A comprehensive framework for advancing your organization's non-human identity security from discovery to automated governance.
As organizations accelerate digital transformation, the number of non-human identities (NHIs)—API keys, service accounts, certificates, tokens—grows exponentially. Yet most organizations lack a systematic approach to managing these critical credentials.
The NHI Maturity Model provides a clear roadmap for organizations to evolve from ad-hoc, reactive secret management to proactive, automated governance. This framework helps security leaders assess their current state, identify gaps, and prioritize investments for maximum impact.
Organizations typically progress through five distinct phases as they mature their NHI security practices.
Reactive, manual processes
Discovery and visibility
Inventory and controls
Lifecycle automation
Continuous governance
At this stage, organizations have no centralized approach to managing non-human identities. Secrets are scattered across codebases, configuration files, and developer machines.
High risk of credential exposure. Organizations at this level are vulnerable to credential theft, insider threats, and supply chain attacks. Recovery from incidents is slow and costly.
Organizations at this level have gained visibility into their NHI landscape. They know what secrets exist, where they're used, and who owns them.
Improved security posture. Organizations can now proactively identify and respond to credential exposures, significantly reducing time to remediation.
At this stage, organizations have implemented centralized secret management and enforce policies across all systems. Manual rotation processes are in place.
Controlled environment. Organizations have established foundational security controls and can demonstrate compliance with regulatory requirements.
Organizations at this level have eliminated manual processes through automation. Credentials are dynamically provisioned, rotated without downtime, and revoked immediately when no longer needed.
Operational efficiency. Security teams spend less time on manual tasks and more on strategic initiatives. Incidents are automatically detected and remediated.
The highest maturity level represents continuous improvement and proactive security. Organizations predict and prevent issues before they occur through advanced analytics and governance.
Proactive security leadership. Organizations at this level set industry standards, contribute to open source, and continuously innovate security practices.
Use this framework to assess your current state and create a roadmap for improvement. Cremit can help accelerate your journey at every stage.
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