Human vs. Non-Human Identity in SaaS

Human vs. Non-Human Identity in SaaS

March 7, 2024 at 06:27AM

In today’s SaaS environment, security efforts primarily focus on human users, using tools like MFA and RBAC. However, non-human access from apps and integrations poses a security challenge. Managing non-human accounts varies across apps and SaaS platforms, requiring specific security measures and continuous monitoring to detect anomalies and prevent unauthorized access.

In today’s meeting, the discussion revolved around the importance of managing and securing non-human accounts in the SaaS environment. The meeting highlighted the prevalence of non-human access to SaaS applications, such as integrations like Calendly and data sharing between applications like SwiftPOS and Microsoft Power BI. It was emphasized that non-human accounts pose security challenges and require special attention due to their unmonitored nature and broad permission scopes.

It was also discussed that managing non-human accounts is complex, as each application has its own approach, making it difficult to standardize the authentication and management processes. Organizations often use broad permission sets or API keys to simplify management, but this also presents security risks. Threat actors can target non-human accounts to gain unauthorized access to applications, potentially leading to breaches or disruptions in service.

The meeting proposed using SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM) in combination with Identity Threat Detection & Response (ITDR) solutions to effectively manage non-human accounts and detect anomalous behavior. It was emphasized that non-human accounts should be given the same visibility and attention as human accounts, and organizational policies should be applied consistently across both types of accounts. Additionally, ITDR can play a crucial role in detecting anomalies in non-human identity behavior.

Overall, the meeting emphasized that maintaining a secure SaaS environment requires thorough management and monitoring of both human and non-human identities.

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