As non-human identities outnumber humans 45 to 1, enterprises face escalating security risks from unmonitored APIs, bots, and service accounts. Machin

Silent threats: The hidden danger of machine identities

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2024-12-12 19:00:03

As non-human identities outnumber humans 45 to 1, enterprises face escalating security risks from unmonitored APIs, bots, and service accounts.

Machine identities now outnumber humans in the digital world, but these silent gatekeepers are leaving enterprises dangerously exposed. APIs, bots, and service accounts power today’s automation, yet they often go unnoticed, mismanaged, and unprotected—providing attackers with easy entry points.

As businesses embrace advanced technologies, the hidden vulnerabilities in non-human identities (NHIs) are quickly becoming one of the biggest security risks in modern enterprises.

Non-human identities are integral to modern enterprise operations. APIs facilitate seamless communication between applications, RPAs streamline repetitive tasks, and IoT devices power everything from logistics to healthcare operations. However, as these technologies proliferate, so do the risks they introduce. According to Mitch Greenfield, an associate vice president of identity and access management (IAM) at Humana, "The complexity grows as you manage thousands of applications and more than 100,000 entities. Without proper integration and governance, the risks multiply".

Organizations often neglect the management of NHIs, leaving many dormant or unmonitored. Insecure secrets, such as API keys stored in plaintext, further exacerbate the issue. Parham Eftekhari of CyberRisk Alliance notes that mismanagement and lack of visibility into these identities result in vulnerabilities that attackers can easily exploit.