Cybersecurity Risk Mitigation Recommendations for 2024-2025

Originally published by Entro.

Written by Itzik Alvas, CEO & Co-founder, Entro.

The Rise of Non-Human Identities

Non-human identities (NHIs) such as automated systems, devices, APIs, and services, are playing an increasingly large role in IT ecosystems. These entities are essential for daily operations, yet they are most often unsecured and unobserved, presenting substantial risks. Threat actors have become adept at targeting NHIs due to their continuous, high-level access to critical systems and sensitive data. In 2025 protecting NHIs will be essential for businesses, as compromised NHIs can lead to widespread damage far beyond the initial point of attack.

1. Ransomware and Extortion:
   Ransomware attacks will continue to escalate, evolving in sophistication as attackers find new ways to breach defenses. The rise of double extortion tactics, where attackers not only encrypt data but also threaten to leak it, puts additional pressure on organizations to improve data protection and incident response strategies.
2. Insider Threats:
   As remote work environments grow, so does the risk of insider threats. Malicious insiders or careless employees can expose sensitive data or provide entry points for external attackers, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Organizations need to implement robust insider threat detection tools and continuous monitoring to mitigate this risk.
3. Supply Chain Vulnerabilities:
   Third-party risks remain a critical concern, as organizations increasingly depend on service-chaining with external vendors. Attackers often exploit substandard practices of third parties to gain access to the full service-chain and impact much larger organizations downstream. Increased scrutiny is necessary for secure 3rd party access and interactions with data.
4. DDoS Attacks:
   Distributed DDoS attacks are growing in volume and scale. With greater reliance on cloud services and real-time applications, these attacks lead to operational disruptions at scale. Organizations must prepare their infrastructure for resilience against these types of threats.

Strategies for Mitigating Cybersecurity Risks

1. Centralized NHI Management:
   To keep up with the increasing frequency of NHI creation, businesses need centralized systems dedicated to managing and monitoring NHIs, and ensure automated workflows, APIs, and other devices interact securely, minimizing the likelihood of unauthorized access.
2. Automated Threat Detection and Remediation:
   Automation plays a critical role in minimizing the window of vulnerability. Continuous real-time threat detection backed by automated remediation tools can quickly identify and neutralize potential risks before they escalate. This is particularly important in environments with high traffic and complex infrastructures, where manual intervention doesn’t scale.
3. Enhanced Visibility and Monitoring:
   Visibility across the entire digital ecosystem is essential for effective threat management. Implementing comprehensive monitoring tools that track human and non-human interactions will help detect unusual behaviors early, allowing security teams to respond before incidents spiral out of control.
4. Automated Compliance and Reporting:
   Staying compliant with evolving data privacy regulations is a complex but necessary task. Automated compliance systems ensure that organizations adhere to security standards without causing alert fatigue. These tools also provide real-time reporting, which can aid in audits and improve transparency across the board.

Looking Ahead

To stay resilient against the evolving cyber threat landscape in 2024 and beyond, organizations need to adopt a proactive, automated, and integrated approach to cybersecurity. By focusing on protecting non-human identities, automating detection and response, and improving visibility into interactions with data, businesses can safeguard their critical assets and maintain operational continuity in an increasingly digital world.

About the Author

Itzik Alvas, CEO & Co-founder Entro, started his cybersecurity journey 18 years ago when he was selected to join the elite cyber security unit of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces). There, he was introduced to the cyber security ecosystem and gained enormous knowledge and experience on a nation-state level. After serving for five years, He moved to the ‘real world’ where he held various positions in the industry, including developer, DevOps, cybersecurity researcher, and CISO of a major healthcare organization, before becoming the Head of Security and SRE at Microsoft. In 2022 together with Adam Cheriki, Itzik Co-founded Entro Security a groundbreaking pioneer in the Non- Human Identity space