The Identities Behind AI Agents: A Deep Dive Into AI & NHI

AI agents have rapidly evolved from experimental technology to essential business tools. The OWASP framework explicitly recognizes that Non-Human Identities play a key role in agentic AI security. Their analysis highlights how these autonomous software entities can make decisions, chain complex actions together, and operate continuously without human intervention. They’re no longer just tools, but an integral and significant part of your organization’s workforce.

Consider this reality: Today’s AI agents can analyze customer data, generate reports, manage system resources, and even deploy code, all without a human clicking a single button. This shift represents both tremendous opportunity and unprecedented risk.

AI Agents are only as secure as their NHIs

Here’s what security leaders are not necessarily considering: AI agents don’t operate in isolation. To function, they need access to data, systems, and resources. This highly privileged, often overlooked access happens through non-human identities: API keys, service accounts, OAuth tokens, and other machine credentials.

These NHIs are the connective tissue between AI agents and your organization’s digital assets. They determine what your AI workforce can and cannot do.

The critical insight: While AI security encompasses many facets, securing AI agents fundamentally means securing the NHIs they use. If an AI agent can’t access sensitive data, it can’t expose it. If its permissions are properly monitored, it can’t perform unauthorized actions.

AI Agents are a force multiplier for NHI risks

AI agents magnify existing NHI security challenges in ways that traditional security measures weren’t designed to address:

• They operate at machine speed and scale, executing thousands of actions in seconds
• They chain multiple tools and permissions in ways that security teams can’t predict
• They run continuously without natural session boundaries
• They require broad system access to deliver maximum value
• They create new attack vectors in multi-agent architectures

AI agents require broad and sensitive permissions to interact across multiple systems and environments, increasing the scale and complexity of NHI security and management.

This creates severe security vulnerabilities:

• Shadow AI proliferation: Employees deploy unregistered AI agents using existing API keys without proper oversight, creating hidden backdoors that persist even after employee offboarding.

• Identity spoofing & privilege abuse: Attackers can hijack an AI agent’s extensive permissions, gaining broad access across multiple systems simultaneously.

• AI tool misuse & identity compromise: Compromised agents can trigger unauthorized workflows, modify data, or orchestrate sophisticated data exfiltration campaigns while appearing as legitimate system activity.

• Cross-system authorization exploitation: AI agents with multi-system access dramatically increase potential breach impacts, turning a single compromise into a potentially catastrophic security event.

Securing Agentic AI with Astrix

Astrix transforms your AI security posture by providing complete control over the non-human identities that power your AI agents. Instead of struggling with invisible risks and potential breaches, you gain immediate visibility into your entire AI ecosystem, understand precisely where vulnerabilities exist, and can act decisively to mitigate threats before they materialize.

By connecting every AI agent to human ownership and continuously monitoring for anomalous behavior, Astrix eliminates security blind spots while enabling your organization to scale AI adoption confidently.

The result: dramatically reduced risk exposure, strengthened compliance posture, and the freedom to embrace AI innovation without compromising security.

Stay Ahead of the Curve

As organizations race to adopt AI agents, those who implement proper NHI security controls will realize the benefits while avoiding the pitfalls. The reality is clear: in the era of AI, your organization’s security posture depends on how well you manage the digital identities that connect your AI workforce to your most valuable assets.

Want to learn more about Astrix and NHI security? Visit astrix.security

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Some parts of this article are sourced from:
thehackernews.com