Introduction

As organizations continue their digital transformation, non-human identities (NHIs)such as service accounts, API keys, bots, and machine identities—have exploded in number. These identities power automation, integrations, and cloud workloads, yet they often lack proper security oversight.

The OWASP Top 10 for Non-Human Identity (NHI) highlights the key risks associated with these identities, exposing how attackers exploit misconfigurations, excessive permissions, and orphaned accounts.

In this post, we’ll briefly explore these top threats, deep dive into Lack of Lifecycle Management for NHIs, and discuss how CloudNuro helps organizations gain control over non-human identities.

OWASP Top 10 for Non-Human Identity

The OWASP Top 10 for NHIs categorizes the most critical security risks that organizations face when managing machine identities. Here’s a quick look at the top threats:

1. Lack of Lifecycle Management – Orphaned accounts, unrevoked permissions, and unmanaged NHIs create security risks.

2. Weak Credential Management – Hardcoded secrets, long-lived API keys, and weak authentication expose NHIs to attacks.

3. Overprivileged NHIs – Excessive permissions increase the impact of a compromise.

4. Lack of Visibility & Monitoring – Untracked NHIs allow attackers to operate undetected.

5. Insecure API Access – Weak authentication and authorization in APIs expose sensitive data.

6. Supply Chain Vulnerabilities – Third-party NHIs can be leveraged for attacks.

7. Insecure Federation of NHIs – Poorly managed federated machine identities lead to privilege escalation.

8. Credential Harvesting Attacks – Attackers steal NHI credentials to infiltrate systems.

9. Unrestricted Network Access – NHIs with broad access enable lateral movement.

10. Lack of Compliance & Governance – Poorly governed NHIs lead to regulatory violations.

Among these, Lack of Lifecycle Management for NHIs is one of the most overlooked yet critical threats. Let’s explore why this risk matters.

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The Risk of Poor Lifecycle Management for Non-Human Identities

NHIs often lack proper lifecycle management, meaning they are created but rarely monitored, rotated, or decommissioned. This results in orphaned accounts, excessive permissions, and long-lived credentials, making it easier for attackers to exploit them.

Why This Matters

1. Orphaned NHIs Become Attack Vectors

• NHIs that are no longer in use but remain active create a backdoor for attackers.

• Orphaned service accounts and API keys are often forgotten but retain access to sensitive resources.

• Attackers who steal these credentials can move laterally, escalating their access.

Example: A security audit in a large enterprise found that over 60% of service accounts were unused but still had active privileges.

2. Overprivileged NHIs Increase the Attack Surface

• NHIs often have excessive permissions that exceed their actual usage needs.

• When compromised, they allow unauthorized access to critical systems.

• Privilege escalation attacks exploit these excessive permissions to gain broader control.

Example: A misconfigured automation script in a cloud environment had admin-level access, which an attacker used to delete and modify infrastructure.

3. Hardcoded or Long-Lived Credentials Increase Risk

• API keys and service credentials rarely expire, making them prime targets.

• NHIs with static credentials in code repositories or config files can be leaked.

Example: In 2022, GitHub accidentally exposed internal API tokens, which could have been used by attackers if not quickly revoked.

How CloudNuro Solves NHI Lifecycle Challenges

Our product is designed to detect, categorize, and manage non-human identities, addressing the critical challenge of Lifecycle Management for NHIs. Here’s how:

1. Detects Orphaned NHIs and Reduces Risk

• Automatically scans and identifies orphaned NHIs across cloud platforms and enterprise systems.

• Flags unused service accounts and API keys, suggesting deactivation.

• Prevents attackers from exploiting forgotten credentials.

2. Categorizes Human vs. Non-Human Identities

• Uses behavioral analysis to differentiate NHIs from human users.

• Apply strict policies for NHIs, ensuring they are treated differently from human users.

• Prevents privilege creep and unauthorized access.

3. Enforces Lifecycle Policies & Automates Decommissioning

• Tracks creation and last-used timestamps to identify stale NHIs.

• Automatically expires long-lived API keys and revokes unused NHIs.

• Provides insight into NHIs are deprovisioned when no longer needed.

Conclusion: Securing Non-Human Identities is Critical

The rapid growth of machine identities and automation has created a massive security challenge—unmanaged NHIs are a ticking time bomb. Attackers target orphaned accounts, long-lived credentials, and overprivileged NHIs to gain unauthorized access.

CloudNuro eliminates these risks by automating lifecycle management and ensuring NHIs are continuously monitored and decommissioned when no longer needed.

Want to gain full visibility into your non-human identities? Contact us today! 🔹

Secure your NHIs before attackers do.  

Stay Tuned for upcoming updates on next NHI risks.

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