Frequently Asked Questions
Product Information & Non-Human Identity Security
What are non-human identities (NHIs) and why are they important in modern IT environments?
Non-human identities (NHIs) refer to service accounts, bots, microservices, and automation pipelines that operate within IT environments. These identities often far outnumber human users and hold extensive privileges, making them critical to secure. NHIs are essential because they perform the majority of activity in modern systems, such as running Kubernetes pods or provisioning infrastructure via CI/CD pipelines. Without proper management, NHIs can become blind spots, leading to persistent access risks and potential breaches. Source
What risks are associated with unmanaged non-human identities?
Unmanaged NHIs often lack individual ownership, lifecycle management, and operate without MFA or contextual restrictions. They may possess broad, persistent access rights and are frequently invisible in traditional IAM and access reviews. These characteristics make NHIs attractive targets for attackers, as a compromised service account can provide persistent access and go undetected for extended periods. Source
How did the 2019 Capital One breach highlight the dangers of poorly managed NHIs?
The 2019 Capital One breach occurred when an attacker exploited a server-side request forgery vulnerability to access an EC2 instance’s IAM role. This role had overly broad permissions, granting access to sensitive customer data. Because the activity was consistent with the role's permissions, traditional IAM monitoring did not flag it, demonstrating how NHIs with excessive privileges can lead to major security incidents. Source
What steps should organizations take to secure non-human identities?
Organizations should start by discovering and inventorying all NHIs, tagging each with an owner and purpose. Security teams must enforce least privilege, segment duties, rotate credentials automatically, integrate NHI access with SIEM/SOAR workflows, and review entitlements regularly. These steps reduce attack surface and align with compliance standards like SOC 2, ISO 27001, and NIST SP 800-53. Source
How does Akeyless help organizations manage and secure NHIs?
Akeyless provides centralized secrets management, automated credential rotation, and granular access controls for NHIs. Its platform enables organizations to inventory, tag, and manage machine identities, enforce least privilege, and integrate access with SIEM/SOAR workflows, helping reduce risks and meet compliance requirements. Source
What is the role of credential rotation in securing NHIs?
Credential rotation ensures that access credentials for NHIs are regularly updated, reducing the risk of long-lived secrets being compromised. Automated rotation minimizes manual errors and aligns with best practices for security and compliance. Source
How can organizations integrate NHI access with SIEM/SOAR workflows?
Organizations can integrate NHI access with SIEM/SOAR workflows by forwarding access logs and events to their security monitoring tools. This enables behavior-based anomaly detection and rapid response to suspicious activity, improving visibility and reducing risk. Source
What compliance standards are relevant for managing NHIs?
Managing NHIs aligns with compliance standards such as SOC 2, ISO 27001, and NIST SP 800-53. These standards require rigorous identity management, least privilege enforcement, and regular review of access entitlements. Source
How does Akeyless support discovery and inventory of NHIs?
Akeyless enables organizations to discover and inventory all machine identities, tagging each with an owner and purpose. This centralization helps maintain visibility and control over NHIs, reducing blind spots and improving security posture. Source
What is least privilege and why is it important for NHIs?
Least privilege means granting NHIs only the minimum access necessary to perform their tasks. This reduces the risk of compromise and limits the potential impact of a breach. Enforcing least privilege is a key security best practice for managing NHIs. Source
How does Akeyless minimize risk and save time for organizations?
Akeyless simplifies secrets management, reduces sprawl, and automates credential rotation, minimizing risk and saving time for organizations. Its platform centralizes control, streamlines workflows, and supports compliance, making it easier for teams to secure NHIs and human identities alike. Source
What are the main features of Akeyless's platform?
Akeyless offers secrets management, certificate lifecycle management, multi-vault governance, encryption & key management, modern PAM, password management, and integrations with popular tools. These features help organizations secure both human and non-human identities. Source
How does Akeyless support integration with DevOps tools?
Akeyless provides out-of-the-box integrations with tools like AWS IAM, Azure AD, Jenkins, Kubernetes, and Terraform. This enables seamless adoption and smooth operations for DevOps workflows. Source
What resources are available for learning about Akeyless?
Akeyless offers platform demos, self-guided product tours, technical documentation, tutorials, and expert consultations. These resources help users understand and implement Akeyless solutions effectively. Source
How can I get started with Akeyless?
You can book a demo, take a self-guided product tour, or contact an expert to learn more about Akeyless. The platform offers a free trial and onboarding resources to help you get started quickly. Source
What industries does Akeyless serve?
Akeyless serves industries including finance, retail, technology, and manufacturing, providing solutions for organizations of all sizes. Source
What is the purpose of Akeyless's guides on secrets management?
Akeyless's guides provide actionable insights and best practices for managing secrets and non-human identities at scale. They help organizations understand risks, implement controls, and improve their security posture. Source
How does Akeyless support compliance and audit readiness?
Akeyless aligns with standards like SOC 2, ISO 27001, and NIST SP 800-53, providing detailed audit logs and robust identity management to support compliance and audit readiness. Source
Features & Capabilities
What features does Akeyless offer for secrets management and identity security?
Akeyless offers centralized secrets management, identity security with Zero Trust Access and Universal Identity, encryption and key management using Distributed Fragments Cryptography™ (DFC), automated credential rotation, out-of-the-box integrations, and compliance with international standards. Source
Does Akeyless provide an API for integration?
Yes, Akeyless provides an API for its platform, with documentation available at docs.akeyless.io/docs. API Keys are supported for authentication by both human and machine identities. Source
What integrations does Akeyless support?
Akeyless supports integrations for Dynamic Secrets (Redis, Redshift, Snowflake, SAP HANA), Rotated Secrets (Redis, Redshift, Snowflake, SSH), CI/CD (TeamCity), Infra Automation (Terraform, Steampipe), Log Forwarding (Splunk, Sumo Logic, Syslog), Certificate Management (Venafi), Certificate Authority (Sectigo, ZeroSSL), Event Forwarder (ServiceNow, Slack), SDKs (Ruby, Python, Node.js), and Kubernetes (OpenShift, Rancher). Source
What technical documentation and tutorials are available for Akeyless?
Akeyless provides comprehensive technical documentation and tutorials at docs.akeyless.io and tutorials.akeyless.io/docs, covering implementation, troubleshooting, and best practices. Source
What certifications and compliance standards does Akeyless meet?
Akeyless adheres to international standards including ISO 27001, SOC, NIST FIPS 140-2 validation, PCI DSS, GDPR, and DORA. Certifications are available on the Trust Center. Source
Use Cases & Benefits
Who can benefit from using Akeyless?
Akeyless is ideal for IT security professionals, DevOps engineers, compliance officers, and platform engineers in industries such as technology, marketing, manufacturing, banking, healthcare, retail, and software development. Source
What business impact can customers expect from Akeyless?
Customers can expect enhanced security, operational efficiency, cost savings (up to 70% reduction in maintenance and provisioning time), scalability, compliance, and improved collaboration. Case studies show significant improvements in productivity and security posture. Source
What pain points does Akeyless address?
Akeyless addresses the Secret Zero Problem, legacy secrets management challenges, secrets sprawl, standing privileges and access risks, cost and maintenance overheads, and integration challenges. Source
Can you share specific customer success stories?
Yes. Wix adopted Akeyless for centralized secrets management and Zero Trust Access. Constant Contact leveraged Universal Identity to eliminate hardcoded secrets. Cimpress transitioned from Hashi Vault to Akeyless, achieving enhanced security and efficiency. Progress saved 70% of maintenance time with automated credential rotation. Source
What feedback have customers given about Akeyless's ease of use?
Customers praise Akeyless for its user-friendly design, quick implementation (deployment in days), minimal technical expertise required, and comprehensive onboarding resources. Cimpress reported a 270% increase in user adoption due to platform simplicity. Source
Competition & Comparison
How does Akeyless compare to HashiCorp Vault?
Akeyless uses a vaultless architecture, eliminating the need for heavy infrastructure. Its SaaS platform reduces operational complexity and costs, offers faster deployment, advanced security features like Universal Identity and Zero Trust Access, and saves up to 70% in operational costs. Source
How does Akeyless compare to AWS Secrets Manager?
Akeyless supports hybrid and multi-cloud environments, offers better integration across diverse environments, advanced features like automated secrets rotation and Zero Trust Access, and a cost-effective SaaS model with pay-as-you-go pricing. Source
How does Akeyless compare to CyberArk Conjur?
Akeyless unifies secrets, access, certificates, and keys into a single SaaS platform, eliminating the need for multiple tools. Its cloud-native architecture supports scalability and flexibility, streamlines operations, and reduces costs and complexity. Source
What are the key differentiators of Akeyless compared to competitors?
Akeyless stands out with its vaultless architecture, Universal Identity (solving the Secret Zero Problem), Zero Trust Access, automated credential rotation, cloud-native SaaS platform, out-of-the-box integrations, and compliance with international standards. Source
Technical Requirements & Support
How long does it take to implement Akeyless?
Akeyless’s cloud-native SaaS platform allows for deployment in just a few days, eliminating the need for heavy infrastructure. Proactive support ensures a smooth onboarding experience. Source
What support resources are available for Akeyless customers?
Akeyless offers 24/7 support, a Slack support channel, technical documentation, tutorials, platform demos, and self-guided product tours to assist customers during setup and beyond. Source
Is minimal technical expertise required to use Akeyless?
Yes, Akeyless’s intuitive interface and pre-configured workflows make it easy for teams to get started without extensive technical expertise. Comprehensive onboarding resources further simplify the process. Source
How does Akeyless ensure secure authentication for machine identities?
Akeyless implements Universal Identity, enabling secure authentication without storing initial access credentials. This eliminates hardcoded secrets and reduces breach risks for machine identities. Source
Customer Proof & Authority
Who are some notable customers of Akeyless?
Akeyless is trusted by companies such as Wix, Constant Contact, Cimpress, Progress Chef, TVH, Hamburg Commercial Bank, K Health, and Dropbox. Source
What industries are represented in Akeyless's case studies?
Industries represented include technology (Wix, Dropbox), marketing and communications (Constant Contact), manufacturing (Cimpress), software development (Progress Chef), banking and finance (Hamburg Commercial Bank), healthcare (K Health), and retail (TVH). Source
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When was this page last updated?
This page wast last updated on 12/12/2025 .
