--- title: OpenClaw: What is it and can you use it safely? | daily.dev description: OpenClaw is an open-source autonomous AI agent launched in November 2025 that runs locally, managing tasks, browsing the web, reading/writing files, and... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/openclaw-what-is-it-and-can-you-use-it-safely--yrjqqjcf4 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: OpenClaw: What is it and can you use it safely? | daily.dev og:description: OpenClaw is an open-source autonomous AI agent launched in November 2025 that runs locally, managing tasks, browsing the web, reading/writing files, and... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/openclaw-what-is-it-and-can-you-use-it-safely--yrjqqjcf4 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/yrjQqjcf4.png og:image:alt: OpenClaw: What is it and can you use it safely? og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # OpenClaw: What is it and can you use it safely? **[Security Boulevard](https://daily.dev/sources/securityboulevard)** · 4 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary OpenClaw is an open-source autonomous AI agent launched in November 2025 that runs locally, managing tasks, browsing the web, reading/writing files, and integrating with apps like WhatsApp and Discord. Originally named ClawdBot, it was renamed after trademark issues with Anthropic, which triggered impersonation campaigns. Security concerns are mounting: infostealers have been observed stealing complete OpenClaw configurations, Dutch data protection authorities have warned against deploying it on sensitive systems, and a Meta AI safety employee reported it deleted a large portion of her inbox. Microsoft published a conservative safety baseline recommending sandboxed VMs, least-privilege service identities, short token lifetimes, skill provenance validation, agent memory auditing, and a credential-rotation playbook for anyone running self-hosted agents with broad access. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [OpenClaw is a Security Nightmare Dressed Up as a Daydream](https://daily.dev/posts/openclaw-is-a-security-nightmare-dressed-up-as-a-daydream-vfmeybede) · Hacker News · 5 upvotes · 1 comments - [Security professionals express concern over OpenClaw](https://daily.dev/posts/security-professionals-express-concern-over-openclaw-mk7zd1kcd) · SD Times · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#ai-agents](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-agents), [#cyber](https://daily.dev/tags/cyber), [#data-privacy](https://daily.dev/tags/data-privacy), [#malware](https://daily.dev/tags/malware), [#prompt-injection](https://daily.dev/tags/prompt-injection) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/openclaw-what-is-it-and-can-you-use-it-safely--yrjqqjcf4) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"OpenClaw: What is it and can you use it safely?","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/openclaw-what-is-it-and-can-you-use-it-safely--yrjqqjcf4","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/openclaw-what-is-it-and-can-you-use-it-safely--yrjqqjcf4"},"datePublished":"2026-02-23T21:42:04.687Z","dateModified":"2026-03-15T05:51:53.325Z","description":"OpenClaw is an open-source autonomous AI agent launched in November 2025 that runs locally, managing tasks, browsing the web, reading/writing files, and...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/8fe9eeb967de205fd6743e2535f16178?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/8fe9eeb967de205fd6743e2535f16178?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"Security Boulevard","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Security Boulevard","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/3613c832180040de8d85bb29f74395be","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/securityboulevard"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/openclaw-what-is-it-and-can-you-use-it-safely--yrjqqjcf4","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"ai-agents,cyber,data-privacy,malware,prompt-injection","timeRequired":"PT4M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Security Boulevard","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/securityboulevard"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"OpenClaw: What is it and can you use it safely?"}]} ```