Securing non-human identities: Part 3 - Strategies to avert and mitigate NHI security risks

NHIs outnumber human identities in modern enterprises by over 92:1, says a conservative estimate, making them the largest and fastest-growing part of your identity attack surface. According to some assessments, the risk of NHIs being attacked outweighs that on human identities by as much as 17 to 1. 

Your digital ecosystem requires far more extensive visibility and investigation than ever before. In our first post, we explored how NHIs power seamless, automated operations—from container-to-container communications to IoT sensor authentication—across both on-premises and cloud environments, laying the groundwork for why they are so pivotal to modern IT ecosystems.

In our second installment, we dove into the security risks these non-human identities face, dissecting real-world breaches and uncovering the vulnerabilities tied to mismanaged credentials and overlooked configurations. 

Now, in this third report, we shift our focus to best practices and actionable strategies to keep these critical assets safe. Think of this as your essential guide to locking down the vast majority of your identity attack surface, ensuring that while your systems keep talking to each other, they’re not inadvertently giving away your secrets.

This advisory not only explains each step and best practice in-depth but also incorporates real-world case studies that illustrate how organizations have recovered and improved their NHI security posture after a breach.

Step 1: Establishing robust Identity and Access Management (IAM) controls

Implement strong authorization

Granular access controls: Utilize role-based access control (RBAC) and attribute-based access control (ABAC) to define precise permissions for each NHI. This means every application, API, or service is given only the access it needs—no more, no less. Granularity helps prevent privilege escalation where a single compromised token might otherwise unlock broader access.

Real-time visibility: Integrate a centralized identity security platform that spans both your cloud and on-premises environments, giving real-time visibility to identities and their access. Real-time visibility simplifies management by allowing you to enforce consistent policies across disparate systems and ensures that all NHIs are governed by a unified set of rules.

Enforce privileged access management (PAM)

Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP): For every NHI, ensure that only the essential permissions are granted. Overprivileged credentials are a prime target; for instance, the 2019 Capital One breach exploited an AWS IAM role with broad access. By limiting permissions, you reduce the “blast radius” of any compromise.

Automated credential rotation: Regularly rotate keys, tokens, and other credentials to minimize the window of opportunity for attackers. Automated rotation prevents long-lived credentials from becoming a persistent risk if inadvertently exposed.

Audit and monitoring: Deploy PAM solutions to continuously track and audit NHI activities. Detailed logs and real-time monitoring can alert security teams to unusual behaviors, such as unexpected API calls or anomalous login times, enabling swift response to potential misuse.

Case in point: In the Capital One breach (2019), attackers exploited an improperly secured AWS IAM role. Post-incident, Capital One implemented stricter access controls, rotated credentials more frequently, and enhanced monitoring of their cloud environments, demonstrating how PAM best practices can mitigate such risks.

Step 2: Enforcing secure identity lifecycle management

Automate provisioning and de-provisioning

Centralized identity management: Automate the entire lifecycle of NHIs—from creation through decommissioning—using integrated IAM systems. Automation minimizes human error and ensures that credentials are only active as long as needed.

Regular audits: Schedule periodic reviews to identify stale, redundant, or unused identities. Removing obsolete credentials reduces potential attack surfaces and ensures that only current, valid identities exist in your environment.

Short-lived credentials: Implement temporary tokens and enforce short expiration windows for credentials. This limits the period during which a stolen or misconfigured credential could be abused, forcing attackers to act within a very short timeframe.

Adopt Zero Trust for NHIs

Default denial: Treat every NHI as untrusted until it is verified. This “never trust, always verify” stance ensures that even if a credential is valid, its usage is continuously evaluated against current security policies.

Continuous validation: Authenticate and authorize every access request in real time, regardless of its origin. Employing continuous risk assessment prevents attackers from leveraging dormant credentials and enforces tight security across all interactions.

Case in point: Codecov’s supply chain incident (2021) revealed how a compromised CI/CD script credential could quietly exfiltrate sensitive information. In response, Codecov overhauled its credential lifecycle by introducing short-lived tokens, automating rotations, and integrating real-time validation into its build pipelines. Their proactive measures helped limit the exposure and quickly remediate the breach.

Step 3: Continuous monitoring and incident response

Implement real-time threat detection

Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR): Deploy ITDR solutions to continuously monitor identity activity across your organization’s environments. Centralized ITDR platforms analyze user behavior and access patterns, enabling rapid detection of anomalous identity events and the automated mitigation of credential misuse.

Anomaly detection: Utilize machine learning and behavioral analytics to identify deviations in NHI usage patterns. Automated systems can flag suspicious activities, such as an unexpected surge in API calls or unusual access times, prompting further investigation.

Automated alerts: Configure your systems to trigger immediate alerts when suspicious activities are detected. Automated responses can initiate containment procedures to minimize damage before human intervention is required.

Integrate NHI security into SOC operations

Centralized logging: Consolidate logs from all NHI interactions for unified analysis. This centralization aids security operations centers (SOCs) in detecting patterns that span multiple systems and in correlating events across environments.

Incident response playbooks: Develop and routinely test playbooks tailored specifically to NHI-related incidents. These documented procedures ensure that your response is swift, coordinated, and effective in mitigating damage.

Rapid containment and remediation: Establish clear processes to quickly isolate compromised identities. Once a breach is detected, rapidly revoking or rotating credentials can prevent further unauthorized access.

Case in pointIn the Heroku incident (2022), attackers exploited a compromised OAuth token to gain access via a third-party integration. Heroku responded by immediately revoking tokens, forcing password resets, and enhancing their SIEM integrations to detect abnormal OAuth activities. Their swift containment and remediation efforts underscore the critical role of continuous monitoring and rapid incident response.

Best practices for securing hybrid environments

Architectural security patterns

Zero Trust network segmentation: Isolate critical assets by segmenting your network and enforcing strict access boundaries for NHIs. Zero Trust segmentation prevents attackers from moving laterally within your environment even if one identity is compromised.

Secure API gateways: Deploy API gateways to manage and secure communications between microservices and external systems. Gateways can enforce authentication, rate limiting, and other security policies, reducing the risk of API token abuse.

Consistent policy enforcement: Ensure that security policies are consistent across both cloud and on-premises environments. Aligning IAM and access controls minimizes policy gaps that attackers might exploit.

Continuous Compliance and Governance

Regular compliance checks: Incorporate compliance verification within your IAM framework. Regular audits ensure that security measures adhere to regulatory standards and internal policies.

Policy automation: Use policy-as-code tools to automatically enforce and update security measures. This approach ensures that your policies remain current and are applied uniformly across your entire environment.

Summary: Building a resilient NHI security framework

Implementing robust IAM controls, automating the identity lifecycle, and integrating continuous monitoring are foundational steps to avert and mitigate the risks associated with non-human identities. By adopting these best practices and leveraging Unosecur’s specialized solutions, organizations can protect their automated processes against evolving cyber threats.

Whether you are refining your internal policies or overhauling your entire NHI security framework, the goal is clear: secure your digital ecosystem and ensure operational resilience.

Secure your digital ecosystem with Unosecur’s advanced IAM solutions. Contact us today to learn how we can help safeguard your organization’s non-human identities and protect your enterprise from emerging threats.

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