Six Reasons for Enterprises to Care About Machine Identity Management

Machine Identity Management (MIM) is a fast-growing solution in cyber-security. As threat activities are high in machine identities, businesses must have robust machine identity management systems to create efficient workplaces.

As organizations deploy technological tools, security teams have more responsibility for managing machines and tools. The number of machines is exploding, so it is no surprise that all digital devices need adequate machine identity management.

Modern enterprises rely on thousands of devices and applications. Each device needs its identity checks for security. However, when machine identities are not taken care of, or organizations do not treat them as critical infrastructure for the protection of businesses, it may result in an ugly risk of cyber threats. Such threats can do irrefutable damage to businesses. Organizations now must focus on machine identity management. Why do they now need to pay more attention to machine identity? Here are some reasons supporting the need to manage machine identity is critical.

Bring your Own Device (BYOD) Policies

With workplaces and work cultures rapidly shifting into hybrid and remote models, some organizations allow employees to use their own devices. Due to this, security teams are under pressure to manage machine identities. Though the BYOD approach saves infrastructural costs, it has become one of the easiest targets for cybercriminals. Security leaders now mandate tight security solutions and strategies under machine identity management. It is because many security risks occur since the users’ devices and their associated machine identities go unidentified and unmanaged.

Also Read: Identity and Access Management (IAM) Advanced Practices Organizations Must Include

Existing BYOD deployments need a review of users’ access to enter networks, systems, devices, applications, and other business assets. Organizations must authenticate all usernames and passwords to avoid petrifying cyber-attacks. They must have an inbuilt IT infrastructure so admins can control and check every user’s username and password. In addition, the usernames must have multiple levels of authorization. For instance, the usage of multifactor authentication (MFA) can help in managing the machine identities of users under BYOD policies. The recent identity management expects to lead on priority in the wake of the latest IT advancements in the workforce.

Upsurge in Identity Theft & Privacy Leakage

Many organizations face the challenge of identity theft due to data breaches and privacy disruption. The number of cases is only increasing. Due to the rising threats of machine identity, organizations are incorporating decentralized identity ecosystems for identity management. These ecosystems embed Blockchain to boost the management of business assets in a decentralized way.

Blockchain technology makes the decentralized identity ecosystem more protective as it monitors user identities falling into the hands of threats. The system follows a user-centric model, which will boost machine identity management functions double digit and will keep users’ passwords and data safe. In addition, the ecosystem will require users to stay responsible for managing their identity data. This way, organizations can promote identity governance & administration (IGA) and other advanced regulatory compliance to align with the organization’s data privacy and security architecture.

Machine Identity through Zero Trust Model

The advanced machine identity management functions with a Zero Trust security framework. The framework helps manage cyber-threats and safeguard systems for businesses with hybrid cloud models. Organizations can promote the Zero Trust model for managing machine identity, where employees must undergo an authentication and verification process when logging in to networks, devices, and applications. The process will help security, and IT teams identify if the user is authentic or if any threat occurred. The process will also promote the least privilege for network-user employees and may limit them to access business resources only when required. Through this approach, organizations can automate machine identification management.

Rotate SSH Keys

Advanced SSH keys in machine identity management are advancing the version of protocols, cryptographic algorithms, and session keys to use. The keys authenticate organizations’ servers with tight security measures for identifying users’ identities and threats. Key-based authentication is widely used for both human and machine-to-machine access. So, when organizations set machine identities, they must focus on advancing SSH keys for proper management. Improperly managed SSH keys can open the gate for ugly threat actors to penetrate the IT infrastructure without any detection.

So, SSH key rotation is essential to remove vulnerabilities resulting from having restrictive access to keys, legacy cryptographic algorithms, and policy changes. Replacing outdated SSH keys with advanced ones after testing them is highly recommended for businesses to keep network, devices, and application access secure, especially in hybrid and remote workforces.

Automation

A vital but often missing factor in machine identity management is that automated processes solve ninety percent of cybersecurity threats. Automating certificate and key lifecycle management, including revocation, enrollment, and identification, helps identify threats and authentic users and their data safe. The continuous automation system allows policy management and SSH key rotation to provide better security. Automation of machine identities also enables cryptographic agility by keeping algorithm upgrades to offer the best possible protection of users and passwords under all circumstances.

Streamlining Users’ Identities

Most organizations spend much time and effort streamlining their employees’ identities. But now that organizations have evolved with technology and have understood how tools securely authenticate, the time has come to begin looking at making approaches with advanced tools and managing all identities to prevent vulnerabilities.

Also Read: Strategies to Strengthen Identity and Access Management to Improve Data Privacy in 2023

Several initiatives, such as Zero Trust and cloud infrastructure, accelerate organizations’ need for advanced machine identity management. Organizations can better understand security protocols and algorithms to detect threats across devices, applications, and networks. With the help of the initiatives, security teams can streamline users’ identities and communications held through devices and frontend and backend systems associated with them. By taking this approach to managing machine identities, the process will be more effective, efficient, and agile aligning with the current state of threats and their activities.

Key Takeaways

The latest landscape of digital businesses is incredibly vulnerable to ugly threat attacks coupled with the turmoil economy post-pandemic. Many of them are not ready to afford to risk a security breach. This is the year that organizations must make security a priority instead of letting reduced budgets by not deploying technical aspects. Machine identity management is a crucial security solution for organizations leveraging technological assistance to boost business operations.