Something that’s becoming critical in our tech-driven world is agentic identity management. With the rise of autonomous agents in different industries, figuring out how to manage these agents, control what they can access, and keep track of what they’re up to is getting tricky. And then there’s the whole issue of Bring Your Own Agent (BYOA), which adds even more security risks and complexities. So, let’s dive into how we can balance flexibility and security.
Overview of Agents and Agentic Identity
AI agents are like digital helpers that perform tasks and make decisions on their own for users. They’re powered by large language models (LLMs) and connect to tools and systems via APIs. Think of agents managing calendars, summarizing emails, creating presentations, or handling complex customer support tasks. As we move towards personalized models, agents will make decisions tailored to individual needs.
Managing agentic identities comes with unique challenges. Users might have multiple agents, and companies manage fleets of them. Unlike human identities, agentic identity provisioning tends to be static and always on, rather than dynamic and continuously managed. These agents often need to access sensitive data or interact with secure systems, but they should only do this when necessary. These challenges are like those faced with non-human identities, but on a much larger scale.
Challenges & Solutions
Tracking and managing a fleet of agents comes with its own set of risks. Companies might not always know where AI is used or what data it accesses. We call this “Shadow AI.” Different platforms have their own authentication methods, privileges, datasets, APIs, and models, making it even more complex. To tackle these issues, we need to monitor and fix problems as they arise, provide visibility into usage throughout the organization, and set up governance to require approval for high-stakes actions. It’s also important to assess whether models and data sources are appropriate for their intended use cases. For more details, check out the Open AI Practices for Governing Agentic AI Systems White Paper.
When it comes to BYOA, there are additional risks like data exfiltration, where agents might share too much sensitive data, and users pushing AI agents to do things they’re not supposed to do. External attackers could also take control of agents, injecting malicious instructions and exfiltrating sensitive data without knowledge and approval. To mitigate these risks, we can use security guardrails for the secure deployment and usage of AI, detect and respond to AI inside the organization, and implement real-time access control and authorization for both humans and non-humans. Companies like Relyance, HiddenLayer, Zenity and SGNL are leading the way in providing these solutions.
Identity Alphabet Soup: Agentic Identity vs. Non-Human Identity vs. Human Identity
Clarifying the mix of identities is crucial. Agents might inherit security controls from their creators, leading to unintended data exposure and leakage. They might not adhere to corporate security policies or regulatory requirements and viewing identities as only “human” or “non-human” doesn’t cover agentic identity security properly. To address these issues, we need continuous access management to shut down compromised identities, new frameworks and requirements for agentic identity using dynamic access and Zero Standing Privilege, and systems for inter-agent trust.
Final Thoughts
Managing agentic identities effectively means ensuring agents have access to necessary resources while keeping security tight. Without comprehensive standards, things could get chaotic and risky. Drawing from human and non-human identity management knowledge, agentic identity management needs to evolve with strong security measures that enable both users and agents. As the industry adopts these standards, companies will need frameworks to detect, manage, and prevent unauthorized agent activities. A proactive approach today will pave the way for a secure, autonomous future.
The rise of autonomous agents demands immediate attention to develop and implement robust standards and best practices for agentic identity management. Failing to do so will lead to a chaotic landscape, full of security risks and inefficiencies. We must act now to lay a solid foundation for the future of agentic identity.
