Non-Human Identities Security: Breaking down the problem

Read full article here: https://www.slashid.com/blog/non-human-identity-security/?source=nhimg

Non-Human Identities (NHIs)—such as service accounts, machine credentials, and API tokens—are now top-tier targets for adversaries. High-profile breaches involving Microsoft, Dropbox, and Cloudflare all highlight a growing trend: attackers are shifting left, targeting non-human access as both an entry point and a vector for lateral movement.

This article breaks down the anatomy of real-world attacks on NHIs using the MITRE ATT&CK framework, spotlighting common techniques like credential theft, token forgery, and session hijacking. Many of these attacks succeed because of two systemic issues: uncontrolled credential sprawl and lack of governance across the NHI lifecycle.

NHIs come with unique challenges—no MFA, weak or static credentials, and poor visibility into ownership or usage. These limitations make them ideal for credential-based compromise. Most security failures boil down to over-permissioned, under-monitored identities with credentials that are hard to rotate, revoke, or bind to specific workloads.

The blog calls for a multi-layered solution built around three pillars:

1. Engineering – Implement short-lived, workload-bound credentials, and tokenized access wherever possible.

2. Governance – Establish ownership, automate lifecycle controls, and enforce least privilege.

3. Detection & Response – Build real-time detection pipelines and automated containment to reduce breakout time.

While ideal solutions (like ephemeral tokens and zero-trust workloads) are difficult to implement broadly today, practical improvements are available:

• Use vaulting and scanning tools to reduce key exposure.

• Tokenize secrets to minimize surface area and improve rotation.

• Enforce conditional access and continuous inventory for NHIs.

• Automate response to anomalous behavior from service accounts and workloads.

Bottom line

Securing NHIs isn’t just an identity problem—it’s a cross-functional challenge requiring tighter engineering practices, automated governance, and fast detection-response capabilities. With attackers breaking out in under 30 minutes, proactive NHI defense is no longer optional—it’s mission critical.