What is machine identity management?

How does machine identity management work?

At the foundation of nearly all machine identity is cryptography based on public key infrastructure (PKI), and it's the basis for the digital certificates that identify a specific device.

However, a PKI-based digital certificate isn't enough. To succeed, machine identity management's process follows multiple steps:

1. Machine discovery and inventory. An organization's first step is to scan the entire network infrastructure to identify all machines, including physical devices, virtual machines, application programming interfaces (APIs) and other non-human entities. The completed scan makes possible an inventory of all machine identities, including details such as device type, purpose, location and current authentication methods.
2. Assessment. With inventory complete, businesses evaluate the risk level and importance of each machine identity. Forward-thinking organizations classify machines based on their roles, the sensitivity of data handled and its impact if compromised.
3. Policy definition. Next, organizations define and establish policies for issuance, renewal and revocation of machine identities. The policy must access control policies and provide governance to determine who can manage and use machine identities.
4. Certificate authority setup. The digital certificate used for machine identities requires a certificate authority (CA), either internal or external, to issue and manage digital certificates.
5. Identity creation and issuance. With CA set up, policies in place and an inventory of all systems, organizations then generate unique identities for each machine, typically in the form of digital certificates. Generating digital certificates for each machine first requires creating a certificate signing request, which is then submitted to the CA for signing.
6. Deployment and configuration. Next, the issued certificates are installed on the correct machines.
7. Centralized management. While the certificate authority performs some centralized machine identity management, it's best practice to specify one centralized platform to oversee all aspects of the lifecycle.
8. Monitoring and auditing. The centralized management platform, including its integration with existing security tools such as security information and event management, often features continuous monitoring for all machine identities, tracking their status and usage as well as any anomalies.

Why is machine identity management important?

Machine identity management protects organizations in several essential ways and areas:

• Cybersecurity. It prevents unauthorized access and reduces the risk of data breaches.
• Secure machine communication. It enables secure communication between machines, applications and services.
• Zero-trust support. It underpins zero-trust security models by enabling continuous verification of machine identities, which is essential when trust can't be assumed based on network location.
• Identity growth. The number of machines is growing faster than the human population, necessitating efficient management of machine identities.
• Regulatory compliance. Organizations must meet regulatory requirements such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, General Data Protection Regulation and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.
• Operational efficiency. Automating machine identity management reduces the time and resources required for manual certificate management.

Challenges of machine identity management

There are ongoing challenges organizations face with machine identity management:

• Visibility. Tracking organizational certificates and keys, including those inside and outside the network perimeter, is a complex task.
• Certificate centralization. Standardizing and maintaining certificate issuance processes among various departments is a complex organizational responsibility.
• Public and private key security. Businesses must ensure proper security mechanisms for PKI teams and system administrators at all times, from secure key storage with hardware security modules (HSMs) to limit privileged user access.
• Policy consistency. Strong, clear communication aids in maintaining consistent policies across different types of machine identities.
• Cryptographic complexity. Organizations must prioritize employee training to remain up to date with evolving cryptographic standards and security threats.
• System outages. Businesses must remain vigilant and avoid system failures due to expired certificates or gaps in ownership.
• Cost management. It is difficult to determine and control operational costs associated with manual certificate management.
• Rapid issuance and revocation. Quick provisioning and de-provisioning of machine identities, especially in cloud and containerized environments, is a regular business challenge.
• Employee expertise. Organizations must find, develop and retain personnel with the specialized knowledge required for effective PKI and machine identity management.

Main use cases for machine identity management

Among the many examples of machine identity management, the following handful are typical use cases:

• Securing cloud-driven machine proliferation. Organizations maintain identities for cloud workloads, virtual machines, containers and microservices.
• Protecting identities of connected things. New device identities connected to the internet, including sensors and industrial equipment, are secured.
• Safeguarding DevOps environments. Businesses ensure proper certificate management in rapidly changing DevOps environments.
• Shielding API communications. API communications between microservices across machines are protected.
• Clarifying asset management. With the discovery phase of machine identity management, organizations achieve better visibility into systems and devices in the network.

The machine identity management lifecycle

The machine identity management lifecycle, including creation to eventual retirement, includes the following stages:

• Generation. The issuance or generation phase involves the initial enrollment of a device or workload and the acquisition of a digital certificate.
• Documentation. This involves storing and updating key details about the newly issued certificates, such as their validity period, certificate type, position in the chain and network location. This information is essential for tracking and managing certificates.
• Provisioning. Provisioning, or distribution, follows. The machine identity is deployed to the intended systems, devices or applications. This enables secure communication and grants access privileges to the specific machine.
• Continuous monitoring. Once deployed, ongoing monitoring begins. Continuous oversight ensures the proper functioning, security and compliance of machine identities.
• Certificate renewal. As certificates approach their expiration dates, the renewal or rotation phase becomes critical, updating or renewing the machine identity to maintain security and prevent expiration.
• Certificate revocation. Throughout the lifecycle, revocation or invalidation due to security concerns, misuse or obsolescence is sometimes necessary.

Machine identity management best practices

Machine identity management is often a complicated process, but following certain best practices tempers its inherent complexity and improves organizational outcomes. These best practices include the following:

• Automate. Invest in automation tools and IAM technology to keep inventory data accurate with up-to-date certificates and key information. Automation reduces risk and controls operational costs.
• Centralize systems. Use a dedicated team designed specifically for machine identity management. This approach improves visibility since the same personnel and resources create, track and manage machine identity policies across the organization.
• Standardize operations. Design and install operating procedures that include systematic processes and delegation for the machine identity lifecycle and maintenance tasks. This includes consistently rotating keys and certificates.
• Secure storage. Store all machine identities, such as Secure Shell keys and digital certificates, in a centralized, secure environment. Consider using an HSM, which keeps certificates and keys secure even if the user network is compromised.
• Audit regularly. Conduct audits of machine identities at regular intervals to find vulnerabilities expiring certificates and weak passwords among them – and prevent outages. Using third-party tools automates the auditing.
• Invest in expertise. Managing PKI security, auditing certificates and documenting machine identities are critical and complex functions. Wisely invest time and money in personnel or service providers who specialize in these areas.