NHI Management: A Key Element of SOC 2 Compliance

Securing Non-Human Identities (NHIs) has emerged as an essential practice for organizations striving to meet various compliance standards, including SOC 2. Non-human identities, often referred to as machine identities or service accounts, are digital identities used by systems, applications, and other automated processes rather than individuals. While these identities are critical to the functioning of modern infrastructure, they are frequently overlooked in security strategies—leaving organizations vulnerable to potential breaches. In this blog, we’ll explore the relationship between securing non-human identities and meeting SOC 2 compliance, and why securing these identities is a non-negotiable aspect of any comprehensive security framework.

What Are Non-Human Identities?

Non-human identities are digital identities assigned to systems, applications, services, and devices that perform automated tasks without direct human intervention. These include:

• Service accounts: Credentials used by services or applications to interact with systems and APIs.
• API keys: Used for authentication and authorization between services or to access external services.
• Automation tools: Credentials used by scripts, bots, or workflows that run without human involvement.
• IoT devices: Smart devices or machines that interact with other systems without direct human input.

Because these identities aren’t controlled by humans, they don’t require traditional forms of authentication like usernames and passwords – opening up a distinct set of security challenges.

Why Securing Non-Human Identities Is Critical for SOC 2 Compliance

SOC 2 (System and Organization Controls 2) is a widely recognized framework for managing and securing sensitive data, with a focus on five trust service principles: security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy. While SOC 2 is often associated with data protection practices that focus on human user access, it also emphasizes the need for comprehensive security measures that include protecting non-human identities.

Here’s how securing non-human identities ties directly into key SOC 2 criteria:

Security (Trust Service Principle 1)

The Security principle under SOC 2 requires organizations to protect their systems and data against unauthorized access, misuse, or malicious activity. Non-human identities—such as service accounts or automation credentials—are often privileged access accounts with elevated permissions, making them attractive targets for attackers. If an attacker gains access to a poorly secured machine identity, they can manipulate systems enterprise-wide or exfiltrate sensitive data.

By properly securing non-human identities, organizations can significantly reduce the attack surface. Measures like:

• Least privilege access (assigning the minimal necessary permissions to machine identities)
• Strong authentication (using multi-factor authentication or certificates)
• Regular rotation of credentials
• Auditing and monitoring of non-human identity activity

…all contribute to securing systems against unauthorized actions, which is directly in line with SOC 2’s security requirements.

Availability (Trust Service Principle 2)

The Availability principle focuses on ensuring that systems are operational and accessible as needed. Machine identities often have the responsibility of maintaining the availability of services, especially in automated environments. For instance, a service account that manages database backups or a monitoring tool that checks system health is critical for maintaining uptime and stability.

Securing non-human identities is essential to ensuring that these systems continue functioning correctly. Unauthorized changes to or compromises of these identities can disrupt automated tasks, break services, or cause system downtimes, which directly violates the Availability principle of SOC 2.

Processing Integrity (Trust Service Principle 3)

The Processing Integrity principle requires that systems process data accurately, completely, and timely. Non-human identities are often responsible for automating complex tasks such as data processing, transaction handling, or reporting. If these identities are compromised, attackers could manipulate processing workflows to inject false data, corrupt information, or sabotage critical operations.

To meet SOC 2’s Processing Integrity requirements, organizations must ensure non-human identities have the appropriate level of control and security to prevent such disruptions. Regular audits, access reviews, and anomaly detection systems can help monitor activities and prevent unauthorized actions from affecting the integrity of processing.

Confidentiality (Trust Service Principle 4)

Non-human identities often have access to sensitive data that needs to be kept confidential. For example, an API key used by a web application might grant access to a database containing personally identifiable information (PII). A compromised non-human identity can lead to unauthorized access to that data, exposing it to the wrong parties.

Ensuring that machine identities are properly secured helps preserve confidentiality by preventing unauthorized entities from accessing sensitive information. Techniques like encryption, secure storage, and access controls are critical for safeguarding non-human identities and the sensitive data they protect.

Best Practices for Securing Non-Human Identities

Given their importance and the associated risks, securing non-human identities should be treated as a priority in any organization’s cybersecurity strategy, especially for SOC 2 compliance. Below are some best practices to follow:

1. Implement Strong Authentication Methods
   Vault secrets and enforce strong authentication and encryption methods to secure machine identities.
2. Adopt the Principle of Least Privilege
   Supply only the necessary permissions to NHIs for them to perform their functions, and regularly review these permissions. Avoid giving service accounts broad access unless absolutely necessary.
3. Automate Identity and Credential Management
   Use automated tools to manage, rotate, and revoke credentials for non-human identities. This reduces the risk of human error and ensures that credentials are regularly updated to prevent long-term exposure.
4. Monitor and Audit Activities
   Continuously monitor non-human identity activity to detect anomalous behavior that could indicate a breach or misuse. Enable logging to ensure that all access by non-human identities is auditable.
5. Separate Identities for Different Roles
   Don’t allow a single non-human identity to perform too many tasks. If an identity is compromised, it’s best to limit the scope of damage by ensuring that identities are compartmentalized according to function.
6. Use Zero Trust Models
   Embrace a Zero Trust security model that assumes every access request—whether from a human or machine—is potentially malicious. This ensures that every request is authenticated, authorized, and continuously validated.

Conclusion

In today’s increasingly automated world, securing non-human identities is not just a technical challenge but a fundamental requirement for achieving SOC 2 compliance. By taking proactive steps to manage and secure machine identities, organizations can significantly reduce the risks associated with data breaches, unauthorized access, and disruptions to service availability. Non-human identities are essential to the smooth operation of modern infrastructure, and securing them helps ensure that systems remain both compliant and resilient in the face of evolving cyber threats.