While your security team sleeps, a hidden workforce of thousands is wide awake in your network. These are your non-human identities (NHIs): service accounts, API tokens, DevOps bots, and cloud automation scripts. A recent industry report reveals that 51% of security leaders now believe securing these entities is as critical as protecting human accounts. Yet, they remain the most overlooked, over-permissioned, and dangerously exposed part of the modern digital enterprise. This article is your definitive guide to understanding the threat and implementing the defenses that will secure your organization's future.

A Real-World Nightmare Scenario

Imagine a financial tech company, "FinFlow," uses a highly privileged service account named svc_ci_deployer. This non-human identity has permanent access to the core cloud production environment to automate code deployments. Its credentials, a long-forgotten API key, are hardcoded into a dozen legacy build scripts.

A threat actor scans a public code repository, finds an old, mistakenly committed configuration file containing a fragment of the key, and brute-forces the rest. They now have the keys to the kingdom. Using this compromised NHI, the attacker moves laterally for months, exfiltrating data and planting backdoors, all while activity is logged under the trusted service account name, raising zero alarms. This isn't fiction; it's a common pattern in modern breaches.

What Are Non-Human Identities? The Invisible Workforce

Non-human identities are digital entities that perform actions autonomously without direct human intervention. They are the engines of automation and scale in modern IT. In many cloud environments, they outnumber human users 10:1 or more.

Common Types of NHIs:

• Service Accounts: Used by applications or services to interact with databases, APIs, or other services (e.g., svc_backend, admin_sql).
• API Keys & Tokens: Used for programmatic access to cloud services (AWS IAM keys, Google Service Account keys).
• DevOps & CI/CD Bots: Automation scripts in Jenkins, GitLab Runners, or GitHub Actions that build, test, and deploy code.
• IoT & Device Identities: Machine identities for sensors, routers, and managed devices.
• Cloud Resource Identities: Identities assigned to virtual machines, serverless functions (e.g., AWS Lambda), or containers to access other resources.

Why NHIs Are Your Greatest Cybersecurity Risk

The security peril of NHIs stems from a fundamental mismatch: they are powerful machine entities managed with human-centric tools and neglected processes.

The Anatomy of an NHI Attack: A Technical Deep Dive

Let's examine exactly how an attacker exploits a vulnerable service account. Assume an attacker finds an AWS Access Key ID and Secret Key hardcoded in a Terraform file.

 and  tags for this purpose, which is standard for displaying code in HTML. -->
aws sts get-caller-identity --profile stolen-key
aws iam list-attached-user-policies --user-name svc_backup_bot --profile stolen-key

        
The response shows the identity is an IAM User named svc_backup_bot with the managed policy AmazonS3FullAccess attached. The attacker now knows they have broad S3 access.
    

Step 3: Lateral Movement & Persistence

Using the S3 access, the attacker lists buckets, finding one named finflow-app-configs. They download configuration files, hoping to find credentials to other services (like databases). They might also create a new, hidden IAM user with persistent credentials for long-term access, a technique called persistence.

---

Mapping the Threat: MITRE ATT&CK and NHI Exploitation

The MITRE ATT&CK framework perfectly describes the tactics and techniques used in NHI-based attacks. Understanding this mapping is crucial for defense.

MITRE ATT&CK Tactic	Relevant Technique	How It Applies to NHI Attacks
Initial Access (TA0001)	T1078.004 - Valid Accounts: Cloud Accounts	Attackers use compromised NHI credentials (service accounts, API keys) as valid, trusted accounts to enter the environment.
Persistence (TA0003)	T1136.003 - Create Account: Cloud Account	After gaining access via an NHI, attackers create new service accounts or add keys to existing ones to maintain access.
Privilege Escalation (TA0004)	T1068 - Exploitation for Privilege Escalation	If the initial NHI has low privileges, attackers exploit vulnerabilities or misconfigurations to assume a higher-privileged NHI role.
Defense Evasion (TA0005)	T1078.004 - Valid Accounts	Activity performed under a legitimate, trusted NHI account blends in with normal operations, evading detection that would trigger for human accounts.
Exfiltration (TA0010)	T1537 - Transfer Data to Cloud Account	Attackers use the NHI's permissions (e.g., S3 read, database export) to copy data to an external cloud storage they control.

For defenders, the corresponding MITRE D3FEND matrix provides countermeasures: D3FEND - Countermeasures suggests techniques like Dynamic Account Locking and Credential Hardening.

---

Common Mistakes & Best Practices

❌ Common Mistakes

• Hardcoding Secrets: Embedding API keys or passwords directly in source code or configuration files.
• Provisioning Permanent Access: Granting NHIs persistent "owner" or "admin" roles with no expiration.
• Neglecting Audits: Never reviewing which permissions NHIs have or how they are being used.
• Treating NHIs as Second-Class: Excluding them from security policies like credential rotation or MFA.
• Poor Secret Sprawl Management: Having no centralized system to manage, rotate, or revoke secrets.

✅ Best Practices

• Enforce Zero-Trust for NHIs: Mandate authentication, authorization, and least-privilege for every machine identity.
• Implement Just-in-Time (JIT) Access: Grant elevated permissions only for specific, approved tasks and revoke immediately after.
• Use a Secrets Manager: Centralize secrets (e.g., AWS Secrets Manager, HashiCorp Vault) and enforce automatic rotation.
• Establish Comprehensive Logging: Log all NHI activity with context (who requested access, what was accessed, when) for audit trails.
• Conduct Regular NHI Audits: Use Cloud Asset Inventory tools to discover and classify all NHIs, then prune unused ones.

---

Red Team vs. Blue Team: Perspectives on NHIs

Red Team (Attack) View

"NHIs are the low-hanging fruit and our preferred entry point. We look for:

• Public Code Repos: First stop for hardcoded cloud keys and tokens.
• Over-Permissioned Roles: We enumerate permissions of any NHI we compromise to see how far we can go.
• Lack of Behavioral Baselines: Since NHI activity is rarely monitored, we can perform data discovery and exfiltration without triggering alerts.
• Persistence: We often backdoor the environment by creating new, hidden NHIs or adding our keys to existing ones."

Blue Team (Defense) View

"Our mission is to treat NHIs as first-class citizens in our security model. Our strategy involves:

• Discovery & Inventory: Continuously scanning with tools like AWS IAM Analyzer or Azure Entra ID to find all NHIs.
• Least Privilege Enforcement: Using tools like AWS IAM Access Analyzer and Policy Sentry to right-size permissions.
• Secrets Management: Mandating the use of a vault. Any hardcoded secret in code is a critical finding.
• Anomaly Detection: Building SIEM rules to flag NHI activity outside normal patterns (e.g., access from a new IP region, unusual API call)."

---

Your 5-Step NHI Security Implementation Framework

Step 1: Discover & Inventory

Action: Use native cloud tools (AWS IAM User/Role listing, Azure Managed Identities graph queries) and third-party CSPM tools to find every NHI. Tag them by owner, purpose, and criticality. Goal: Answer "What NHIs exist, and where?"

Step 2: Classify & Rightsize Permissions

Action: Analyze attached policies and roles. Remove unused permissions and enforce the principle of least privilege. Replace long-lived credentials with short-lived ones. Goal: Minimize the blast radius of any single compromised NHI.

Step 3: Secure Credentials & Secrets

Action: Implement a centralized secrets management solution. Enforce automatic credential rotation. Scan code repositories historically and in CI/CD pipelines for hardcoded secrets using tools like TruffleHog or GitGuardian. Goal: Eliminate static, embedded secrets.

Step 4: Implement Governance & JIT Access

Action: Define policies for NHI creation and approval. Integrate a Privileged Access Management (PAM) solution that can broker elevated, time-bound access for NHIs when needed. Goal: Replace standing privilege with audited, temporary access.

Step 5: Monitor, Audit & Iterate

Action: Streamline NHI activity logs to your SIEM. Create alerts for anomalous behavior (e.g., NHI used outside business hours, from a new geolocation). Conduct quarterly access reviews. Goal: Achieve continuous visibility and control.

---

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: Can I use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for non-human identities?

A: Direct MFA (like a phone prompt) isn't feasible for machines. However, the core principle, "something you have", is enforced through modern security practices. Using short-lived, automatically rotated credentials from a secrets vault or client certificates achieves a similar strong authentication standard for NHIs.

Q: How do Just-in-Time (JIT) access and Privileged Access Management (PAM) work for bots?

A: Modern PAM solutions can act as a secure broker. Instead of a script having direct, permanent cloud access, it requests temporary credentials from the PAM system for a specific task. The PAM system checks policy, grants time-limited credentials, logs the action, and revokes access after. This eliminates standing privilege.

Q: What's the first tool I should implement to improve NHI security?

A: Start with a Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) tool. It will automatically discover misconfigured and over-permissioned NHIs across your cloud environments, giving you the visibility needed to start remediation. Open-source frameworks like Cloud Custodian can also help enforce governance rules.

---

Key Takeaways

• NHIs are Prime Targets: They are numerous, powerful, and poorly monitored, making them a top vector for modern cyber attacks.
• Zero-Trust is Non-Negotiable: Apply authentication, least-privilege, and explicit verification principles to every machine identity.
• Secrets Management is Foundational: Eliminate hardcoded credentials. A centralized vault with rotation is critical for secure NHI operations.
• Visibility Precedes Control: You cannot defend what you cannot see. Continuous discovery and auditing of NHIs is step zero.
• Map to MITRE ATT&CK: Understanding the techniques attackers use (like Valid Accounts) guides you to implement the correct defenses and monitoring.

Ready to Secure Your Silent Workforce?

The time to act is now. Begin today by running a single command in your primary cloud environment to list all service accounts and IAM roles. Assess the permissions of the first five. You'll likely find your first critical risk within the hour.

For a deeper dive into implementing zero-trust for automation, explore the NIST Special Publication on Zero-Trust Architecture and the OWASP Top 10 for awareness of broader application risks.

Share this guide with your security team and start the conversation about making NHI security a priority.

© 2026 Cyber Pulse Academy. This content is provided for educational purposes only.

Always consult with security professionals for organization-specific guidance.