Read more for industry insights shared by Chris Owen, of ScotlandIS member dotnext Europe.
With Non-Human Identities (NHI) and AI dominating conversations at the recent Gartner IAM Summit, it’s easy to get swept up in the buzzwords. But behind the hype lies a real and growing security concern—machine identities now outnumber human accounts, and most organisations have little visibility or governance in place to manage them properly.
At ScotSecure, Chris Owen from dotnext Europe delivered a session titled “Rise of the Machines – The Hidden Risk in Your Identity Strategy”, which brought the conversation back down to earth with practical insight into what’s really happening across organisations today.
Key takeaways included:
- Machine IDs are growing fast, often at a rate of 45,000+ per 1,000 employees
- These identities typically have persistent, privileged access—with no expiry and minimal oversight
- Supply chain attacks increasingly exploit NHIs, using them to bypass controls and exfiltrate data unnoticed
- Most IAM and cloud security tools lack the visibility or context to effectively govern NHIs
- Internal users regularly (and unknowingly) create privilege pathways to third-party systems
The session also highlighted how these risks can be explored further through hands-on labs and technical walkthroughs, helping teams better understand the real-world implications in a practical, accessible way.
If you’d like a copy of the slides from the session, just email farinam@dotnext-europe.com and we’ll be happy to share them.