What is a Non-Human Identity? Challenges & Best Practices

What are Non-Human Identities?

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Non-human identities refer to digital credentials assigned to machines, applications, devices, and automated processes to assist with authentication, authorization, and communication within IT environments. Unlike human identities, which represent individual users, non-human identities allow for smooth machine-to-machine interactions, which are essential in modern organizations. These include API keys, service accounts, OAuth tokens, and cryptographic secrets.

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As automation and cloud-native technologies evolve, non-human identities have become necessary. However, unlike human identities, these digital entities operate under fundamentally different ownership structures, security protocols, and management practices. Understanding these differences is important for organizations aiming to balance efficiency with security.

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Non-Human Identities vs Human Identities

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Non-human identities differ significantly from human identities in ownership, behavior, and security needs. The table below highlights these key differences to emphasize their unique challenges.

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Aspect	Human Identities	Non-Human Identities
Ownership	Tied to individual users who directly interact with systems and applications.	Owned by systems, applications, or devices, often operating autonomously without direct human involvement.
Authentication	Uses passwords, biometrics, and strong security measures like multi-factor authentication (MFA).	Relies on static credentials such as API keys, certificates, and tokens, lacking dynamic authentication options.
Lifecycle Management	Structured lifecycle with onboarding, periodic reviews, and deactivation upon role changes.	Often lacks proper lifecycle management, leading to outdated or excessive permissions that persist unnecessarily.
Volume	Fewer in number, typically proportional to the workforce.	Vastly outnumber human identities, sometimes by a ratio of 50 to 1, significantly increasing management complexity.
Behavior	Predictable activity patterns based on user roles and responsibilities.	Executes high-speed, repetitive tasks like automating workflows or managing cloud resources, making anomalies harder to detect.
Access Control	Governed by role-based access control (RBAC) and least privilege principles.	Often overly permissive, increasing the likelihood of attackers using them to access sensitive data.
Visibility	Regularly monitored through activity logs and compliance policies.	Frequently lacks centralized visibility, creating blind spots in security.
Rate of Change	Changes occur during job transitions or organizational restructuring.	Created and terminated rapidly due to dynamic cloud environments, microservices, and automation workflows.
Security Risks	Subject to phishing and credential theft.	Prone to exploitation through software supply chain attacks, compromised secrets, and insufficient governance.
Governance Complexity	Managed with clear policies and tools to enforce compliance.	Difficult to govern due to their diverse forms, ownership structures, and interactions across multiple systems.
Authentication Diversity	Relies on standard methods like passwords or MFA.	Uses varied mechanisms, including API keys, tokens, and certificates, each requiring specific management and protection.
Dependency on Secrets	Minimal reliance on static secrets for authentication.	Heavily depends on secrets like API keys, cryptographic keys, and tokens, often hard-coded into scripts or applications, increasing the risk of exposure.

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Types of Non-Human Identities

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Non-human identities take many forms, each playing an integral role in automating processes, managing systems, and facilitating communication in IT environments. Below are the most common types.

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1. API Keys

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API keys are authentication tokens used to grant secure access to APIs, enabling seamless communication between different software systems. They allow applications to interact programmatically, exchanging data or triggering actions. However, their static nature makes them vulnerable to theft or misuse, highlighting the need for proper lifecycle management and rotation.

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2. Cloud Services

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Cloud platforms like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud create non-human identities to manage resources, automate deployments, and monitor activities. These identities often use service accounts or IAM roles to interact with virtual machines, storage systems, and other services. Misconfigured permissions can lead to unauthorized access and security risks.

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3. Containers and Images

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Non-human identities manage container deployments, scaling, and communication between microservices in containerized environments like Kubernetes. They use credentials such as tokens to access registries, deploy containers, or authenticate with external systems. Securing these identities is critical to preventing unauthorized modifications or breaches.

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4. DevOps Tools

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DevOps tools like Jenkins, Ansible, and GitLab rely on machine identities to automate CI/CD pipelines, execute scripts, and deploy applications. These tools use API keys and other secrets to access repositories, build systems, and manage environments, making their protection necessary for avoiding supply chain risks.

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5. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Bots

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RPA bots mimic human actions to automate repetitive tasks such as data entry or report generation. These bots are assigned non-human identities to securely access systems, databases, and applications. They can introduce significant security gaps without proper oversight, especially if they retain broad access permissions.

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6. Service Accounts

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Service accounts are specialized non-human entities used by applications or services to interact with other systems, such as databases, backup solutions, or monitoring tools. These accounts often have elevated privileges, which, if compromised, can lead to lateral movement within a network. Proper governance and least-privilege principles are essential.

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→ Read the Blog: The Security Risks of Sailpoint Service Accounts

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7. Software Supply Chain

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The software supply chain involves dependencies, libraries, and third-party components essential for building and deploying software. Each component may require non-human identities, such as tokens or certificates, to ensure secure integration and communication. However, these identities are frequent targets in software supply chain attacks, as seen in incidents involving open-source tools like Log4j.

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8. SaaS-to-SaaS Integrations

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SaaS-to-SaaS integrations enable different SaaS platforms to interact and automate workflows, often through API keys or OAuth tokens. For instance, Slack integration with Salesforce or Google Workspace connecting with third-party tools creates non-human entities to manage these interactions. While these integrations enhance efficiency, they also require solid SaaS security measures to mitigate the risks of over-permissive access.

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Security Risks Associated with Non-Human Identities

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Non-human identities often operate in the background, managing critical workflows and automations, yet they are prone to exploitation if not properly managed:

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Lack of Service Account Visibility

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Non-human identities often exist in large numbers across systems, making them difficult to track. Without clear visibility, organizations may lose track of unused or misconfigured service accounts, leaving them open to unauthorized access or malicious use.

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Insufficient Monitoring and Oversight

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Service accounts and bots often bypass traditional monitoring systems due to their automated nature. This lack of oversight can lead to blind spots where suspicious activities, such as privilege escalation or data exfiltration, go unnoticed until significant damage is done.

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Challenges in Authentication and Access Control

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Ensuring that non-human identities are authenticated properly and only granted necessary access is a complex task. Weak or shared credentials, overprovisioned permissions, and poor management practices increase the risk of breaches and unauthorized access.

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Documentation and Audit Gaps

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Many companies fail to properly document the lifecycle of non-human identities. This results in gaps during audits, making it harder to trace activities back to specific service accounts or bots, which can complicate compliance efforts and hinder forensic investigations.

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Challenges of Managing Non-Human Identities

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Non-human identities have introduced significant management challenges, and have the potential to weaken an organization's security framework.

Lack of Visibility and Governance: Non-human identities, such as service accounts and bots, often operate unnoticed, leading to poor oversight and the potential for unused or misconfigured accounts to create vulnerabilities.
Risk of Credential Compromise: Weak, shared, or hardcoded credentials associated with non-human identities are prime targets for attackers, increasing the risk of unauthorized access and exploitation.
Over-Permissiveness in Access: Non-human identities are frequently overprovisioned, granting them more permissions than necessary. This increases the likelihood of privilege abuse and unauthorized actions.
Expanded Attack Surface: The sheer number of non-human identities across systems significantly broadens the attack surface, providing attackers with more entry points to exploit.
Inadequate Lifecycle Management: Poor lifecycle management leads to orphaned accounts, lingering permissions, and a lack of proper disconnecting processes, all of which elevate security risks.
Potential for Lateral Movement in Networks: Once compromised, non-human identities can enable attackers to move laterally across systems, escalating privileges and accessing sensitive data undetected.

Best Practices for Securing Non-Human Identities

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Managing non-human identities effectively requires a good strategy to mitigate risks and enhance security. Below are key practices that organizations can implement to protect these identities.

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Best Practices	Description
Implementing Least Privilege Access and Regular Audits	Restricting access to only what is necessary minimizes risk. Regular audits ensure compliance and remove unused permissions, strengthening overall security.
Securing Credentials with Robust Management Tools	Protecting credentials is important to preventing breaches. Tools like password vaults and automated credential rotation help reduce exposure to risks.
Adopting Ephemeral Certificates and Zero Trust Principles	Short-lived certificates and a zero-trust framework reduce reliance on static keys and eliminate assumptions of trust, enhancing security across systems.
Real-Time Monitoring and Incident Response	Continuous monitoring detects suspicious activities as they occur. Coupled with rapid response protocols, this minimizes the impact of potential breaches.
Centralized Identity Governance and Adaptive IAM	Centralized governance simplifies management, while adaptive Identity and Access Management (IAM) systems offer dynamic controls based on context.
Vulnerability Detection and False Positive Elimination	Effective detection systems accurately identify vulnerabilities while minimizing false positives, ensuring that critical threats are promptly addressed.

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Non-Human Identities Examples & Use Cases

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From service accounts to IoT devices, non-human identities streamline processes but also introduce unique security considerations. Below are key examples and their practical use cases:

Service Accounts: Critical for automating backend tasks like database backups, application updates, and system maintenance. For instance, a service account might facilitate overnight system updates without disrupting user activities.
Bots: Widely used in customer service, bots manage inquiries, process transactions, and execute repetitive workflows with speed and accuracy. Chatbots, for example, can handle thousands of customer queries simultaneously, improving response times.
APIs (Application Programming Interfaces): APIs enable secure communication between software systems, supporting seamless data exchange and integrations. For example, an e-commerce platform might use APIs to process payments or fetch real-time inventory data from warehouses.
IoT Devices: Smart devices, such as cameras, sensors, and thermostats, use non-human identities to connect, transmit data, and automate processes. A factory might rely on IoT sensors to monitor equipment health and trigger maintenance alerts.
Cloud-Based Scripts: Frequently used in DevOps workflows, these identities automate deployments, system configurations, and resource scaling in cloud environments. For instance, a script might automatically scale server capacity during high-traffic events.
Machine Learning Models: AI-driven systems rely on non-human identities to process vast amounts of data and make predictions. For example, a fraud detection system may analyze financial transactions in real-time to flag suspicious activities.

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Why Do We Need Non-Human Identity Management Solutions?

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Non-human identities now exceed human users in many IT ecosystems, making their management necessary for ensuring security and maintaining operational efficiency. These identities often carry elevated permissions, making them attractive targets for attackers. Proper governance minimizes risks such as unauthorized access, over-permissioning, and credential compromise.

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Effective management solutions also enhance visibility and control by automating lifecycle tracking and accessing provisioning tasks. This ensures compliance with regulatory frameworks like GDPR and HIPAA while streamlining operations by reducing administrative overhead, enabling organizations to focus on innovation and scalability.

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Non-Human Identity Management with Reco

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Managing non-human identities effectively requires innovative solutions that address the unique challenges these identities pose. Reco provides an advanced approach to securing and optimizing non-human identity management, enabling organizations to protect their systems while maintaining operational efficiency.

Comprehensive Visibility: Reco’s platform ensures complete oversight of all non-human identities, including service accounts, APIs, and bots, across your IT ecosystem. This visibility helps identify dormant accounts, misconfigurations, and potential risks.
Automated Credential Management: With Reco, organizations can automate credential rotation and enforce strong authentication practices, eliminating the risks associated with hardcoded or shared credentials.
Least Privilege Enforcement: Reco simplifies implementing the principle of least privilege by identifying over-permitted accounts and ensuring non-human identities only have the access they require.
Lifecycle Management: Reco enables seamless tracking of non-human identity lifecycles, from creation to deprovisioning, ensuring no account is forgotten or improperly maintained.
Real-Time Monitoring: Reco provides continuous monitoring of non-human identity activities, detecting anomalies and responding to threats in real-time to prevent breaches.
Integration with Zero Trust Architecture: Reco integrates seamlessly with zero-trust frameworks, ensuring all non-human identities are verified and monitored at every interaction point.

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Conclusion

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Non-human identities have become essential for enabling automation and efficiency in modern IT ecosystems. However, their rapid proliferation poses unique challenges, such as visibility issues, credential risks, and over-permissioning. By implementing practices such as least privilege access, continuous monitoring, and effective lifecycle management, organizations can mitigate risks while also creating a secure foundation for innovation, scalability, and sustained operational success.

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