Part 1 — Understanding the Different Types of Non-Human Identities and Their Placement

Read full article here: https://www.unosecur.com/blog/securing-non-human-identities-part-1-understanding-the-types-of-nhis-and-placement/?utm_source=nhimg

As automation becomes the backbone of digital operations, non-human identities (NHIs)—credentials used by applications, APIs, containers, and IoT devices—have quietly overtaken human identities in scale and risk exposure. In hybrid and multi-cloud environments, every API call, container process, and CI/CD pipeline token represents a potential gateway into the enterprise. Yet, many organizations still lack visibility into where these identities reside or how they’re secured.

This report explores the core types of NHIs, their placement across environments, and the architectural principles needed to protect them effectively. It also highlights real-world case studies where mismanaged NHIs led to severe security breaches, underscoring the urgent need for proactive identity governance and lifecycle management.

Understanding the Difference: API Keys vs. Service Accounts

While both API keys and service accounts facilitate system-to-system communication, they differ in scope and control:

• API keys are typically used for external API access, such as enabling integrations between an e-commerce platform and a payment processor.
• Service accounts act as internal system-level identities within enterprise or cloud environments, managing automated tasks and service operations.

Both are forms of NHIs, yet each poses distinct risks when misconfigured, hardcoded, or left unrotated. This distinction forms the basis for understanding the broader landscape of machine identities that power digital ecosystems.

The Expanding Universe of Non-Human Identities

According to Gartner’s 2023 Market Guide for Machine Identity Management, the number of machine identities has grown by 45% in just two years. These identities now span across:

• On-premises infrastructures
• Cloud-native applications
• Containerized microservices
• Edge and IoT devices

Each of these environments requires its own identity model, bringing unique attack vectors and governance challenges.

The Six Core Types of NHIs

1. Application-to-Application (A2A) Identities - Secure communication between applications using tokens or OAuth credentials. Common in microservices and integrations.
   Key Risk: Hardcoded secrets and exposed tokens in source code repositories.
2. Service Accounts (On-Premises) - Non-human users for internal systems and background processes tied to Active Directory or LDAP.
   Key Risk: Overprivileged accounts leading to lateral movement within networks.
3. Cloud API Keys and Tokens - Short-lived credentials used to access cloud resources and APIs across AWS, Azure, and GCP.
   Key Risk: Mismanaged keys leading to unauthorized cloud access and data exfiltration.
4. Container and Microservices Identities - Temporary identities for short-lived workloads in Kubernetes and Docker environments.
   Key Risk: Unmonitored ephemeral tokens allowing privilege escalation.
5. CI/CD Pipeline Credentials - Secrets embedded in Jenkins, GitHub Actions, or Terraform to automate deployments.
   Key Risk: Supply chain compromise through stolen pipeline credentials.
6. IoT and Edge Device Identities - Machine identities assigned to physical or embedded devices for remote authentication.
   Key Risk: Weak firmware security and static credentials exploited in large-scale IoT attacks.

Architectural Placement and Security Principles

In hybrid architectures, NHIs often span multiple security boundaries—from legacy systems to public cloud APIs. To manage this complexity, organizations should:

• Implement least privilege access across all machine identities.
• Adopt Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) or policy-based access frameworks.
• Enforce short-lived tokens and automated credential rotation.
• Centralize identity visibility using secrets management platforms (e.g., CyberArk, HashiCorp Vault).
• Continuously monitor for unused or risky permissions to prevent drift from compliance baselines.

Case Studies and Real-World Lessons

• Financial Sector Breach (AWS Keys Exposed) - Developers committed AWS API keys to a public GitHub repository. Attackers exploited the exposed keys within hours, leading to an S3 data breach.
  Lesson: Enforce code scanning tools and credential detection in CI/CD pipelines.
• Healthcare Kubernetes Compromise - A single service account was shared among multiple microservices. When one was breached, attackers leveraged its privileges to access patient records.
  Lesson: Implement service-level RBAC and rotate service account credentials regularly.

These incidents highlight how overlooked or overprivileged NHIs can lead to devastating cross-environment compromise.

Building a Secure Foundation for NHIs

Non-human identities are now the new attack surface in hybrid and cloud ecosystems. Effective protection requires:

• Full visibility into every machine identity.
• Continuous privilege monitoring to detect drift.
• Automated lifecycle governance that enforces least privilege from creation to retirement.
• Integration with CIEM, IAM, and secrets vaulting solutions to unify policy enforcement.

As organizations continue to automate operations, securing NHIs isn’t just an IT hygiene task—it’s a strategic imperative for protecting the digital backbone of the enterprise.