Summary:
Securing non-human identities (NHIs), such as bots, API keys, service accounts, and OAuth tokens, is becoming increasingly critical in today’s digital landscape. These NHIs now significantly outnumber human identities, sometimes by a ratio of 20 to 1, and are essential for automating tasks, ensuring communication between systems, and enhancing overall operational efficiency. However, their volume and often overlooked nature make them a substantial security risk.
NHIs often carry high levels of access and can interact with sensitive systems without the oversight typical for human users. This makes them prime targets for attackers, who can exploit them to move laterally through systems, accessing sensitive data or even compromising entire environments. One challenge organizations face is the lack of visibility into these identities, as many still rely on tools designed for human identity management, which are insufficient for monitoring and securing NHIs.
To address these risks, experts recommend strategies like enhancing visibility into NHIs, automating lifecycle management (provisioning, credential rotation, deprovisioning), and implementing tailored governance tools that handle NHI-specific challenges. Prioritizing NHI security is essential to prevent breaches and reduce the attack surface(Help Net Security)(Help Net Security)(Silverfort).
Content:
In the age of automation, artificial intelligence (AI), and cloud computing, organizations increasingly rely on non-human identities (NHIs)—such as API keys, service accounts, bots, and OAuth tokens—to power digital workflows. These NHIs now outnumber human identities in many organizations, and while they drive efficiency, they also present unique security risks. With NHIs playing pivotal roles in mission-critical systems, securing them is no longer optional. The fragmented approach many organizations take to securing NHIs is proving inadequate, creating vulnerabilities that can be easily exploited by attackers.
The Growing Role of Non-Human Identities
NHIs refer to digital credentials that allow systems, devices, and applications to authenticate and communicate with one another. Unlike human identities, these entities perform automated tasks across systems without direct oversight. They are integral to continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, service-to-service communications in microservices architectures, and API interactions that connect cloud-based services like Salesforce and Stripe(Help Net Security)(Aembit).
With the rise of AI, machine learning models, and increased automation, NHIs are growing exponentially in number, sometimes outnumbering human identities by as much as 20 to 1. This makes managing and securing them more complex, requiring specialized security approaches(Aembit).
Why NHIs Are a Security Concern
Despite their importance, NHIs remain under the radar for many security teams. A recent survey revealed that less than 15% of organizations feel confident in their ability to prevent attacks targeting NHIs(Help Net Security). One major issue is that NHIs often have privileged access to sensitive data, enabling attackers to move laterally within systems once they gain control of one NHI. These identities may persist long after their initial purpose has expired, especially if they’re tied to automated tasks that no longer have active human oversight.
Another challenge is the lack of appropriate security tooling. Many companies rely on traditional Identity and Access Management (IAM) systems designed for humans, which often fall short in monitoring and securing the behavior of NHIs. These tools cannot address the specific risks NHIs pose, such as over-provisioned access and the inability to apply multi-factor authentication (MFA), which is a key security measure for human identities but not typically used for non-human ones(Help Net Security)(Silverfort).
Key Security Challenges Posed by NHIs
One of the biggest security gaps related to NHIs is their visibility. Most organizations lack full awareness of all their non-human identities, particularly service accounts, which often become orphaned after the employee who created them leaves the company(Help Net Security). Without clear oversight, these orphaned accounts retain access to systems, providing attackers with an easy entry point.
Furthermore, the privileges granted to NHIs are often too broad. Ideally, NHIs should operate under the principle of least privilege—only having the permissions necessary to perform specific tasks. However, in practice, many NHIs are over-provisioned, increasing the potential attack surface(Silverfort).
Strategies to Secure Non-Human Identities
To mitigate the risks posed by NHIs, organizations need to adopt tailored security strategies that account for the unique characteristics of these digital entities. Here are a few best practices:
- Full NHI Discovery and Visibility: Organizations must begin by identifying all the NHIs in their environment, tracking what systems they interact with, and understanding their privileges. Automating the discovery process can help continuously monitor for new NHIs and ensure they remain under security’s watchful eye(Help Net Security)(Help Net Security).
- Lifecycle Management: Effective management of NHIs requires processes for provisioning, rotating credentials, and deprovisioning when they are no longer needed. Automating this lifecycle can prevent credentials from being misused long after they’ve expired(Aembit).
- Implementing Zero Trust for NHIs: Just like human identities, NHIs should be governed by Zero Trust principles, where no identity—whether human or non-human—is trusted by default. This ensures that even automated processes must authenticate securely before being granted access(Help Net Security)(Silverfort).
- Centralized and Unified Governance: Having a unified security platform that can manage both human and non-human identities is crucial. This allows organizations to apply consistent security policies and monitor all identities within their systems from a single point of control(Silverfort).
Looking Forward: The Future of NHI Security
As organizations continue to rely on NHIs to support automation and cloud-based operations, the need for robust, specialized security strategies will only grow. Security teams must acknowledge the scale and importance of these digital entities and prioritize their protection. By investing in NHI-specific tools and adopting automated security processes, businesses can significantly reduce their attack surface and safeguard their critical infrastructure.
In an era where digital interactions are dominated by non-human actors, securing NHIs is not just a technical challenge—it’s a necessity for any organization aiming to stay secure and resilient in an increasingly automated world.