Secrets Management | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

When we talk about identity in cybersecurity, most people think of usernames, passwords, and the occasional MFA prompt. But lurking beneath the surface is a growing threat that does not involve human credentials at all, as we witness the exponential growth of Non-Human Identities (NHIs).  At the top of mind when NHIs are mentioned, most security teams immediately think of Service Accounts . But NHIs go far beyond that. You've got Service Principals , Snowflake Roles , IAM Roles , and platform-specific constructs from AWS, Azure, GCP, and more. The truth is, NHIs can vary just as widely as the services and environments in your modern tech stack, and managing them means understanding this diversity. The real danger lies in how these identities authenticate. Secrets: The Currency of Machines Non-Human Identities, for the most part, authenticate using secrets : API keys, tokens, certificates, and other credentials that grant access to systems, data, and critical infrastructure. Th...

GitGuardian's State of Secrets Sprawl report for 2025 reveals the alarming scale of secrets exposure in modern software environments. Driving this is the rapid growth of non-human identities (NHIs), which have been outnumbering human users for years. We need to get ahead of it and prepare security measures and governance for these machine identities as they continue to be deployed, creating an unprecedented level of security risk. This report reveals an astounding 23.77 million new secrets were leaked on GitHub in 2024 alone. This is a 25% surge from the previous year. This dramatic increase highlights how the proliferation of non-human identities (NHIs), such as service accounts, microservices, and AI agents, are rapidly expanding the attack surface for threat actors. The Non-Human Identity Crisis NHI secrets, including API keys, service accounts, and Kubernetes workers, now outnumber human identities by at least 45-to-1 in DevOps environments. These machine-based credentials...

The Open Web Application Security Project has recently introduced a new Top 10 project - the Non-Human Identity (NHI) Top 10. For years, OWASP has provided security professionals and developers with essential guidance and actionable frameworks through its Top 10 projects, including the widely used API and Web Application security lists.  Non-human identity security represents an emerging interest in the cybersecurity industry, encompassing the risks and lack of oversight associated with API keys, service accounts , OAuth apps, SSH keys, IAM roles, secrets, and other machine credentials and workload identities.  Considering that the flagship OWASP Top 10 projects already cover a broad range of security risks developers should focus on, one might ask - do we really need the NHI Top 10? The short answer is - yes . Let's see why, and explore the top 10 NHI risks.  Why we need the NHI Top 10 While other OWASP projects might touch on related vulnerabilities, such as secret...

In the whirlwind of modern software development, teams race against time, constantly pushing the boundaries of innovation and efficiency. This relentless pace is fueled by an evolving tech landscape, where SaaS domination, the proliferation of microservices, and the ubiquity of CI/CD pipelines are not just trends but the new norm. Amidst this backdrop, a critical aspect subtly weaves into the narrative — the handling of non-human identities. The need to manage API keys, passwords, and other sensitive data becomes more than a checklist item yet is often overshadowed by the sprint toward quicker releases and cutting-edge features. The challenge is clear: How do software teams maintain the sanctity of secrets without slowing down their stride? Challenges in the development stage of non-human identities The pressure to deliver rapidly in organizations today can lead developers to take shortcuts, compromising security. Secrets are the credentials used for non-human identities. Some stan...

Picture this: you stumble upon a concealed secret within your company's source code. Instantly, a wave of panic hits as you grasp the possible consequences. This one hidden secret has the power to pave the way for unauthorized entry, data breaches, and a damaged reputation. Understanding the secret is just the beginning; swift and resolute action becomes imperative. However, lacking the necessary context, you're left pondering the optimal steps to take. What's the right path forward in this situation? Secrets management is an essential aspect of any organization's security strategy. In a world where breaches are increasingly common, managing sensitive information such as API keys, credentials, and tokens can make all the difference. Secret scanners play a role in identifying exposed secrets within source code, but they have one significant limitation:  they don't provide context. And without context, it's impossible to devise an appropriate response plan. Con...