The non-human identity crisis: Managing machine identities in the modern enterprise
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The rapid integration of artificial intelligence, robotic process automation, IoT devices, and service accounts into enterprise infrastructures has created what security professionals term a "Non-Human Identity Crisis." As machine identities proliferate across technology stacks, traditional security models designed for human authentication prove inadequate for addressing the unique challenges of machine-to-machine communications. This document examines the fundamental security challenges posed by the ephemeral nature of machine identities in cloud-native environments, lifecycle management gaps, visibility deficits, and regulatory compliance complexities. It further explores threat vectors specifically targeting machine identities, including credential theft, API abuse, bot impersonation, and secret extraction. A comprehensive management strategy is presented that encompasses centralized inventory and classification, automated lifecycle management, privileged access management, and continuous behavioral monitoring to address these challenges effectively. By evolving beyond human-centric security approaches, organizations can maintain robust security postures while enabling secure adoption of automation technologies in increasingly complex digital ecosystems.
Author: Kotilingala, Sudheer
Institution: IBM (United States)
Language: English
Subfield: Information Systems
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7083576314
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