Our IT environments largely revolve around the cloud and for maintaining automation and efficiency, non-human identities (NHIs) have become indispensable. However, as a cybersecurity professional, I have witnessed firsthand how organizations find themselves grappling with their rapid proliferation which introduces unique security complications. Unlike human users, NHIs operate silently and can unwittingly expand an organization’s attack surface if not properly managed.
The complexity of modern cloud environments, with their multi-cloud architectures, vendor integrations, and third-party services, only further complicates the management and securing NHIs. Each new connection introduces another set of machine identities and it becomes extremely difficult to maintain visibility and control over the entire attack surface.
However the stakes are high, and CISOs cannot afford to leave NHIs unattended. In this blog post, we’ll dive into the essential steps for prioritizing NHI remediation in your cloud environments. From scanning your attack surface to adding context for prioritization and executing a targeted remediation workflow, we will capture insights and strategies needed to manage and secure your organization’s non-human identities effectively.
Enterprise Security for AI Agents & Non-Human Identities
Challenges in non-human identity management
Increased reliance on cloud environments has introduced a host of challenges in management of non-human identities for CISOs. At the forefront is the issue of excess permissions of non-human identities. I’ve seen countless organizations struggle and in one particularly eye-opening case, a firm’s NHIs had accumulated so many unnecessary permissions over time that they essentially had unrestricted access across the company’s entire infrastructure. This privilege creep not only unironically violates the principle of least privilege, but also makes the attack surface expand exponentially.
Compounding this problem is the prevalent practice of hardcoding secrets. Developers, prioritizing functionality and speed over security frequently embed credentials directly into code or configuration files.
The complexity of modern cloud infrastructures is yet another factor that complicates NHI management. Multi-cloud deployments and numerous third-party integrations result in a sprawling, and often opaque network of identities and permissions. This lack of visibility makes it exceedingly difficult to:
- Maintain an accurate inventory of NHIs,
- Track and manage permissions effectively,
- Identify and mitigate potential security risks, and
- Ensure compliance with security policies and regulations,
As a consequence of all these major and a few other nuanced factors, maintaining the principle of least privilege becomes an increasingly daunting task. Without robust, automated controls and regular audits, organizations risk leaving their cloud environments exposed to potential breaches and unauthorized access.
Addressing these challenges requires a comprehensive, context-aware approach to NHI management — one that encompasses discovery, classification, continuous monitoring, and timely remediation.
Scanning the attack surface
Most folks learn it the hard way just how crucial discovery is as a first step. So, take my advice and be thorough with your discovery and inventory process to identify all non-human identities across your multi-cloud infrastructure as well as vendor and third-party integrations. Leverage native cloud provider APIs and tools to enumerate resources and associated identities. AWS Config, Azure Resource Graph, and GCP Asset Inventory can offer valuable insights into your secrets sprawl. With the net cast wide, you can ensure that no NHI goes unnoticed, regardless of its origin or purpose.
To be even more effective in this process, extend your discovery process beyond basic cloud tools:
- Continuous monitoring: Implement ongoing monitoring mechanisms to detect the creation, modification, or deletion of NHIs in real-time. Analyze authentication logs and cloud trail events to identify the active ones and their access patterns. It’s also recommended to scan code repositories and configuration files for hardcoded credentials using secrets scanners like Entro. Doing so allows you to maintain an up-to-date inventory and quickly identify any anomalies or unauthorized changes.
- Regular audits: Periodically audit your inventory to ensure accuracy and completeness including verifying the ownership, permissions, and usage of each identity, as well as identifying any dormant or unnecessary identities that can be safely removed.
Classification and context
With a comprehensive inventory in place, the next key step is to enrich each NHI with detailed metadata and context. Factor in both salient and nuanced details such as the type of identity, the services or the applications it’s associated with, the permissions it has, the scope of its access, its creation time, its owners, etc — all of which go a long way in efficient non-human identity management down the line. This process transforms a simple list into a powerful tool for risk assessment and decision-making.
This metadata you just helped create, lays the foundation of context, but true understanding requires digging deeper. Analyze access patterns: How frequently is the identity used? Are there unusual spikes in activity? To wit, examine the sensitivity of data and systems the NHI interacts with, since an identity with access to customer financial data poses a different risk than one used for log aggregation.
What most organizations overlook is how the identification of the human owner responsible for each NHI can be streamlined through the same metadata, which in turn can dramatically streamline risk resolution. Now security teams can bypass the usual runaround of “not my problem” responses and engage directly with the person best equipped to provide insights and implement fixes.
Plus, as you can probably note here, context paves the way for highly nuanced risk assessment. An infrequently used identity with broad permissions might pose a higher risk than a regularly utilized one with narrower access. Similarly, an NHI owned by a third-party vendor may require closer scrutiny than an internally managed one.
Plus it also helps with prioritization and avoiding alert fatigue. For instance, an NHI with elevated permissions, accessing sensitive data, and showing irregular usage patterns should be prioritized for review and potential remediation. This context-aware approach enables more informed decision-making, from day-to-day access management to long-term security strategy planning.
Posture management
Armed with a contextualized inventory of NHIs, effective posture management becomes an increasingly pragmatic option. This stage focuses on implementing and maintaining robust security controls tailored to the specific risks and requirements of each identity.
At the core of posture management is the adoption of a Zero Trust model. This approach assumes no implicit trust, even within the network perimeter. For NHIs, this translates to:
- Just-In-Time (JIT) access: Instead of persistent, standing permissions, implement JIT access.
- Ephemeral credentials: Where possible, use short-lived, automatically rotated credentials to minimize the impact of credential compromise and do away with the need for manual rotation.
- Dynamic access controls: Implement context-aware adaptive policies that dynamically adjust access rights based on real-time factors. Integrate sophisticated vault systems and secret managers with auto-rotation capabilities to further enhance security. Leveraging AI-driven anomaly detection to trigger automatic secrets rotation is also a great idea.
As a best practice, it’s also recommended to implement automated remediation workflows for common issues, such as revoking unused permissions or enforcing encryption for data access. This proactive approach maintains a strong security posture even as your cloud environment evolves. Use the contextual information gathered earlier to prioritize and address the most critical issues first.
NHIDR (Real-time Detection and Response for Non-Human Identities)
Continuous monitoring and swift response mechanisms are paramount for keeping your non-human identities safe in cloud environments. Albeit, it’s a process that involves vigilant surveillance of behavioral patterns all the year around.
Advanced detection systems analyze a range of indicators, including access patterns, privilege escalations, and data transfer volumes. When irregularities are identified, automated response protocols can be triggered to mitigate potential threats. These may include immediate access revocation, security team alerts, and initiation of forensic data collection.
Machine learning algorithms can be useful here since they can establish baseline behaviors for each identity, allowing for more accurate anomaly detection over time. Plus, these systems adapt to evolving usage patterns, reducing false positives over time while maintaining high sensitivity to genuine threats.
Implementing effective detection and response requires a nuanced understanding of the organization’s specific identity ecosystem. This includes knowledge of the types of identities in use, their typical behavior patterns, and the criticality of the systems they interact with. Such contextual awareness enables fine-tuning detection thresholds and response strategies, ensuring that security measures are both effective and aligned with operational requirements.
Deprovisioning and lifecycle management
Effective non-human identity governance demands a holistic approach to lifecycle management and secrets rotation. Automated deprovisioning workflows, integrated with IT service management systems, ensure the swift removal of obsolete identities upon project completion or application decommissioning. This proactive stance significantly reduces the risk of credential abuse and non-human identity attacks through dormant accounts.
At this stage, it’s a good idea to implement continuous monitoring and periodic access reviews to identify unused or over-privileged identities. Leverage identity governance and administration (IGA) platforms to automate these processes, ensuring compliance with the principle of least privilege throughout the non-human identity lifecycle.
For secrets management, adopt a centralized vault solution with strong access controls and industry-standard encryption. Of course, as mentioned earlier, implement JIT secrets where feasible, generating short-lived credentials on demand. For static secrets, enforce automated rotation policies based on risk classification and compliance requirements.
Key considerations include:
- Implementing break-glass procedures for emergency access
- Utilizing hardware security modules (HSMs) for high-value secrets
- Integrating secret rotation with CI/CD pipelines for seamless updates
I’ve heard many CISOs say, ‘We can’t afford to leave our NHIs unattended, but we keep drowning in the sheer volume of identities to manage.’ As cloud environments continue to evolve and expand, the ‘sea level’ will keep increasing and the importance of robust NHI management will only grow. CISOs must prioritize the implementation of automated, context-driven solutions that can keep pace with all that’s going around.
