Data Security: The Challenge of Securing Service Accounts

Service accounts are non-human privileged accounts used for automating system tasks. They can execute a variety of actions such as running network services, installing applications, and performing administrative functions on servers and virtual machines. These automated tasks can be executed on-premises or in the cloud, and can be continuous, event-triggered, or scheduled. Service accounts often require privileged access to authenticate to various servers, applications, and databases. However, they are also prime targets for threat actors due to their broad access privileges. Challenges in securing service accounts include lack of a central source of truth for status, inability of service accounts to authenticate themselves, and reuse of service accounts leading to over-privilege. Veza helps organizations manage their service accounts by enabling them to understand, manage, and control authorization for both human and nonhuman entities.