The Future of Cybersecurity Includes Non-Human Employees

Why non-human identities are a growing cybersecurity risk

Non-human employees like bots and AI agents are increasingly common, yet often lack the security oversight of human accounts. A recent report found that 51% of respondents consider the security of these Non-Human Identities (NHIs) as important as securing human accounts.

Why This Matters

Traditional Identity and Access Management (IAM) systems often overlook NHIs, creating significant vulnerabilities. This lack of visibility and control can lead to over-permissioned access and static credentials, increasing the risk of privileged account compromise and potentially catastrophic data breaches.

Key Insights

• 51% of respondents: Consider NHI security as important as human account security (ConductorOne, 2025).
• Zero Trust for NHIs: Treating bots and service accounts with the same scrutiny as human users is crucial for modern security.
• Secrets Management: Solutions like KeeperPAM® centralize control over secrets and privileged access, reducing sprawl and improving auditability.

Practical Applications

• Stripe & Coinbase: Utilize Temporal to manage and secure background tasks and automated workflows, treating them as first-class identities.
• Pitfall: Hardcoding credentials into scripts leads to widespread exposure if the code is compromised, resulting in potential data breaches and system outages.

References:

• https://thehackernews.com/2026/01/the-future-of-cybersecurity-includes.html