Executive Summary

The security of Non-Human Identities (NHIs) is more crucial than ever in today’s fast-paced digital landscape. Effective NHI protection demands a trifecta: an Identity Provider to manage NHIs, an Identity Governance Solution to oversee them, and a cutting-edge Attack Surface Management (ASM) solution for real-time protection. 

This is where TrustFour (T4) excels. T4 redefines ASM by ensuring only authorized workloads can utilize NHIs through robust isolation powered by mTLS and a “ring-fenced” authorization map.  With T4, unauthorized workloads are stopped in their tracks, slashing the attack surface and mitigating risks before they become breaches. Focusing on ASM first delivers immediate, impactful reductions in risk—because with T4, attackers never get a foot in the door.

In this white paper, we dive deep into the OWASP Top 10 NHI Risks for 2025 and reveal how TrustFour’s innovative solutions don’t just address these risks—they obliterate them.

OWASP Top 10 Non-Human Identity Risks vs. TrustFour Solutions

NHI1:2025 Improper Offboarding

OWASP Risk Description: Improper offboarding refers to inadequate deactivation of NHIs, such as service accounts and access keys, leaving systems vulnerable to exploitation by attackers.

T4 Coverage: Observation & Alerting

T4 Capability: T4 doesn’t just monitor—it takes action. By ring-fencing to prevent unauthorized usage in addition to capturing and tracking credentials throughout their lifecycle, T4 ensures no NHI is forgotten or left vulnerable. With seamless integration into tools like Configuration Monitoring and Identity Governance, T4 guarantees proper offboarding, safeguarding your systems against lurking threats.

NHI2:2025 Secret Leakage

OWASP Risk Description: Secret leakage refers to the exposure of sensitive NHIs, such as API keys and tokens, through insecure practices.

T4 Coverage: Observation & Alerting

T4 Capability: T4’s powerful ring-fencing authorization maps and telemetry are like a radar for unauthorized NHI usage. Whether it’s pinpointing shared credentials or blocking unexpected sources, T4 locks down your secrets and keeps them from falling into the wrong hands.

NHI3:2025 Vulnerable Third-Party NHI

OWASP Risk Description: Third-party NHIs are vulnerable to exploitation through compromised extensions or malicious updates.

T4 Coverage: Observation, Alerting, Isolation & Protection

T4 Capability: T4’s innovative “ring-fence” approach, powered by auto-mTLS, is like building a digital moat around your workloads. It ensures only authorized entities can communicate, while anomaly detection and telemetry integration provide an additional layer of vigilance against third-party vulnerabilities.

NHI4:2025 Insecure Authentication

OWASP Risk Description: Insecure authentication methods expose organizations to significant risks, especially when using deprecated or weak practices.

T4 Coverage: Observation & Alerting

T4 Capability: T4 acts as your authentication watchdog, uncovering weak methods and outdated credentials. By ranking authentication methods and offering actionable insights, T4 empowers you to strengthen your defenses against evolving threats.

NHI5:2025 Overprivileged NHI

OWASP Risk Description: Overprivileged NHIs with excessive permissions can be exploited by attackers to escalate privileges.

T4 Coverage: Observation & Alerting

T4 Capability: T4’s intelligent risk-ranking highlights overprivileged NHIs that could be exploited. By identifying excessive permissions and unknown credential sources, T4 helps you streamline privileges and fortify your systems.

NHI6:2025 Insecure Cloud Deployment Configurations

OWASP Risk Description: Static credentials or improperly validated tokens in CI/CD pipelines create vulnerabilities in cloud environments.

T4 Coverage: Observation, Alerting, Isolation & Protection

T4 Capability: T4’s real-time monitoring is like a vigilant security guard for your cloud deployments. By identifying unauthorized NHI use and highlighting shared credentials, T4 ensures your cloud environment stays resilient against breaches.

NHI7:2025 Long-Lived Secrets

OWASP Risk Description: Long-lived secrets, such as API keys and certificates, increase the risk of prolonged unauthorized access if compromised.

T4 Coverage: Observation, Alerting, Isolation & Protection

T4 Capability: T4 is relentless in hunting down long-lived secrets, ensuring they’re rotated regularly to eliminate unnecessary risk. With T4, your credentials remain fresh, reducing the window of opportunity for attackers.

NHI8:2025 Environment Isolation

OWASP Risk Description: Failure to isolate environments (e.g., development, testing, production) increases security vulnerabilities.

T4 Coverage: Observation, Alerting, Isolation & Protection

T4 Capability: T4 creates ironclad isolation between environments, ensuring NHIs are strictly confined to their intended lanes. By leveraging mTLS and advanced mapping, T4 prevents cross-environment vulnerabilities from ever taking hold.

NHI9:2025 NHI Reuse

OWASP Risk Description: Reusing the same NHI across applications introduces significant security risks.

T4 Coverage: Observation, Alerting, Isolation & Protection

T4 Capability: T4’s proactive isolation and frequent mTLS credential rotation shuts down NHI reuse before it becomes a problem. Its advanced telemetry detects and neutralizes potential threats, delivering unparalleled system resilience.

NHI10:2025 Human Use of NHI

OWASP Risk Description: Using NHIs for tasks intended for humans compromises accountability and security.

T4 Coverage: Observation, Alerting, Isolation & Protection

T4 Capability: T4 enforces clear boundaries between human and non-human tasks, ensuring accountability and security. With advanced mTLS and telemetry, T4 eliminates misuse risks and provides a transparent audit trail for all activities.

Conclusion

NHI security is not just an option—it’s a necessity in today’s high-stakes cybersecurity landscape. TrustFour is redefining how organizations protect NHIs by delivering unparalleled Attack Surface Management. Through mTLS-powered isolation and advanced authorization mapping, T4 creates a secure “ring-fence” that blocks unauthorized access and ensures NHIs are used only as intended. By focusing on ASM, T4 empowers organizations to eliminate vulnerabilities and meet the OWASP Top 10 NHI Risks with confidence. With TrustFour, you’re not just managing identities—you’re setting a new standard for cybersecurity excellence.

In today’s threat landscape, NHI security is non-negotiable. TrustFour doesn’t just meet the challenge—it redefines the standard. By focusing on Attack Surface Management, T4 isolates workloads, enforces mTLS, and creates a “ring-fence” that keeps attackers out and NHIs secure. Tackling the OWASP Top 10 NHI Risks head-on, TrustFour delivers solutions that don’t just mitigate risks—they eliminate them. With T4, you’re not just protecting identities—you’re redefining security for the modern age.