The Unseen Threat: Why Non-Human Identity (NHI) is the Next Frontier in Security

What Is Non-Human Identity (NHI)?

Non-human identities (NHIs) are digital entities — devices and workloads — that authenticate, access data, and perform actions across your environment.

• Device identity: laptops, smartphones, IoT, and servers that connect to networks.
  
  
• Workload identity: applications, services, APIs, and AI agents executing tasks on behalf of users or autonomously.
  
  

These identities often operate with elevated privileges, and when compromised, they become powerful entry points for attackers. Verizon’s 2024 DBIR shows that compromised devices and applications remain top breach vectors, with attackers exploiting weak or unmanaged identities to gain persistence inside networks.

Why Human-Centric Security Isn’t Enough

Most organizations over-index on human user security: access management, password removal, and activity monitoring. While essential, this ignores the fastest-growing attack surface — NHIs.

• Device blind spots: Unmanaged devices like personal smartphones or contractor laptops bypass corporate controls and introduce persistent risk.
  
  
• Workload sprawl: Applications and AI agents are often overprovisioned, operating with excessive permissions.
  
  
• Secrets exposure: Passwords, API keys, and tokens remain the weak link. CrowdStrike’s 2024 Threat Hunting Report highlights API key theft as a rapidly escalating technique in cloud intrusions.
  
  

Traditional IAM tools fail here because they rely on secrets that can be stolen. Beyond Identity eliminates secret sprawl by binding credentials cryptographically to the originating device or workload environment. Secrets never leave, never get reused, and never get phished.

The Risks of Device Identity

Unmanaged devices are the easiest path for attackers.

• Easier targets: Outdated, jailbroken, or unmonitored devices are low-hanging fruit compared to phishing hardened users.
  
  
• AI-powered malware: Generative AI enables adversaries to mass-produce malicious apps and plugins that silently siphon sensitive data.
  
  

The impact isn’t isolated to one user. A compromised device can become a propagation vector for ransomware, data exfiltration, and regulatory violations.

Beyond Identity’s advantage: Our IAM platform provides visibility into device posture — including unmanaged endpoints — without invasive installs. By tying secrets directly to devices, we prevent theft and ensure only trusted devices gain access.

The Risks of Workload Identity

Workload identities represent the other half of the NHI challenge.

• Overprovisioned permissions: Applications are routinely granted rights far beyond their operational needs, violating least privilege.
  
  
• Autonomous AI agents: These systems act around the clock. A hijacked agent can execute financial transactions or extract customer data at scale.
  
  
• Long-lived API keys: Keys stored in code or configs grant attackers persistence once compromised. Mandiant’s 2024 Cloud Security Report highlights stolen keys as a primary driver of supply chain attacks.
  
  

Beyond Identity’s advantage: Our IAM platform applies zero trust to workloads, issuing ephemeral, bound credentials that can’t be exfiltrated. Workloads authenticate securely, permissions are right-sized, and access is revoked instantly at the first sign of anomaly.

Beyond Identity: Securing Every Identity

NHI is not a niche concern — it is the fastest-growing security gap. Attackers know organizations aren’t watching their non-human identities, and they’re exploiting this blind spot to devastating effect.

Beyond Identity closes this gap. Our IAM platform extends continuous, passwordless, phishing-resistant authentication to every identity — human or non-human. By welding secrets to their generation point, Beyond Identity eliminates the possibility of credential theft and ensures only trusted entities interact with sensitive systems.

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Ignoring NHI is no longer an option. Compromised devices and workloads lead directly to data breaches, ransomware, and regulatory penalties. Organizations that fail to protect NHIs are one incident away from irreparable damage.

Every identity must be secured — human and non-human alike. Beyond Identity is the IAM platform that makes this possible.