The number of Non-Human Identities (NHIs) in many organizations has exploded. Key trends, drivers, and market landscape in this fast-developing area are explored.
The growth in systems communicating over the internet without human involvement has been dramatic in recent years. The Internet of Things (IoT) is driving more machine-to-machine (M2M) communications without human intervention. There is also an explosion in application development underpinning the need for digital transformation, which is turbocharged by remote working and the ever-increasing adoption of e-commerce. This means that pieces of software code are interacting autonomously across networks as never before.
There is a need to manage system identities in the sense of what they are and what they can and cannot do when they are online. For example, can they both send and receive data? Where can they send it? In what volumes and formats? Can they access data that resides elsewhere, make copies, and forward it on, even to recipients outside the organization? Just as importantly, has their identity changed since the last time they were online, e.g., with extra access rights or new software on board that was not there before? Non-human identities (NHI) are already estimated to outnumber human identities by a ratio of 50 to one (50:1). With more and more business processes being automated by artificial intelligence (AI)/generative AI (GenAI) and accessed by AI-enabled services, NHI growth is likely to accelerate even further, bringing yet more expansion in the threat landscape.
NHIs can be defined as digital identities tied to entities like applications, services, and machines within an enterprise technology stack. These include bots, API keys, service accounts, OAuth tokens, cloud services, and other credentials that allow machines or software to authenticate, access resources, and communicate within a system.
The need for effective NHI management (NHIM) arises from several key factors:
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IT infrastructures are becoming more complex: Modern IT infrastructures are characterized by their complexity, featuring a myriad of interconnected systems, cloud services, and devices, including, in many cases, a host of IoT devices that operate autonomously. Managing the identities of non-human entities within such environments is essential for ensuring accountability, traceability, and security.
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An increase in automation: Organizations are increasingly adopting automation to streamline processes, improve efficiency, and reduce manual intervention, with agentic AI only intensifying the trend. Non-human entities, including bots, scripts, and automated workflows, execute tasks autonomously, necessitating proper identity management to prevent unauthorized access and misuse.
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An increase in cybersecurity threats: Cybercriminals often target NHIs, particularly those in the IoT area that operate without human intervention, seeking to exploit vulnerabilities for malicious purposes. Weak authentication mechanisms, misconfigured permissions, and inadequate monitoring can leave non-human entities susceptible to attacks, leading to data breaches, system compromises, and service disruptions.
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