Table of Contents
Mitigating Non-Human Identity Risk
TL;DR: This guide explains why non-human identities such as APIs, applications, services, and workloads have become a major security risk in modern enterprises. It covers the dangers of hardcoded credentials and excessive permissions, the need for Zero Trust and short-lived access, and a practical 10-step maturity plan for securing NHIs. It also shows how Workload IAM can centralize identity management, enforce least privilege, automate credential rotation, and improve auditability across environments.
Aembit Team
Product & Research
Published Feb 2025
Updated Sep 2026
50:1
Non-human to human identities
18
Agent threat classes mapped
0
Long-lived secrets required
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Table of Contents
Non-human identities (NHIs) – APIs, applications, services, and other workloads – now outnumber human users in most enterprises. Yet, they’re often overlooked in security strategies, leaving hardcoded credentials, overprivileged access, and blind spots for attackers to exploit. If you’re securing only human users, you’re only paying mind to half the picture.
This new guide from TAG Infosphere breaks down the risks – and the solutions. Written by Edward Amoroso, former longtime CISO of AT&T, it explores why traditional identity management fails for workloads and lays out a practical approach to securing NHIs.
You’ll learn:
- The Identity Shift: Why non-human identities have quietly taken over enterprise environments – and what that means for IT and security operations.
- The Problem with Secrets: How attackers exploit hardcoded credentials and why it makes sense to transition to short-lived tokens.
- Zero Trust for Workloads: Why familiar security principles used for human users must be applied to non-human identities.
- A 10-Step Maturity Action Plan: How to automate key rotation, inventory NHIs, enforce least-privilege policies, establish audit-ready controls, plus more.
- The Benefits of Workload IAM: Why adopting a platform that spans environments to enable centralized identity management and secure access provides a much stronger alternative to legacy credential management.
Non-human identities are now a primary attack surface. This guide will help kick off your efforts or advance an ongoing project!
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