Rising Cybersecurity Risks from Non-Human Identities
Summary
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Enterprises are increasingly relying on Non-Human Identities (NHIs) such as bots, AI agents, and service accounts, which are becoming significant targets for cybercriminals due to their often unmanaged and over-permissioned access. Organizations must adopt modern security strategies, including zero-trust principles and least-privilege access, to secure NHIs effectively. The growing dependence on NHIs creates new attack surfaces that require urgent attention to prevent privileged account compromise and other security risks.
Timeline
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07.01.2026 13:00 1 articles · 23h ago
Increasing Focus on Securing Non-Human Identities in Cybersecurity Strategies
As organizations scale AI and cloud automation, the security of Non-Human Identities (NHIs) has become a critical concern. Enterprises must adopt modern security strategies, including zero-trust principles and least-privilege access, to secure NHIs effectively. The article underscores the importance of treating NHIs as first-class identities and continuously monitoring them to prevent security risks.
Show sources
- The Future of Cybersecurity Includes Non-Human Employees — thehackernews.com — 07.01.2026 13:00
Information Snippets
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51% of respondents in ConductorOne's 2025 Future of Identity Security Report consider the security of NHIs as important as that of human accounts.
First reported: 07.01.2026 13:001 source, 1 articleShow sources
- The Future of Cybersecurity Includes Non-Human Employees — thehackernews.com — 07.01.2026 13:00
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NHIs often operate outside traditional Identity and Access Management (IAM) systems, leading to over-permissioned standing access and static credentials.
First reported: 07.01.2026 13:001 source, 1 articleShow sources
- The Future of Cybersecurity Includes Non-Human Employees — thehackernews.com — 07.01.2026 13:00
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NHIs are frequently granted broad, standing access across infrastructure, cloud environments, and CI/CD pipelines, which is rarely reviewed or revoked.
First reported: 07.01.2026 13:001 source, 1 articleShow sources
- The Future of Cybersecurity Includes Non-Human Employees — thehackernews.com — 07.01.2026 13:00
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Security risks associated with NHIs include hardcoded credentials, secrets embedded in source code, and lack of visibility and monitoring.
First reported: 07.01.2026 13:001 source, 1 articleShow sources
- The Future of Cybersecurity Includes Non-Human Employees — thehackernews.com — 07.01.2026 13:00
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Zero-trust security principles, least-privilege access, and automated credential rotation are key strategies to secure NHIs.
First reported: 07.01.2026 13:001 source, 1 articleShow sources
- The Future of Cybersecurity Includes Non-Human Employees — thehackernews.com — 07.01.2026 13:00
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Secrets management and Privileged Access Management (PAM) solutions can centralize control over secrets and privileged access for NHIs.
First reported: 07.01.2026 13:001 source, 1 articleShow sources
- The Future of Cybersecurity Includes Non-Human Employees — thehackernews.com — 07.01.2026 13:00