Non-human identities (NHIs) are vital in modern IT environments, but managing them poses unique cybersecurity challenges. This article dives into what NHIs are, why they are essential, and the best practices for securing them.

Key Takeaways

Non-human identities (NHIs) play a crucial role in IT environments but require effective management to mitigate cybersecurity risks associated with their often over-privileged nature.
Organizations often neglect NHIs like API keys, OAuth tokens, and service accounts, leading to significant vulnerabilities: proper management and visibility are essential in securing identities.
Implementing best practices such as least privilege access, continuous monitoring, and centralized governance of NHIs can enhance security and ensure compliance.

Defining Non-Human Identities

Non-human identities (NHIs) are digital entities that operate autonomously. Unlike human identities, which are tied to individual users, NHIs are designed to execute specific tasks such as facilitating machine-to-machine interactions. These machine identities are critical for the seamless functioning of modern IT ecosystems, enabling automation and efficiency at an unprecedented scale.

However, the management of NHIs poses significant cybersecurity challenges. NHIs often lack the visibility and monitoring that human identities receive, making them potential points of vulnerability if not governed properly. Proper non-human identity management prevents unauthorized access and secures processes, highlighting the need for human intervention.

The Importance of Non-Human Identity Management

Managing non-human identities is vital for maintaining secure communications and preventing unauthorized access within automated systems. Despite their importance, NHIs are often overlooked, creating significant security risks. Many organizations focus their security measures primarily on human users’ access, neglecting NHIs like API keys OAuth tokens and service accounts. This oversight can lead to vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit.

The growing number of NHIs complicates compliance and risk management, making organizations more susceptible to unauthorized access. Without sufficient visibility and monitoring, these identities can become hidden entry points for attackers. Additionally, ineffective lifecycle management of NHIs can result in compliance issues and potential penalties for organizations. Implementing proper management tools is crucial for understanding the NHI landscape and enhancing security measures.

One notable example of the risks posed by inadequate NHI management is the Cloudflare breach, which followed the compromise of Okta's support system. Attackers exploited a compromised service account, a type of non-human identity, to gain unauthorized access to Cloudflare’s Atlassian suite, illustrating how vulnerabilities in NHIs can lead to significant security incidents. Learn more about this breach here.

Types of Non-Human Identities in SaaS

Non-human identities come in various forms, each serving a specific purpose within automated systems. API keys, OAuth tokens, and service accounts are common types of NHIs processing interactions within and between SaaS applications. These elements are widely used for authentication and access control. These identities facilitate automated access and interactions between cloud resources, enabling seamless operations in modern IT environments. Understanding the different types of NHIs is essential for implementing effective security measures and managing their associated risks.

API Keys
API keys are authentication mechanisms used to facilitate secure interactions between applications in SaaS environments. They enable services to communicate securely, ensuring that only authorized applications can access specific resources, including access keys. However, API keys are often hardcoded or not properly secured, leading to potential security threats.

Managing API keys effectively prevents unauthorized access and secures SaaS applications and SaaS data. This includes regularly rotating keys, monitoring their usage, implementing strict access controls, as well as managing user lifecycle and access controls to ensure that only authorized entities can use them.

OAuth Tokens
OAuth tokens are another form of non-human identity used to grant non-human access to resources in SaaS applications. These tokens can remain accessible indefinitely if they lack usage restrictions, posing significant security risks. Additionally, the lack of control over token storage makes it difficult to detect misuse.
Proper management of OAuth tokens prevents severe security breaches in SaaS environments. This involves implementing strict usage restrictions, regularly monitoring token activity, revoking inactive tokens and ensuring proper storage practices to minimize the risk of unauthorized access.

Service Accounts
‍Service accounts are automated identities that authenticate applications and services in SaaS environments. These accounts are used by applications to interact with other systems for tasks like data backups and monitoring. However, a lack of visibility into service account credentials can lead to increased risk of misuse and ineffective monitoring.

Various cloud environments offer service accounts for interactions with APIs, which are crucial to perform tasks related to automated processes. Governance and visibility of service accounts are vital to preventing security vulnerabilities and maintaining the integrity of automated processes in cloud services.

Emerging NHIs: AI Agents
‍AI agents represent an emerging form of non-human identities (NHIs) in SaaS environments, acting autonomously to perform complex tasks such as data analysis, decision-making, and workflow automation. These digital entities operate without direct human oversight, interacting with various cloud services and applications to streamline business processes. As agentic AI increasingly integrates into SaaS platforms, these AI agents require secure authentication and authorization mechanisms to ensure they access only the resources necessary for their functions, aligning with the principle of least privilege.

Given their autonomous nature and elevated privileges, AI agents pose unique security challenges within SaaS ecosystems. Without proper security controls and continuous monitoring, these agents can become attractive targets for attackers seeking to gain unauthorized access to sensitive information or critical systems. Implementing strict access controls, robust identity lifecycle management, and integrating AI agents into existing security frameworks are essential steps to mitigate risks and maintain a secure SaaS environment while leveraging the benefits of AI-driven automation.

Key Challenges with Non-Human Identities

Managing non-human identities comes with several challenges that organizations must address to maintain security. The high volumes of NHIs can overwhelm security teams, leading to increased risks of unauthorized access.

A significant challenge in securing non-human identities is the inability to enforce strong authentication methods commonly used for human identities, such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) and biometric verification. Since NHIs operate autonomously without human interaction, they cannot respond to MFA prompts or biometric scans. This limitation often results in reliance on static credentials like API keys or tokens, which can be vulnerable to theft or misuse. Consequently, organizations must implement alternative security protocols tailored to NHIs, such as strict access management, regular credential rotation, and continuous monitoring, to compensate for the lack of traditional strong authentication mechanisms.

Visibility and Monitoring Issues

Non-human identities present significant risks due to their lack of visibility, complicating management and creating potential NHI security gaps. The high activity levels of NHIs further complicate monitoring, obscuring the distinction between legitimate actions and potential threats.

A centralized inventory for NHIs enhances monitoring and risk management. Continuous monitoring capabilities can detect unusual activities and ensure control over access permissions, enhancing overall security.

Managing Excessive Permissions

Over-permissiveness in non-human identities can lead to significant security vulnerabilities, allowing unauthorized access sensitive data and manipulation of sensitive data. Mismanagement of service accounts and API keys can permit privilege escalation, enabling attackers to exploit excess permissions and compromise systems.

Applying least privilege access and consistent access policies minimizes excessive permissions and enhances security. This approach ensures that NHIs have only the permissions necessary for their functions, managing access and reducing the risk of unauthorized access through role based access control.

Lifecycle Management Challenges

Automated certificate lifecycle management of non-human identities enhances security by ensuring proper governance and compliance throughout their operational lifespan in the software development lifecycle. Lifecycle management covers all stages from creation to retirement, maintaining digital ecosystem integrity and enabling proactive revocation of compromised identities.

Orphaned NHIs can pose significant security threats by retaining access to sensitive systems even after they are no longer needed. Centralizing identity lifecycle management helps track and control NHIs, simplifying auditing and ensuring consistent policy enforcement.

Continuous Monitoring and Threat Detection

Continuous monitoring solutions for NHIs can detect unusual activities, allowing for swift remediation of potential security threats. Behavioral baselines for NHIs help in swiftly identifying and addressing unauthorized access.

Leveraging Advanced Tools for Non-Human Identity Security

With the rise of cloud and SaaS, the prevalence of non-human identities is rapidly increasing. NHIs will only continue to increase as agentic AI gets adopted in the enterprise. Leveraging advanced SaaS Security Posture management tooling can improve overall security management and reduce risks associated with NHIs.

Summary

Effective management of non-human identities is essential for maintaining a secure digital infrastructure. By understanding the different types of NHIs and the unique challenges they present, organizations can implement robust security measures to protect their automated processes. Key strategies include enhancing visibility and monitoring, implementing least privilege access controls, and ensuring comprehensive lifecycle management. By prioritizing non-human identity management, organizations can navigate the complexities of the digital landscape and safeguard their critical resources.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are non-human identities?
Non-human identities (NHIs) are autonomous digital entities that function independently in automated systems, fulfilling roles such as software deployment and workload management without being linked to individual users. They serve a crucial purpose in enhancing operational efficiency.

Why is it important to manage non-human identities?
Managing non-human identities is essential for securing communications and preventing unauthorized access in automated systems, as improper management can expose vulnerabilities for potential attacks. Therefore, safeguarding these identities is critical to maintaining overall system security.

What are some common types of non-human identities?
Common types of non-human identities (NHIs) include API keys, OAuth tokens, and service accounts, which are essential for enabling automated access and interactions with cloud resources. These identities play a critical role in maintaining security and efficiency in automated processes.

What are the key challenges associated with non-human identities?
The key challenges associated with non-human identities include visibility and monitoring issues, managing excessive permissions, and lifecycle management difficulties. Addressing these challenges is crucial to prevent security vulnerabilities.

What are some best practices for securing non-human identities?
To effectively secure non-human identities, it is crucial to implement least privilege access controls, ensure comprehensive secrets visibility, and maintain continuous monitoring and threat detection.

Summary and Next Steps for Securing Non-Human Identities

Effective management of non-human identities is essential for maintaining a secure and resilient digital infrastructure. By understanding the different types of NHIs and the unique challenges they present, organizations can implement robust security strategies to protect their automated processes and critical resources. Key approaches include enhancing visibility and monitoring, enforcing least privilege access controls, and ensuring comprehensive identity lifecycle management.

As the number and complexity of non-human identities continue to grow, especially with the rise of agentic AI and cloud adoption, it is more important than ever to adopt advanced tools and security policies tailored to these digital entities. Proper non-human identity management reduces security gaps, limits the risk of unauthorized access, and helps prevent costly security breaches.

Ready to strengthen your organization's security posture and gain full control over both human and non-human identities? Book a demo today to learn how Valence empowers security teams with comprehensive visibility, centralized governance, and automated protection for all your identities. Discover how Valence’s innovative platform can help you mitigate risks, enforce strict access controls, and safeguard your critical systems in an increasingly automated world.

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What are Non-Human Identities?