Securing Non-Human Identities Pt 3: Best Practices to Mitigate NHI Security Risks

Read full article here: https://www.unosecur.com/blog/securing-non-human-identities-part-3-strategies-to-avert-and-mitigate-nhi-security-risks/?utm_source=nhimg

Non-human identities (NHIs) now outnumber human identities in enterprises by over 92:1, making them the largest and fastest-growing attack surface in modern IT ecosystems. Assessments suggest the risk to NHIs is up to 17 times higher than that of human accounts. With automated processes, cloud services, IoT devices, and microservices all relying on NHIs, organizations must adopt a proactive, end-to-end approach to secure these critical assets.

This article provides actionable strategies, real-world case studies, and best practices to reduce NHI security risks while maintaining automation and operational efficiency.

Robust Identity and Access Management (IAM) Controls

Implement Strong Authorization

• Granular access controls: Use RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) and ABAC (Attribute-Based Access Control) to limit each NHI to only the permissions it requires.
• Real-time visibility: Employ centralized identity security platforms spanning cloud and on-premises environments to monitor and enforce policies consistently.

Enforce Privileged Access Management (PAM)

• Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP): Grant minimal permissions to NHIs to reduce attack impact.
• Automated credential rotation: Regularly rotate tokens, keys, and passwords to prevent long-lived credentials from being exploited.
• Audit and monitoring: Track and log all NHI activity to detect anomalous behaviors in real time.

Case Study: The Capital One breach (2019) exploited an overprivileged AWS IAM role. Post-incident, the organization implemented stricter access controls, frequent credential rotations, and enhanced monitoring—demonstrating PAM effectiveness.

Secure Identity Lifecycle Management

Automate Provisioning and De-Provisioning

• Use centralized IAM systems to automate creation, updates, and decommissioning of NHIs.
• Conduct regular audits to remove stale, redundant, or inactive identities.

Short-Lived Credentials

• Implement temporary tokens with short expiration windows to minimize exploitation risk.

Adopt Zero Trust Principles for NHIs

• Default denial: Treat all NHIs as untrusted until verified.
• Continuous validation: Authenticate and authorize each access request in real time.

Case Study: The Codecov supply chain breach (2021) exposed CI/CD script credentials. Codecov mitigated risks by introducing short-lived tokens, automating rotations, and enforcing real-time validation in pipelines.

Continuous Monitoring and Incident Response

Implement Real-Time Threat Detection

• Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR): Monitor all NHI activity across environments.
• Anomaly detection: Use behavioral analytics to flag suspicious activity such as unusual API calls.
• Automated alerts: Trigger immediate responses to suspicious events.

Integrate NHI Security into SOC Operations

• Centralized logging: Consolidate logs across all NHI systems.
• Incident response playbooks: Develop and routinely test NHI-specific procedures.
• Rapid containment: Quickly revoke or rotate compromised credentials to limit exposure.

Case Study: During the Heroku incident (2022), attackers used a compromised OAuth token. Heroku rapidly revoked tokens, enforced password resets, and enhanced SIEM monitoring, illustrating the importance of quick, coordinated response.

Best Practices for Hybrid Environments

Architectural Security Patterns

• Zero Trust network segmentation: Restrict lateral movement by isolating critical assets.
• Secure API gateways: Enforce authentication, rate limiting, and policy controls.
• Consistent policy enforcement: Apply unified IAM and access policies across cloud and on-premises systems.

Continuous Compliance and Governance

• Conduct regular compliance checks to align with regulatory and internal standards.
• Policy automation: Use policy-as-code to enforce up-to-date security measures uniformly.

Summary: Building a Resilient NHI Security Framework

A comprehensive NHI security strategy includes:

1. Robust IAM and PAM controls
2. Automated identity lifecycle management with Zero Trust principles
3. Continuous monitoring, threat detection, and rapid incident response
4. Consistent policies and governance across hybrid environments

By implementing these strategies, organizations can secure their automated systems, prevent breaches, and maintain operational resilience.

Protect Your Digital Ecosystem

Leverage advanced IAM and NHI security solutions, like Unosecur, to safeguard your enterprise against evolving cyber threats. Ensure that

automation remains safe, efficient, and resilient.