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Is the Rise of Machine Identity Posing a Threat to Enterprise Security?

Cybercriminals are always on the hunt to exploit a loophole in the overall security mechanism in the digital world where machine-to-machine communication is the new normal. It’s no longer enough to assume services/devices accessing sensitive data can be trusted.

We're in an era where the number of machine identities has already surpassed the number of human identities, which isn’t something that should be ignored from a security perspective.

Whether we talk about an IoT ecosystem containing millions of interconnected devices or application programs continuously seeking access to crucial data from devices and other apps, machine identity security is swiftly becoming the need of the hour.

What’s more worrisome is that cybercriminals are always on the hunt to exploit a loophole in the overall security mechanism in the digital world where machine-to-machine communication is the new normal.

Hence, it’s no longer enough to reassure or assume services/devices accessing sensitive data can be trusted since a breach or sneak into the network in real-time processing can go undetected for months or even years, causing losses worth millions of dollars.

Here’s where the critical role of machine-to-machine (M2M) authorization comes into play.

Let’s understand how M2M authentication works and paves the path for the secure machine to machine and machine to application interactions without human interventions.

What is Machine Identity? Why Does Security Matter Now More than Ever?

Just like humans have a unique identity and characteristics that define a particular individual, machines have their identities that help govern the integrity and confidentiality of information between different systems.

Machines leverage keys and certificates to assure their unique identities while accessing information or gaining access to specific applications or devices.

Today, business systems undergo complex interactions and communicate autonomously to execute business functions. Every day, millions of devices constantly gather and report data, especially concerning the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem, which doesn’t even require human intervention.

However, adding stringent layers of security isn’t a piece of cake at such a micro-level. Hence, cybercriminals are always looking for a loophole to sneak into a network and exploit crucial information.

Hence, these systems need to efficiently and securely share this data during transit to the suitable systems and issue operational instructions without room for tampering.

A robust machine-to-machine (M2M) communication mechanism can be a game-changer concerning the ever-increasing security risks and challenges.

What is Machine-to-Machine Authorization?

Machine-to-machine (M2M) authorization ensures that business systems communicate autonomously without human intervention and access the needed information through granular-level access.

M2M Authorization is exclusively used for scenarios in which a business system authenticates and authorizes a service rather than a user.

M2M Authorization provides remote systems with secure access to information. Using M2M Authorization, business systems can communicate autonomously and execute business functions based on predefined authorization.

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Why Do Businesses Need M2M Authorization?

Since we’re now relying on smart interconnected devices more than ever before, secure data transfer is undeniably a massive challenge for businesses and vendors offering smart devices and applications.

Moreover, these smart devices and applications continuously demand access from other devices and applications, which doesn’t involve any humans; the underlying risks and security threats increase.

IT leaders and information security professionals can’t keep an eye on things at this micro-level, which is perhaps the reason why there’s an immediate need for a robust mechanism that can handle machine-to-machine communication and ensure the highest level of security.

Apart from this, businesses also need to focus on improving the overall user experience since adding stringent layers of security eventually hampers user experience.

Here’s where a reliable CIAM (consumer identity and access management) solution like LoginRadius comes into play.

How LoginRadius’ Cutting-Edge CIAM Offers Seamless M2M Authorization?

LoginRadius M2M helps businesses to provide flexible machine-to-machine communication while ensuring granular access, authorization, and security requirements are enforced.

LoginRadius’ M2M Authorization offers secure access to improve business efficiency and ultimately enhances customer experience. M2M provides several business benefits, including, but not limited to:

  • Seamless user experience backed with robust security
  • Efficient authentication and data exchange
  • Grant, limit, or block access permissions at any time
  • Secure data access across multiple business systems
  • Granular data access with predefined scopes

Final Thoughts

With the rise of smart devices, the rising threat of machine identity theft is increasing among developers and vendors offering these services.

Organizations need to understand the complexity of the situation and put their best efforts into incorporating a smart security mechanism that can carry out machine-to-machine authorization tasks like a breeze.

LoginRadius’ cutting-edge CIAM offers the best-in-class M2M authorization that helps businesses grow without compromising overall security.

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Deepak Gupta

Written by Deepak Gupta

Deepak is the CTO and co-founder of LoginRadius, a rapidly-expanding Customer Identity Management provider. He's dedicated to innovating the LoginRadius platform. He loves foosball and winning poker games!

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