Security as Code for Non-Human Identities
Machines talk to machines. Code runs on autopilot. Credentials hide in plain sight. Non-human identities are everywhere, and each one is a potential breach point.
Security as Code is the only way to keep them in check. Hard-coded secrets, orphaned API keys, forgotten service accounts—these are attack vectors no firewall will block. Automated pipelines spin up and tear down infrastructure faster than manual reviews can keep up. If you’re not enforcing security rules at the speed of code execution, you’re already behind.
Non-human identities need direct governance built into the CI/CD flow. This means defining identity policies as code: enforceable, version-controlled, tested like any other software artifact. Rotate secrets automatically. Remove unused permissions immediately. Use machine-readable policies that deny by default and grant only what’s needed.
Security as Code for non-human identities integrates with your repository, your build system, and your deployment scripts. Every commit runs against guardrails. Every pipeline enforces compliance before a single container goes live. This approach removes human bottlenecks, reduces shadow credentials, and creates an auditable trail at scale.
An effective setup uses infrastructure-as-code tools paired with secret management systems. Encode identity lifecycle rules—creation, rotation, retirement—so they execute whenever code changes. Integrate with cloud IAM to align roles and scopes across environments. Monitor for unused or overly-permissive keys, and cut them off automatically.
Attackers already target machine access because it often carries broad privileges. By shifting identity security left, you stop them before they see an opening. Security as Code makes it impossible to deploy without meeting defined, enforced identity rules.
The systems already have identities. Make sure they only have the ones you control.
See how to implement Non-Human Identities Security as Code from zero to working in minutes at hoop.dev.