What role do NHIs play in our organization’s security posture? – Source: securityboulevard.com

What Essential Role Do Non-Human Identities (NHIs) Play in Our Organization’s Security Posture?

When our world increasingly moves towards digitalization, one quite critical question that could be floating around your mind is, “What is the significance of NHIs in enhancing our security posture?”

The answer to this question lies deeply rooted in understanding NHIs and managing them efficiently. So, why the fuss about Non-Human Identities?

Understanding NHIs

Non-Human Identities, or NHIs, encompass automated systems, bots, servers, microservices, and other machine identities involved in your organization’s IT operations. Management of NHIs can be likened to securing a “tourist” along with their “passport,” where the tourist represents machine identities and the passport signifies their access credentials.

This approach’s primary focus is to bridge security gaps that arise from a disconnect between security and R&D teams, essentially enabling a secure cloud environment.

Decoding Secrets Management

On the other hand, Secrets Management refers to securing the “passport,” or the access credentials for NHIs. This includes an encrypted password, token, or key providing a unique identifier, coupled with the permissions granted by a destination server.

Managing NHIs and their secrets involves implementing a holistic approach to secure the machine identities and their access credentials, while also monitoring their behavior within the system.

The Crux of NHI Management

NHI management targets a comprehensive defense strategy, covering all stages of an NHI’s lifecycle, from discovery and classification to threat identification and remediation. This, in contrast to point solutions like secret scanners, provides complete protection.

By offering insights into ownership, permissions, usage patterns, and potential vulnerabilities, NHI management allows for context-aware security. Such a strategy can help professionals across an array of industries and departments – financial services, healthcare, travel, DevOps, and SOC teams, particularly those working in the cloud.

Embracing the Benefits of NHI Management

NHI and secrets management comes with numerous advantages. Implementing an effective NHI management strategy results in:

– Reduced Risk: This management approach identifies and mitigates security risks proactively, lowering the likelihood of breaches and data leaks.
– Improved Compliance: NHI management helps meet regulatory requirements by enforcing policies and providing audit trails.
– Increased Efficiency: Automating NHIs and secrets management lets security teams concentrate on strategic initiatives.
– Enhanced Visibility and Control: It offers a centralized view for access management and governance.
– Cost-Savings: This method also reduces operational costs by automating secret rotations and NHI decommissioning.

Identity management solutions and cloud security measures aid in the effective implementation of NHI management, thereby bolstering an organization’s overall security posture.

So, Are NHIs Crucial to Your Security Posture?

The short answer is, unequivocally, Yes. With the surge of digital transformation, your organization’s security posture’s integrity is highly contingent on how proficiently you manage NHIs and their secrets.

With the challenges brought about by the cloud-based systems and machine identities, adopting a robust NHI management strategy is no longer a choice but a necessity. It is an essential aspect of reinforcing your organization’s security fabric.

Therefore, understanding and implementing NHI management in your organization not only bolsters your security posture but also ensures compliance, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness.

Incorporating a comprehensive NHI management strategy will undoubtedly be a game-changer for your organization’s security stance, providing you with an impregnable defense against potential breaches.

The Emergence of NHIs’ Role in Cybersecurity

It is undeniable that security today is no longer limited to defending against human perpetrators. The rise of digital technologies and innovations, like cloud computing and automated systems, meant that machine identities are now an intricate part of any network infrastructure. NHIs have naturally emerged as a critical factor in cybersecurity, considering they handle sensitive data of their own and because they form links in a security perimeter that could mean an organization’s stronghold or vulnerability.

NHIs and Data Leaks: A Challenging Puzzle

Data leaks cost companies approximately $3.92 million on average, according to IBM’s 2019 Cost of a Data Breach Report. And while human factor remains a major cause of such mishaps, machine identities, managed improperly, can be equally, if not more, detrimental. An incorrectly configured NHI can inadvertently expose sensitive data, and worse, cybercriminals are increasingly exploiting NHIs in their attacks due to the wealth of data they handle and their connections within internal networks.

Addressing the Issue through Efficient NHI Management

To mitigate such risks, organizations need to incorporate the key pillar of NHI and Secrets Management into their cybersecurity framework — a data-driven approach that covers all aspects of a machine identity’s lifecycle. By doing so, businesses can achieve greater visibility and control, ensuring the security of their NHIs “on-tour,” along with their “passports” — their unique identifiers.

Does NHI Management Ensure Absolute Security?

Evidence suggests that efficient NHI management significantly decreases the risk of security breaches and data leaks. Undeniably, it plays an instrumental role in enhancing overall security measures. However, absolute security cannot be guaranteed. It is essential to continue to review and refine NHI management strategies in line with changes, NHIs’ role, and the emerging threat intelligence.

Securing NHIs: Why Compliance Matters?

NHI management is also about ensuring compliance. Various regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and the California Consumer Privacy Act mandate different levels of data protection. By securely managing NHIs and their secrets, businesses can make sure they are following these regulations and avoiding the potential hefty penalties for non-compliance.

Take a look at our blog on prioritization of NHI remediation in cloud environments to get a more detailed perspective on this matter.

Moving Forward

From financial services to healthcare and travel, industries worldwide are now recognizing the inherent value of NHI Management. It’s a pivotal issue that combines various subsets of cybersecurity and data management into a cohesive strategy.

To summarize, NHI management is not simply a buzzword but a matter of strategic cyber resilience. By proactively managing NHIs and their secrets, organizations are better equipped to securely and efficiently.

These are exciting times indeed, where businesses, backed by intelligent data management and cybersecurity strategies, can seize opportunities while safeguarding their digital assets effectively. For more insights on the topic, make sure to read our blog about how even NHIs aren’t immune to phishing attacks.

Whether you are a seasoned CISO, an emerging cybersecurity professional, or simply an enthusiast interested, understanding NHIs and their place in organizational security is vital. As technologies advance, and all becomes more interconnected, the role of NHIs will only escalate, adding another compelling facet to the fascinating cybersecurity.

The post What role do NHIs play in our organization’s security posture? appeared first on Entro.

*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from Entro authored by Amy Cohn. Read the original post at: https://entro.security/what-role-do-nhis-play-in-our-organizations-security-posture/