Security Leaders Say Machine Identities – Such as Access Tokens and Service Accounts – Are Next Big Target for Cyberattack
Venafi, a CyberArk company, released its research report on cloud native security, revealing significant security challenges in 2024. The study, surveying 800 security and IT decision-makers across major markets, found that 86% of organizations experienced cloud native-related security incidents in the past year.
Key impacts include: 53% faced application launch delays, 45% suffered service outages, and 30% encountered unauthorized access issues. The report highlights that 88% of security leaders identify machine identities, particularly access tokens and service accounts, as prime targets for future attacks. Additionally, 77% of leaders believe AI poisoning will emerge as a new supply chain attack vector, while 68% note ongoing tensions between security professionals and developers.
Venafi, una società di CyberArk, ha pubblicato il suo rapporto di ricerca sulla sicurezza nativa del cloud, rivelando notevoli sfide di sicurezza nel 2024. Lo studio, che ha intervistato 800 decisori in materia di sicurezza e IT in importanti mercati, ha scoperto che l'86% delle organizzazioni ha subito incidenti di sicurezza legati al cloud nell'ultimo anno.
I principali impatti includono: il 53% ha affrontato ritardi nel lancio delle applicazioni, il 45% ha subito interruzioni del servizio e il 30% ha riscontrato problemi di accesso non autorizzato. Il rapporto evidenzia che l'88% dei leader della sicurezza identificano le identità delle macchine, in particolare i token di accesso e gli account di servizio, come obiettivi primari per futuri attacchi. Inoltre, il 77% dei leader crede che il poisoning dell'IA emergerà come un nuovo vettore di attacco nella catena di approvvigionamento, mentre il 68% osserva tensioni persistenti tra professionisti della sicurezza e sviluppatori.
Venafi, una empresa de CyberArk, publicó su informe de investigación sobre seguridad nativa en la nube, revelando importantes desafíos de seguridad para 2024. El estudio, que encuestó a 800 tomadores de decisiones en seguridad y TI en los principales mercados, encontró que el 86% de las organizaciones experimentó incidentes de seguridad relacionados con la nube en el último año.
Los impactos clave incluyen: el 53% enfrentaron retrasos en el lanzamiento de aplicaciones, el 45% sufrió interrupciones del servicio y el 30% se encontró con problemas de acceso no autorizado. El informe destaca que el 88% de los líderes en seguridad identifican las identidades de máquina, particularmente los tokens de acceso y las cuentas de servicio, como objetivos principales para futuros ataques. Además, el 77% de los líderes creen que el envenenamiento de la IA surgirá como un nuevo vector de ataque en la cadena de suministro, mientras que el 68% señala tensiones constantes entre los profesionales de la seguridad y los desarrolladores.
Venafi는 CyberArk의 회사로서, 클라우드 네이티브 보안에 관한 연구 보고서를 발표하면서 2024년에 중대한 보안 문제를 드러냈습니다. 이 연구는 주요 시장의 보안 및 IT 의사 결정자 800명을 조사한 결과, 86%의 조직이 지난 한 해 동안 클라우드 네이티브 관련 보안 사고를 경험한 것으로 나타났습니다.
주요 영향으로는: 53%가 응용 프로그램 출시 지연을 겪었고, 45%는 서비스 중단을 경험했으며, 30%는 무단 접근 문제에 직면했습니다. 보고서는 88%의 보안 리더가 기계 신원, 특히 접근 토큰 및 서비스 계정을 향후 공격의 주요 목표로 식별한다고 밝혔습니다. 또한, 77%의 리더는 AI 장악이 새로운 공급망 공격 벡터로 떠오를 것으로 믿고 있으며, 68%는 보안 전문가와 개발자 간의 지속적인 긴장을 언급하고 있습니다.
Venafi, une entreprise de CyberArk, a publié son rapport de recherche sur la sécurité native dans le cloud, révélant des défis de sécurité significatifs pour 2024. L'étude, qui a interrogé 800 décideurs en matière de sécurité et d'informatique dans les principaux marchés, a révélé que 86% des organisations ont connu des incidents de sécurité liés au cloud l'année dernière.
Les impacts clés incluent : 53% ont rencontré des retards de lancement d'applications, 45% ont subi des pannes de service et 30% ont rencontré des problèmes d'accès non autorisé. Le rapport souligne que 88% des leaders en sécurité identifient les identités machine, en particulier les jetons d'accès et les comptes de service, comme des cibles principales pour de futures attaques. De plus, 77% des dirigeants pensent que le poisoning de l'IA apparaîtra comme un nouveau vecteur d'attaque dans la chaîne d'approvisionnement, tandis que 68% notent des tensions persistantes entre les professionnels de la sécurité et les développeurs.
Venafi, ein Unternehmen von CyberArk, veröffentlichte seinen Forschungsbericht zur cloud-nativen Sicherheit und enthüllte erhebliche Sicherheitsherausforderungen für 2024. Die Studie, die 800 Sicherheits- und IT-Entscheidungsträger in wichtigsten Märkten befragte, ergab, dass 86% der Organisationen im letzten Jahr sicherheitsrelevante Vorfälle im Zusammenhang mit cloud-nativen Technologien erlebten.
Wesentliche Auswirkungen sind: 53% hatten Verzögerungen beim Anstoßen von Anwendungen, 45% erlitten Ausfallzeiten und 30% hatten Probleme mit unbefugtem Zugriff. Der Bericht hebt hervor, dass 88% der Sicherheitsleiter Maschinenidentitäten, insbesondere Zugriffstoken und Dienstkonten, als Hauptziele für zukünftige Angriffe identifizieren. Darüber hinaus glauben 77% der Führungskräfte, dass KI-Vergiftungen als neuer Angriffsvektor in der Lieferkette auftreten, während 68% anhaltende Spannungen zwischen Sicherheitsfachleuten und Entwicklern feststellen.
- Survey shows high awareness of security threats among decision-makers
- 91% agree service accounts help enforce uniform policies across cloud environments
- 86% of organizations experienced cloud native security incidents in the last year
- 53% faced application launch delays due to security incidents
- 45% suffered service outages and disruptions
- 30% experienced unauthorized access to data and systems
- 56% reported security incidents related to machine identities using service accounts
- 61% report decreased management focus on supply chain security
Insights
The research reveals a critical vulnerability landscape in cloud-native security, with 86% of organizations experiencing security incidents in the past year. The focus on machine identities, particularly access tokens and service accounts, represents a significant shift in attack vectors. The 56% incident rate related to machine identities using service accounts indicates a growing sophisticated threat pattern.
The convergence of AI and cloud security presents new attack surfaces, with 77% of leaders concerned about AI poisoning. The reported operational impacts are severe - 53% faced application launch delays and 45% experienced service disruptions. These metrics suggest an urgent need for enhanced machine identity management and security infrastructure investment.
The findings highlight a concerning intersection of AI and cybersecurity vulnerabilities. The 77% concern about AI poisoning, 75% worry over model theft and 73% anxiety about AI-led social engineering represent significant emerging threats. These statistics indicate that AI systems are becoming prime targets for sophisticated attacks, potentially compromising both model integrity and operational security.
The complexity of managing machine identities in cloud environments, coupled with AI security challenges, creates a perfect storm for potential breaches. The report suggests a critical need for automated machine identity management systems and robust AI model protection frameworks.
New Venafi Research Reveals
Infographic: The Impact of Machine Identities on the State of Cloud Native Security in 2024 (Graphic: Business Wire)
This year’s findings reveal attackers are compromising cloud native environments with alarming regularity.
Other key findings include:
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Service accounts are the next threat frontier:
88% of security leaders believe machine identities – specifically access tokens and their connected service accounts – are the next big target for attackers. Over half (56% ) have experienced a security incident related to machine identities using service accounts in the last year.
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Supply chain attacks tipped to get an AI makeover:
77% of security leaders think AI poisoning will be the new software supply chain attack. A further84% believe supply chain attacks remain a clear and present danger. However, a worrying61% say senior management has taken its focus off supply chain security in the last year.
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Security and developer teams continue to clash:
68% of security leaders believe security professionals and developers will always be at odds, with54% feeling they are fighting a losing battle trying to get developers to have a security-first mindset.
“The sleeping dragon is now awake: attackers are now actively exploring cloud native infrastructure,” said Kevin Bocek, Chief Innovation Officer at Venafi, a CyberArk Company. “A massive wave of cyberattacks has now hit cloud native infrastructure, impacting most modern application environments. To make matters worse, cybercriminals are deploying AI in various ways to gain unauthorized access and exploiting machine identities using service accounts on a growing scale. The volume, variety and velocity of machine identities are becoming an attacker’s dream.”
AI threats loom large on the horizon
Respondents also reported the risk of cloud native security coming under increasing pressure as attackers target these environments to compromise AI models and applications:
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77% are concerned about AI poisoning, whereby AI data inputs/outputs are manipulated for malicious purposes. -
75% are worried about model theft. -
73% are concerned about the use of AI-led social engineering. -
A further
72% are worried about provenance in the AI supply chain.
“There is huge potential for AI to transform our world positively, but it needs to be protected,” Bocek continues. “Whether it’s an attacker sneaking in and corrupting or even stealing a model, a cybercriminal impersonating an AI to gain unauthorized access, or some new form of attack we have not even thought of, security teams need to be on the front foot. This is why a kill switch for AI – based on the unique identity of individual models being trained, deployed and run – is more critical than ever.”
Machine identity security complexity is growing
The research also provided insights into which areas in cloud native infrastructure organizations have experienced security incidents. Machine identities like access tokens used with service accounts topped the list with
Part of the reason these incidents occur with such regularity is the growing complexity of cloud native environments. This creates new challenges for security teams around managing and securing the machine identities that underpin access and authentication in cloud native environments:
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74% of security leaders agree that humans are the weakest link in machine identity security.83% of teams recognize that failing to secure machine identities at the workload level renders all other security obsolete.
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69% say that delivering secure access between their cloud native and data center environments is a “nightmare to manage,” while89% are experiencing challenges around managing and securing secrets at scale.
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83% think having multiple service accounts also creates a lot of added complexity, but most (91% ) agree that service accounts make it easier to ensure that policies are uniformly defined and enforced across cloud native environments.
Bocek concludes: “Attackers are increasingly zoning in on machine identities in cloud native technologies. Security teams must prioritize machine identity security to the same degree as human identities. The great news is that secrets management, certificate lifecycle management (CLM) and cloud native security are available today. An automated, end-to-end machine identity security program means businesses can enhance their cloud native security, ensuring operational stability and business growth.”
To read the full report, please visit https://venafi.com/lp/cloud-native-security-report-2024/.
Additional Resources:
About Venafi, a CyberArk Company
Venafi, a CyberArk company, offers the most comprehensive solutions to address critical challenges in PKI, certificate management and workload identity management. Through centralized visibility and automation, Venafi helps customers monitor and secure any machine identity, anywhere, across extended enterprise networks. As an innovative leader, Venafi solves today’s greatest machine identity challenges while anticipating those of tomorrow.
By combining Venafi’s best-in-class machine identity management with CyberArk’s leading identity security capabilities, these two category creators together establish the world’s first platform for end-to-end machine identity security at enterprise scale. To learn more about CyberArk’s acquisition of Venafi, read the press release.
For more information about Venafi, visit https://venafi.com/.
About CyberArk
CyberArk (NASDAQ: CYBR) is the global leader in identity security. Centered on intelligent privilege controls, CyberArk provides the most comprehensive security offering for any identity – human or machine – across business applications, distributed workforces, hybrid cloud environments and throughout the DevOps lifecycle. The world’s leading organizations trust CyberArk to help secure their most critical assets. To learn more about CyberArk, visit https://www.cyberark.com, read the CyberArk blogs or follow on LinkedIn, X, Facebook or YouTube.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241216555147/en/
Media Contact
Pauline Louie
pauline.louie@cyberark.com
(801) 676-6900
Source: Venafi
FAQ
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