M ManySignal

Attack Surface: Non-Human Identity

Non-human identity attack surface

Your environment has 18x more service accounts than human users. Most have no behavioral baseline, no rotation schedule, and no identified owner. Attackers know this. ManySignal monitors every one.

18:1
Service accounts vs human users
Average ratio in enterprise
67%
NHI credentials with no rotation
Credentials older than 1 year
41%
Service accounts with no owner
Orphaned NHIs in typical env
73%
Over-privileged service accounts
Permissions vs actual usage
Attack surface map

The identity layer attackers prefer over human accounts

Service account credentials

T1078.004

Static secrets with no expiry, no behavioral monitoring

API keys in code repositories

T1552.001

Committed secrets accessible to all repo contributors

OAuth grants

T1550.001

Over-scoped third-party app access, forgotten grants

CI/CD pipeline credentials

T1552.004

Pipeline secrets with production access, no human MFA

Kubernetes service accounts

T1078.001

Default accounts with cluster-admin bindings

AI/automation identities

T1078.004

Agent API keys with human-equivalent access, no oversight

Top 5 detection rules

1
Service account geographic anomaly
API credentials used from IP outside expected cloud region or corporate range
2
Credential reuse across environments
Same service account credentials used in both dev and production simultaneously
3
Orphaned account activity
Service account with no registered owner becomes active after 90+ days dormancy
4
Scope creep detection
Service account accesses resource type not accessed in baseline period
5
CI pipeline privilege escalation
Pipeline identity assumes role with permissions beyond its configured scope

Related use cases

Non-human identity FAQ

What types of non-human identities does ManySignal monitor?

ManySignal monitors: service accounts (AWS IAM, GCP service accounts, Entra ID service principals), API keys and tokens (GitHub PATs, Slack bot tokens, Stripe keys), OAuth 2.0 clients and grants, CI/CD pipeline identities (GitHub Actions OIDC, Jenkins credentials), Kubernetes service accounts, and AI service accounts and API credentials. All are profiled for behavioral baselines.

How does ManySignal detect when a service account's credentials have been stolen?

Service account credentials used from unexpected locations (IP geolocation outside cloud provider ranges), unusual times, or at unusual rates are flagged against the service account's behavioral baseline. API keys used from residential IPs or Tor exit nodes are immediately escalated. ManySignal also monitors for the same credentials being used simultaneously from multiple geographic regions — a strong indicator of compromise.

How does ManySignal help with the service account sprawl problem?

ManySignal builds a real-time catalog of all non-human identities discovered across cloud, SaaS, and on-premise environments. Each identity is assessed for: last use date, permissions scope vs. actual usage, credential age, and whether an owner is registered. Orphaned service accounts (no activity in 90 days, no identified owner) are surfaced for remediation.

Does ManySignal detect over-privileged service accounts?

Yes. ManySignal compares the permissions granted to each service account against the permissions actually exercised over the past 90 days. Service accounts with a large delta (granted administrator access, uses only read operations) are flagged as over-privileged. ManySignal suggests the minimal permission set based on observed usage and can trigger IAM right-sizing workflows.

How does ManySignal handle credential rotation as part of the response workflow?

When a non-human identity credential is confirmed compromised, ManySignal's response workflow can trigger automatic rotation (where the issuing service provides a rotation API — AWS IAM, GitHub, Twilio, Stripe) or generate a step-by-step rotation runbook for credentials requiring manual rotation. The old credential is revoked as part of the same workflow. All rotation actions are logged with timestamps to the case evidence package.

Does ManySignal monitor third-party integrations and vendor service accounts with access to our environment?

Yes. Vendor and third-party service accounts (integration partners, SaaS vendors with API access, managed service providers) are tracked in the entity graph with their permission scope and historical access patterns. Anomalous activity from vendor accounts — access outside contracted hours, resource access outside the vendor's service scope, unusual API call volumes — fires the same detection pipeline as internal service accounts.

How does ManySignal support the NIST guidance on non-human identity lifecycle management?

ManySignal's NHI inventory covers the key lifecycle events NIST SP 800-207 and the emerging NHI security guidance address: creation (discovery of new service accounts), access review (permission scope vs. usage comparison), credential aging (keys older than policy rotation window), and decommissioning (orphaned accounts with no owner or recent activity). Evidence of lifecycle management processes is exportable for auditor review.

What is the typical time to full non-human identity inventory after ManySignal deployment?

Initial NHI discovery completes within 24 hours of connecting cloud providers, identity providers, and SaaS platforms. The inventory covers API keys, OAuth grants, service accounts, and CI/CD pipeline credentials discovered via API enumeration. Credentials that don't appear in discovery (such as hardcoded secrets in application code) are surfaced via integration with secret scanning tools. A complete, baseline-calibrated inventory is typically ready within the first week.

Baseline and monitor every non-human identity in your environment

Service accounts, API keys, OAuth grants, and CI/CD identities — all cataloged, profiled, and monitored for behavioral anomalies.