Why Protecting Non-Human Identities Should Be A Top Cybersecurity Priority

Gregory Webb is the CEO of AppViewX, a cybersecurity and IT infrastructure automation platform enabling digital transformation.

The rise of machine-to-machine communication is vital to drive digital transformation, but it's also making companies increasingly reliant on the non-human identities (NHIs) used by applications, APIs, workloads, bots, IoT devices and service accounts.

This rapid growth of NHIs poses significant security challenges that are proving difficult to manage, especially for large organizations. NHIs often operate without the stringent oversight given to human identities governed by well-established identity and account management (IAM) practices and technology, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation by malicious actors.

Mismanaged NHIs—such as service accounts with excessive privileges or unsecured APIs—can expose sensitive data, leading to unauthorized access, breaches and reputational damage. For example, APIs designed to facilitate seamless integration between systems can inadvertently expose sensitive data if not secured correctly. Similarly, IoT devices, while enhancing operational capabilities, often lack robust security features, making them easy targets for cyberattacks.

Addressing the security of NHIs is not just a technical necessity but a critical component of an organization's overall risk management strategy. To contain the risks associated with NHIs, organizations need to adopt advanced strategies for digital certificate management and least-privilege access enforcement.

The Problems Of Visibility And Decentralization

One of the most pressing challenges in securing NHIs is visibility.

Many organizations lack a real-time inventory. Shadow IT and decentralized identity management exacerbate the problem, making it difficult to enforce least-privilege principles. Excessive privileges granted to NHIs can also broaden attack vectors, increasing the risk of unauthorized access and exploitation.

Another fundamental challenge in securing NHIs is the fragmented nature of their creation and management. Unlike human identities managed by centralized IAM systems, NHIs are often created ad hoc by various teams, leading to inconsistent governance and diluted accountability.

This decentralized approach leads to inconsistencies in NHI governance, making it very difficult to enforce uniform security policies or maintain an accurate, unified inventory. With multiple teams involved, the accountability for securing these identities becomes diluted, increasing the likelihood of misconfigurations and overlooked security gaps.

NHI Security Best Practices

To effectively secure NHIs, organizations need to go beyond traditional security measures. Comprehensive discovery and inventory solutions, for example, can provide real-time visibility into NHIs across on-premises, cloud and hybrid environments. Meanwhile, AI and machine learning can enhance NHI detection and classification by identifying behavioral anomalies that signal threats.

NHIs require robust life cycle management to ensure security and strengthen identity governance from creation to decommissioning. This includes secure creation aligned with CISA Secure by Design principles, incorporating hardening measures such as clear ownership, short-lived access, continuous monitoring and secure offboarding. Automating processes like credential rotation and de-provisioning can also reduce errors and enhance security.

Part of this process includes integrating discovery and inventory tools. Automating identity creation, credential management and life cycle processes reduces manual errors, strengthens security and ensures compliance with policies and regulations by increasing overall governance.

Adopting zero trust principles—including least privilege and just-in-time or short-lived access tokens for NHIs—also aligns with Secure by Design guidelines ensuring that NHIs are continuously validated and properly configured. This approach can significantly reduce the attack surface and minimize the risk of unauthorized access and ensure that NHIs operate within a secure and controlled environment.

Likewise, digital certificates, which serve as trust anchors, are equally critical. Expired or misconfigured certificates can enable attackers to intercept and manipulate communications, leading to data breaches or system compromise.

Finally, NHI security is becoming a board-level concern due to recent cyber incidents. Effectively communicating the risks and mitigation efforts to executive leadership ensures that NHI security receives the necessary resources and strategic focus.

Conclusion

The failures in managing NHIs—whether through excessive privileges, stale permissions, misconfigured digital certificates or insufficient life cycle management—can leave them vulnerable to exploitation. Service accounts, for instance, often retain elevated privileges long after their initial use case, providing an attractive and unmonitored target for attackers.

As NHIs continue to proliferate, the complexity and scale of managing them require a shift in how organizations approach security. By enhancing visibility, enforcing least-privilege access and integrating digital certificate management, organizations can significantly reduce the risks associated with attacks and compromises that target NHI’s growing attack surface.

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