How to Protect NHIs in Modern Cloud Environments

Read full article here:  https://www.britive.com/resource/blog/rethinking-nhi-cloud-security-strategies/?source=nhimg

As cloud environments become more complex and automation takes center stage, non-human identities (NHIs)—like service accounts, API keys, CI/CD tokens, and machine credentials—have exploded in volume and criticality. In many organizations, NHIs now outnumber human identities by 25x to 50x, yet they often remain over-privileged, poorly governed, and unmonitored.

This imbalance is creating a massive and growing attack surface, as illustrated by recent breaches involving leaked credentials and over-permissioned machine access.

To effectively secure NHIs, organizations must shift from static identity models to a dynamic, Zero Trust-based strategy—designed specifically for modern workloads and the cloud-native stack.

Why NHIs Pose a Unique Challenge

• Over-provisioning - Standing, excessive access remains the norm.

• Lifecycle gaps - NHIs are created and forgotten, with no structured offboarding.

• Lack of visibility - Most orgs can’t answer “What did this identity do yesterday?”

Common Attack Vectors Targeting NHIs

• Hardcoded secrets exposed in source code or public repositories

• Over-privileged access granting lateral movement

• Unmonitored behavior allowing silent exploitation

Your Roadmap to Secure NHI Management:

1. Discovery & Risk Prioritization - Use automated tools to inventory all NHIs across cloud and hybrid environments. Prioritize those with high privileges or exposure.

2. Governance & Lifecycle Policies - Define rules for NHI creation, usage, expiration, and revocation. Implement Zero Standing Privileges (ZSP) and least privilege principles.

3. Dynamic Access Control - Replace static credentials with Just-in-Time (JIT) access, using time-bound, ephemeral permissions that align with business context.

4. Compliance and Risk Management - Establish full audit trails for all NHI actions. Automate compliance reporting for audits and incident response.

5. Continuous Evaluation - Treat NHI security as a living strategy. Reassess policies, rotate credentials, and align tooling with new risks and use cases.

Final Thoughts

Non-human identities are foundational to innovation—but also a top target in modern cyberattacks. To keep pace with cloud transformation, organizations must adopt flexible, risk-aware identity strategies that reduce exposure without sacrificing automation and scale.