<p><a href=”https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/identity-access-management-IAM-system”>Identity and access management</a> has evolved from a supporting IT function into the foundation of enterprise security. In modern organizations, identity governs access not only for employees, but also for contractors, cloud workloads, SaaS platforms, APIs, automation pipelines and, increasingly, AI-driven systems and agents. It’s common to hear identity described as the <a href=”https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/feature/identity-new-perimeter-enterprise-security”>new perimeter</a>.</p>
<p>Attackers no longer need to break in through traditional technical exploits if they can simply log in with stolen credentials, hijacked sessions, abused API tokens or compromised nonhuman identities (NHIs). At the same time, organizations struggle to manage sprawling SaaS ecosystems, cloud-native infrastructure, decentralized identity stores and autonomous AI systems.</p>
<p>All this means security teams face a mix of traditional IAM risks and newer identity challenges.</p>
<section class=”section main-article-chapter” data-menu-title=”Overprivileged access remains one of the biggest risks”>
<h2 class=”section-title”><i class=”icon” data-icon=”1″></i>Overprivileged access remains one of the biggest risks</h2>
<p>Users, administrators, service accounts and cloud roles often accumulate permissions over time that far exceed what they require. Organizations frequently grant broad access in the name of productivity; they rarely <a href=”https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/tip/User-provisioning-and-deprovisioning-Why-it-matters-for-IAM”>revisit or remove those privileges later</a>.</p>
<p>In cloud environments, this problem is especially dangerous. A single overprivileged IAM role in AWS or Azure could provide access to sensitive data stores, administrative APIs, infrastructure provisioning or continuous delivery systems. Similarly, excessive permissions in SaaS platforms such as Microsoft 365, Salesforce, ServiceNow, GitHub or Slack can expose sensitive business data and operational workflows.</p>
<p>The risk is amplified because attackers increasingly target identities instead of infrastructure. Once an attacker compromises a privileged identity, they can often operate within the environment using legitimate APIs and trusted workflows, making detection significantly more difficult.</p>
<p>Organizations should <a href=”https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/principle-of-least-privilege-POLP”>prioritize least-privilege access</a>, role reviews, entitlement governance and periodic access recertification processes. Modern IAM programs must extend these controls beyond traditional directory systems to include cloud-native and SaaS environments as well.</p>
</section>
<section class=”section main-article-chapter” data-menu-title=”NHIs have become a major attack surface”>
<h2 class=”section-title”><i class=”icon” data-icon=”1″></i>NHIs have become a major attack surface</h2>
<p>A significant IAM development in recent years is the substantial rise in the number of NHIs. These include service accounts, API keys, OAuth tokens, cloud workload identities, containers, serverless functions, certificates, robotic process automation accounts and AI agents. In many organizations, NHIs dramatically outnumber human identities.</p>
<p>The challenge is that most IAM programs were originally designed around employees and contractors, not <a href=”https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/tip/Cybersecuritys-agentic-AI-identity-crisis-and-how-to-fix-it”>autonomous workloads operating continuously</a> across <a href=”https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/tip/Multi-cloud-identity-management-tips-and-best-practices”>cloud and SaaS environments</a>. As a result, many NHIs are poorly governed, overprivileged, unmonitored or use long-lived credentials that are rarely rotated.</p>
<p>This creates significant risk. A compromised API token or cloud service role might provide direct access to production systems, sensitive data or deployment pipelines. Attackers increasingly target these identities because they often bypass traditional MFA and user-focused monitoring controls.</p>
<p>To <a href=”https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/tip/CISOs-guide-to-nonhuman-identity-security”>secure NHIs</a>, modern IAM programs should include:</p>
<ul class=”default-list”>
<li>Full inventory and ownership tracking of NHIs.</li>
<li>Automated credential rotation and short-lived tokens.</li>
<li>Workload identity federation where possible.</li>
<li>Least privilege access for serv
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