How NHIs Are Reshaping The Responsibilities of Identity Security Professionals 

It’s no secret that Identity and Access Management (IAM) stands as the frontline defense against cyber threats. Recent data reveals that 4/5 of publicly known breaches stem from identity-based vulnerabilities, underscoring the urgent need for robust IAM strategies. Until recently, identity security has been synonymous with  governance and access management of for human identities, but this isn’t enough any more as non-human identities (NHIs) have massively expanded the enterprise perimeter that needs to be secured. This means that job requirements and responsibility of identity security professionals need to evolve in order to successfully accomplish the mission of protecting the enterprise crown jewels. 

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We analyzed over 100 job descriptions for open positions such as IAM Security Architect, Manager of Identity and Access Management, Senior IAM Engineer, Director of IAM Systems, and more. We identified the top 10 job responsibilities that now require an effective NHI strategy to be carried out successfully.

• Implement advanced security for identities and data protection, including monitoring and key management.
• Develop IAM solutions for managing human and non-human identities, with a focus on service accounts and APIs.
• Manage identity lifecycles with automated provisioning, rotation, and de-provisioning.
• Enforce governance frameworks for digital identities to meet regulatory and policy standards.
• Design scalable IAM architectures to handle complex identity management needs.
• Establish monitoring systems to track and detect activities related to non-human identities.
• Collaborate across departments to integrate NHIs into IAM frameworks.
• Align IAM strategies with broader business objectives.
• Continuously refine IAM practices to address new challenges and opportunities.

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Let’s now consider them one by one to more deeply understand how NHIs are impacting the ability to fulfill and excel at each job responsibility. 

1. Responsibility: Implement advanced security measures, including monitoring and key management, to protect all identities and their associated data.

NHI impact
NHIs, handling critical and often sensitive operations, are attractive targets for attackers. Unlike human users, NHIs (Non-Human Identifiers) cannot respond to multi-factor authentication (MFA) prompts or regularly update their passwords. This limitation can result in passwords or tokens being hardcoded into scripts or applications, making them challenging to rotate or refresh. Furthermore, NHIs frequently possess elevated privileges to carry out their tasks, which heightens the risk if their credentials are compromised.

2. Responsibility: Develop and implement IAM solutions that effectively manage both human and non-human identities, with a special focus on NHIs like service accounts and APIs.

NHI impact
NHIs cannot be governed through traditional top-down methods used for human identities. The challenge is to create flexible IAM solutions that address the unique needs of NHIs without disrupting operational efficiency. This requires moving beyond static policies to dynamic, policy-based approaches.

3. Responsibility: Implement comprehensive lifecycle management processes for all identities, including automated provisioning, rotation, and de-provisioning.

NHI impact
The sheer volume and complexity of NHIs demand robust automation. Traditional manual processes are insufficient; adopting policy-based automation is crucial to managing NHIs’ lifecycle effectively and securely, ensuring that their roles and permissions are updated seamlessly without manual intervention.

4. Responsibility: Ensure access management processes follow security and regulatory requirements, such as NIST, ISO, GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI-4.0.

NHI impact
Ensuring that access management processes align with diverse and evolving security and regulatory requirements for NHIs can be complex due to their unique nature and integration across various systems.

5. Responsibility: Develop and enforce governance frameworks specifically tailored for digital identities, ensuring they align with regulatory and internal policies.

NHI impact
NHIs introduce unique governance challenges that traditional frameworks may not address. NHIs are not associated with a single individual; rather, they are often shared among multiple users or systems. This sharing can lead to certain security measures designed for human identities being circumvented.Effective governance must consider the automated and unique nature of NHIs, necessitating new approaches to ensure compliance and security. 

6. Responsibility: Design IAM architectures that can scale to handle the increasing number and complexity of the modern identity fabric.

NHI impact
As organizations adopt more cloud services and automation, the number of NHIs grows exponentially. IAM solutions must be scalable and capable of managing this growth efficiently, requiring a shift from traditional models to more adaptable, policy-based systems.

7. Responsibility: Establish comprehensive monitoring systems to track and detect activities associated with non human identities.

NHI impact
Monitoring NHIs is challenging because their continuous operation and high volume can result in longer periods where unauthorized actions go unnoticed. Their automated nature can also obscure potential threats. To ensure visibility and detect anomalies or unauthorized activities, it is essential to implement advanced monitoring and alerting systems.

8. Responsibility: Collaborate with various departments to ensure seamless integration of NHIs into existing IAM frameworks.

NHI impact
NHIs impact multiple areas of the business, requiring effective cross-departmental coordination. Integrating NHIs into IAM frameworks while supporting business goals demands collaboration and alignment across teams.

9. Responsibility: Ensure IAM strategies support broader business objectives.

NHI impact
NHIs are integral to modern digital innovations. Aligning IAM strategies with business objectives while managing the risks associated with NHIs requires a shift in mindset towards policy-based automation that supports organizational goals without hindering progress.

10. Responsibility: Continuously refine IAM practices to address emerging challenges and opportunities.

NHI impact
The dynamic nature of NHIs and evolving cybersecurity threats necessitate ongoing adaptation. Embracing continuous improvement and policy-based automation helps IAM teams stay ahead of new challenges and ensure effective identity management.

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Strategies for Effective NHI Management

Addressing the NHI challenges in modern environment is multifaceted objective that requires organizations to conquer three critical steps:

• Visibility : The first step is gaining a comprehensive understanding of your environment and all identities within it, beyond just the data provided by your Identity Provider (IdP), by incorporating multiple sources of information for deeper visibility into all an identity's critical usage characteristics.
  
  
• Security: The second step is about understanding your perimeter risk exposure. This means developing security policies tailored to your specific business needs, utilizing tools with advanced analytics to identify potential gaps, threats and finally establishing a prioritization process for continuous review and assessment of your security posture.
  
  
• Governance: The last step is about taking control of the lifecycle without creating operational headaches, preventing risks and minimizing the response time to issues. This means moving beyond slow email-based processes for remediation and adopting a more efficient policy-based automation model that can orchestrate workflows across existing infrastructure and services without disruption.

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The Role of Modern NHI Management Solutions

Modern NHI Management (NHIM) solutions, such as Oasis, are pivotal in addressing these challenges. NHIM is a security, operational and governance challenge that requires a purpose-built solution that combines powerful discovery and posture analytics with efficient remediation and lifecycle management. 

Oasis provides the first-of-its-kind solution that accomplishes it thanks to the following unique characteristics. Oasis is the first integrated solution to address the NHIM end-to-end providing   visibility , cybersecurity and governance capabilities built from the ground up for NHIs across the hybrid-cloud: 

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• Unified Identity Management: Provide centralized control and visibility over all identities, integrating NHIs effectively.
• Enhanced Security Posture: Strengthen defenses against breaches and unauthorized access through comprehensive identity governance.
• Automated Lifecycle Management: Streamline provisioning, de-provisioning, and access controls for NHIs, improving efficiency and security.

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Conclusion

Today’s IAM and security leaders face the challenge of managing both human and non-human identities. As organizations embrace digital transformation, NHIs become increasingly crucial and bring a new set of requirements and risks that legacy IAM and PAM solutions are ill-equipped to address. Implementing effective NHI Management has become a critical element for mission success of today’s identity and security teams.