems
SingaporeMAIGF Operations Management, AI Verify Human Agency & OversightSingapore Model AI Governance Framework / AI Verify / PDPA

Mappings are directional: meeting this control evidences but does not by itself satisfy the external requirement. A middle dot means no control-level reference is published at this edition; see the crosswalk.

Related controls and terms

Cite this control

Human Intelligence. HI-AAF v1.3, ACT-07 Kill switch. Public review edition, July 2026. https://humanintel.net/standard/act/act-07

Edition v.1.3 · July 2026 · Public review · Markdown · PDF

https://humanintel.net/standard/act/act-07

Notice

HI-AAF v1.3 is an independent framework published by Human Intelligence. It is not affiliated with NIST, ISO, AICPA, or any government or accreditation body. The framework is offered openly for review during the current draft cycle.