Understanding Machine Identity and Non-Human Identity Management in Cybersecurity

Gartner’s recently published 2024 Magic Quadrant for Privileged Access Management (PAM) is being noticed across the globe because it presents an important shift that shows how PAM vendors like senhasegura are addressing the complexities of “machine identities” and the necessity of securing human and machine identities alike. 

At senhasegura, where we promise CISOs, “We’ll help you sleep soundly at night,” one of our responsibilities is to ensure that as cybersecurity trends evolve, so will our services and software. This article introduces the concepts of “non-human identity” and “machine identity,” as both terms often have different meanings and associated concepts in the market. While both terms are critical in securing IT and OT environments, they sometimes refer to distinct concepts. These differences and managing these identities are essential for your organization. Let’s look at why. 

Non-Human Identity: An Expansive Umbrella

“Non-human identity” encompasses any identities that do not directly relate to individual human users. These also can include Internet of Things (IoT) devices, applications performing automated activities, and services operating within the IT environment. For example, a non-human identity might involve a payroll system connecting with another system to execute payments. Here, non-human identities act as “talking” entities, autonomously facilitating communication and interaction.

The primary risk associated with non-human identities stems from their access and privilege levels. These identities often hold high levels of privilege, enabling them to perform critical actions within the system. This makes them a prime target for attackers, who can exploit compromised credentials to escalate their access or move laterally throughout the network.

Machine Identity: A Subset of Non-Human Identity

Machine identity management is a specific subset of non-human identity. It involves managing unique identifiers or certifications that machines — like servers, containers, cloud instances, microservices, and network devices — use to authenticate and communicate securely with other machines. Machine identity management relies on mechanisms such as API keys, certificates, tokens, and secrets to facilitate this secure communication. Organization teams or vendors like senhasegura ensure that machines authenticate one another and exchange data securely so organizations can prevent unauthorized machine-to-machine interactions that could expose sensitive information or compromise security.

Key Differences Between Non-Human and Machine Identity Management:

• Non-Human Identity Management: Encompasses all non-human entities, such as bots, applications, and automated systems, that require unique credentials for operation.
• Machine Identity Management: Focuses on securing communication and authentication between machines, typically involving certificates and cryptographic measures.

For instance, while a certification on a server might allow one machine to communicate with another, non-human identity covers broader scenarios, such as an HR system triggering an action in a payment system.

How Gartner sees Machine Identity Management

At Gartner, the term "Non-Human Identity" is avoided in favor of "Machine Identity Management", emphasizing machine-centric management. For Gartner, machine identity management encompasses the security, integrity, and trustworthiness of machine-to-machine interactions. This approach includes workloads, devices, and systems that require unique identities to establish trusted communication channels.

Gartner’s focus is not solely on managing credentials for machines but also on defining and managing the trust and policies that govern interactions between machines. This approach recognizes the importance of both the identity and the policies that govern machine interactions, focusing on lifecycle management for the identities, policies, and credentials such as secrets, keys, and certificates that machines use for trusted identification and authorization. From Gartner's perspective, machine identity management ensures not just authentication but a full spectrum of trust and observability for workloads (like APIs, applications, and containers), as well as physical devices (such as IoT and mobile devices).

How KuppingerCole views Machine Identity Management

In contrast, KuppingerCole provides a more granular take, questioning whether “machine identity” is too broad a term. According to KuppingerCole, labeling all non-human entities as machine identities can be overly simplistic, overlooking the distinctions between the various types of non-human identities. They suggest that the term “machine” is too coarse-grained since it traditionally implies physical mechanics, which doesn’t accurately describe Industrial IoT (IIoT) devices or service accounts in cloud infrastructure.

For KuppingerCole, the issue with the term "machine" is its lack of differentiation among identities with varying functions, access needs, and security requirements. For example, a device in an industrial setting with moving mechanical parts differs significantly from a service account that grants API access in a cloud-based environment. Despite their differences, both are non-human entities requiring identity management. Therefore, KuppingerCole advocates for a more segmented understanding, aligning with the market’s view that "non-human identities" are, at a coarse-grain level, simply “identities” with unique requirements.

Proper Management is Critical

In recent years, machine and non-human identities have far outnumbered traditional user accounts. Research shows that 71% of data breaches involved these accounts between January and June 2023, rising to 85% by late 2024. Experts note that these accounts often fly under the radar of traditional monitoring systems, making them a prime target for attackers. Without proper visibility, the risk of breaches climbs even higher.

Challenges and Solutions in Managing Non-Human and Machine Identities:

• Complexity: Machine identities encompass diverse devices and workloads, each with unique requirements for identity management. This leads to a fragmented landscape where different tools are required for different environments, creating complexity in managing a cohesive MIM strategy.
• Visibility: Without a clear view of non-human and machine identities, organizations struggle to track and secure credentials. These credentials are often scattered across servers, cloud environments, and more.
• Privileged Access: Many non-human identities hold high levels of privilege, increasing the risk of misuse or exploitation. This is especially critical when managers of privilege do not take non-human identities into consideration. 
• Lack of Automation: Manually managing these identities is inefficient and prone to human error. Automation is crucial for maintaining security at scale.
• Decentralized Management: Different teams often use different tools to manage identities, leading to inconsistency and gaps in coverage.

How senhasegura Can Help

senhasegura offers best-in-class solutions for managing non-human and machine identities. Our capabilities provide:

• Comprehensive Visibility: Discover a wide range of assets and credentials, including machine identities, across your environment.
• Complexity Management: Address security risks across diverse assets, from cloud workloads to network devices.
• Credential Security: Our solution can evaluate and adjust privilege levels, monitor activity, and rotate credentials to prevent attacks like credential dumping. Solutions like senhasegura Certificate Management, Cloud Entitlement, and DevOps Secrets Management help you maintain a robust security posture.

Best Practices for Effective Management

1. Use a PAM Tool: Managing machine identities without specialized tools is inefficient and risky. PAM tools like our robust solution here at senhasegura will automate processes and improve visibility. Remember, when we shine a light on the entire system, the attackers cannot hide. 
2. Assign Credential Ownership: Ensure each credential has a responsible owner who understands its function and security requirements.
3. Monitor and Audit Activity: Track and analyze every action performed using these credentials for greater accountability and security.
4. Implement Zero Trust Principles: Enforce strict access controls, continually monitor credential use, and verify actions at every stage.
5. Centralized Management: Use a centralized tool to manage certifications and automate credential rotation, reducing the burden on your teams and enhancing security.

Effectively managing non-human and machine identities is a crucial component of modern cybersecurity. Understanding these concepts and how to prevent a breach is just one reason to talk to our team about the robust solutions we offer at senhasegura.