Identity Management Day 2025: Best Practices for Securing Human and Machine Identities

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Identity Management Day, founded in 2021 by the Identity Defined Security Alliance (IDSA) and the National Cybersecurity Alliance, returns on April 8, 2025 to raise awareness about safeguarding digital identities. This year’s theme, “Existential Identity,” reflects the growing complexity of managing both human and non-human identities in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Why It Matters

• 79% of organizations have suffered an identity-related breach in the last two years.

• 99% of those breaches were preventable.

• 81% of hacking-related breaches exploited weak or stolen passwords.

As organizations increasingly rely on AI agents, machine identities, and multi-platform personas, securing all identities has become a core pillar of digital trust.

Key Best Practices Highlighted

To strengthen identity management practices, organizations should consider the following best practices:

1- Comprehensive Inventory of Identities - Develop and maintain a comprehensive inventory of all identities, including non-human identities (NHIs) and humans, along with their respective human owners.

2- Risk Assessment - Assess the risks linked to each NHI, including inactive service accounts, outdated keys, and over-privileged access.

3- Governance and Lifecycle Management - Assign governance responsibilities to service owners, including workflows for secret rotations, onboarding and offboarding of NHIs, and risk remediation.

4- Adopt Just-in-Time (JIT) Access - Minimize standing privileges by granting permissions only when needed, reducing risk without significantly increasing friction.

5- Implement Continuous Monitoring - Set up real-time monitoring for unusual NHI behavior, such as unexpected credential usage, to detect and mitigate identity-based threats.