The Challenges of Managing Non-Human Identities (NHIs) in IGA

As organizations continue to embrace automation, cloud computing, and digital transformation, the number of Non-Human Identities (NHIs)—service accounts, APIs, bots, and cloud workloads—has grown exponentially. Unlike human identities, NHIs lack traditional authentication behaviors, making their governance a significant challenge.

Managing Non-Human Identities within Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) frameworks is essential to prevent security gaps, privilege escalation, and credential misuse. This article explores the challenges organizations face in governing NHIs and provides actionable insights to enhance security.

What Are Non-Human Identities (NHIs)?

Non-Human Identities (NHIs) refer to machine-based accounts and credentials used for automated processes, integrations, and workload management. Examples include:

• Service Accounts: Used by applications to interact with databases and IT systems.
• APIs & Tokens: Enable seamless data exchange between applications and services.
• Bots & RPA (Robotic Process Automation): Perform automated tasks and workflows.
• Cloud Workloads: Virtual machines, containers, and serverless functions requiring authentication.

As NHIs continue to proliferate, their governance within IGA frameworks becomes increasingly complex and prone to mismanagement.

Challenges in Managing Non-Human Identities in IGA

1. Lack of Visibility and Discovery

One of the primary challenges in managing non-human identities is the lack of visibility into all active NHIs within an enterprise. Many NHIs exist without clear ownership or documentation, making it difficult to track their activity and assess their security posture.

Solution:

• Implement automated discovery tools to identify and catalog all NHIs.
• Use Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) platforms to maintain an inventory of NHIs.
• Assign clear ownership to NHIs to ensure accountability.

2. Overprivileged NHIs

NHIs often receive excessive permissions due to poor privilege management. Service accounts and API tokens frequently operate with full administrative access, increasing the risk of misuse if compromised.

Solution:

• Enforce the least privilege access (PoLP) for NHIs.
• Conduct regular audits to remove unnecessary permissions.
• Implement role-based access control (RBAC) and attribute-based access control (ABAC) policies.

3. Hardcoded Credentials and Poor Secrets Management

Many NHIs rely on hardcoded credentials stored in configuration files, scripts, or repositories. If these credentials are leaked or accessed by attackers, they can be used to infiltrate enterprise environments.

Solution:

• Use Secrets Management tools like HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, or Azure Key Vault.
• Rotate credentials regularly and enforce short-lived authentication tokens.
• Scan repositories for exposed credentials using automated tools.

4. Lack of Lifecycle Management

Unlike human users, NHIs are rarely deprovisioned when no longer needed. This leads to orphaned NHIs, which remain active indefinitely, creating security vulnerabilities.

Solution:

• Integrate NHIs into IGA workflows to automate provisioning and deprovisioning.
• Implement periodic reviews to disable or delete unused NHIs.
• Require business justification for long-lived NHIs.

5. Inadequate Authentication and Monitoring

Many NHIs rely on weak authentication mechanisms, such as static API keys or shared credentials. Additionally, traditional security monitoring solutions often overlook NHIs, making it harder to detect unauthorized activities.

Solution:

• Require strong authentication, such as OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect (OIDC), or certificate-based authentication.
• Implement Privileged Access Management (PAM) for NHIs to enforce session monitoring and logging.
• Use Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) tools to track anomalies in NHI behavior.

Best Practices for Securing NHIs in IGA

1. Establish a Comprehensive NHI Governance Framework

• Define policies for managing non-human identities within IGA.
• Assign dedicated owners for NHI accounts to maintain oversight.
• Regularly audit NHIs to identify and remediate security gaps.

2. Automate Discovery and Classification

• Use machine learning-driven security tools to continuously discover NHIs.
• Classify NHIs based on their risk profile and sensitivity level.
• Integrate NHIs into IGA dashboards for centralized management.

3. Enforce Least Privilege and Zero Trust Principles

• Apply Just-In-Time (JIT) access controls to limit the exposure of privileged NHIs.
• Require multi-factor authentication (MFA) where applicable.
• Conduct privilege reviews to prevent excessive permissions.

4. Strengthen Secrets and Credential Management

• Eliminate hardcoded credentials by using secure vaulting solutions.
• Implement automated credential rotation to prevent long-lived access.
• Ensure NHI credentials are encrypted and securely transmitted.

5. Monitor and Audit NHI Activity Continuously

• Deploy SIEM and User Behavior Analytics (UBA) tools to detect anomalies.
• Establish alerting mechanisms for unusual NHI activity.
• Perform regular compliance checks against NIST, ISO 27001, and CIS Benchmarks.

Conclusion

As organizations scale their IT infrastructure, managing non-human identities within IGA becomes a pressing security concern. NHIs, including service accounts, APIs, and automation scripts, require robust governance to mitigate risks such as credential theft, privilege abuse, and unauthorized access.

By implementing identity lifecycle management, privilege enforcement, secrets protection, and continuous monitoring, enterprises can enhance security while maintaining operational efficiency. Managing Non-Human Identities is no longer optional - it is a critical aspect of cybersecurity resilience in today’s digital world.