Non-Human Identities: The Overlooked Risk Behind Today's Biggest Cyber Breaches

Non-Human Identities (NHIs)—including service accounts, API keys, OAuth tokens, and other machine-to-machine credentials—have quietly emerged as a critical cybersecurity vulnerability. Despite their essential role in enabling automation and AI, these identities often lack the oversight that human identities receive. Our latest whitepaper dives deeply into this pressing issue, revealing how unmanaged NHIs have contributed to some of the most significant cybersecurity breaches of the past decade.

According to ReliaQuest, a shocking 85% of security breaches in 2024 involved compromised Non-Human Identities. This statistic underscores an unsettling truth: while businesses prioritize protecting human user credentials, NHIs often remain dangerously exposed.

So why are NHIs becoming such a popular target? The problem starts with visibility—or rather, a lack thereof. Organizations frequently struggle to maintain comprehensive oversight of NHIs, especially within complex hybrid environments. As a result, unused or improperly secured service accounts and API keys proliferate, creating entry points ripe for exploitation.

Take, for instance, the breach highlighted in our whitepaper involving an unmonitored service account. Created for a singular, short-term task, this account retained administrator privileges long after its utility ended. Attackers exploited this oversight to access sensitive customer data without detection. Regular audits and strict privilege management could have prevented this costly incident.

Another example underscores the dangers of poor credential management. A misconfigured firewall combined with an overly privileged service account resulted in one of the largest data exposures of the decade—impacting over 100 million customers. Here, a simple adherence to least-privilege principles, regular credential rotation, and enhanced monitoring practices could have drastically reduced the breach's scope.

To combat these risks, our whitepaper recommends adopting robust NHI governance practices. We review these and other examples in depth, and unpack how they could have been avoided. Essential strategies include enforcing least privilege access, ensuring continuous monitoring, and maintaining rigorous credential hygiene. Equally important is integrating security into software development practices from the outset—proactively reducing the potential attack surface.

The reality is clear: NHIs are now a primary attack vector in cybersecurity breaches. Organizations cannot afford to overlook the management and security of these critical yet often invisible identities. The good news? By improving visibility, tightening privilege controls, and adopting vigilant monitoring practices, businesses can turn NHIs from vulnerabilities into secure assets.

Download our whitepaper today to discover more real-world breach analyses and learn actionable strategies to secure your organization's Non-Human Identities. Don't let these silent risks undermine your cybersecurity posture—take control now.

Read it here: https://www.natoma.id/library/non-human-identities-the-fastest-growing-risk-in-cybersecurity