The biggest identity risk in 2026 exists not inside your identity and access management (IAM) system, but beyond it. Identity sprawl, privilege creep and shadow admin rights expand attack surfaces across Active Directory and Entra ID, creating invisible vulnerabilities that bypass traditional security controls. According to statistics, 80% of modern cyberattacks are identity-based, exploiting these very blind spots to penetrate corporate networks.
Key facts: 80% of cyberattacks exploit identity vulnerabilities; non-human identities (NHIs) outnumber human identities by 80:1; 70% of secrets from 2022 remain active in 2025; 23.7 million secrets were leaked in 2024; traditional IAM tools cover only fully integrated systems.
Identity sprawl occurs when an organization creates numerous accounts without centralized oversight. Every new employee, contractor, service account or cloud service integration adds another identity to the system. Over time, these identities accumulate, creating a complex web of access rights that becomes impossible to effectively control. Privilege creep occurs when users receive additional access rights as they change roles or projects, while their old permissions are not revoked.
Shadow admin rights pose a particular threat. These are accounts that formally do not have administrative privileges but effectively possess them through complex permission chains, inherited rights or delegation. In Active Directory, such privileges often arise through nested groups, delegated permissions or misconfigured policies. In Entra ID (formerly Azure AD), shadow administrators can emerge through Microsoft 365 roles assigned via dynamic groups or API integrations.
Non-human identities (NHIs), or machine identities, include accounts, API keys, service principals, certificates and secrets used by applications, services and automated processes. Statistics show that NHIs outnumber human identities by 80:1, creating enormous hidden risk. These identities are often overlooked by traditional IAM systems because they do not sign in through login portals and instead operate in the background.
| NHI Type | Purpose | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Service Accounts | Running services and applications | Often have local administrator privileges |
| API Keys | Application authentication | Stored in code or configuration files |
| Certificates | Encryption and authentication | Expire and are renewed manually |
| OAuth Tokens | Access to cloud services | Long-lived tokens without rotation |
| Secrets in Vaults | Credential storage | 70% of secrets from 2022 remain active in 2025 |
In 2024, 23.7 million secrets were leaked, while 70% of secrets from 2022 remained active in 2025, creating long-term vulnerabilities. Machine identities are particularly dangerous because they often have broad access privileges, do not require multi-factor authentication and are not tracked by user activity monitoring systems. AI agents, which are increasingly being deployed in enterprise processes, create a new class of NHI with unpredictable access patterns.
AI agents operate inside enterprises with growing access to sensitive systems and data, while security teams still lack sufficient visibility, control and governance to contain that access. These agents can autonomously request access to resources, escalate privileges and interact with external systems, creating new blind spots in identity management.
Traditional identity and access management tools have a fundamental limitation: they cover only what is fully integrated into the system. IAM solutions are highly effective at managing user accounts, multi-factor authentication and access policies for integrated systems. However, they cannot see shadow IT systems, non-integrated applications, local services and machine identities operating outside their control.
Active Directory and Entra ID remain primary targets for attackers because they provide centralized control over the entire corporate infrastructure. Attackers actively exploit vulnerabilities in these systems for lateral movement across networks and privilege escalation. Attacks often begin with the compromise of a single low-privilege account, after which the attacker explores the access-rights structure, searches for shadow administrators and uses them to gain control over critical systems.
Attackers use several proven techniques to exploit identity blind spots. Pass-the-hash and pass-the-ticket attacks allow stolen password hashes and Kerberos tickets to be used without knowing the original credentials. Kerberoasting targets service accounts with weak passwords, allowing their hashes to be extracted for offline cracking. DCSync attacks impersonate domain controllers to replicate the Active Directory database, gaining access to credentials across the environment.
Effective identity risk management requires a multi-layered approach combining technological solutions, processes and organizational measures. The first step is achieving complete visibility into every identity within the organization, including human and non-human identities, as well as integrated and shadow identities.
| Category | Solution | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Identity Security Posture Management | ISPM Platforms | Continuous identity risk monitoring and assessment |
| Privileged Access Management | PAM Solutions | Control and auditing of privileged access |
| Secrets Management | Vault Systems | Centralized storage and rotation of secrets |
| Identity Governance | IGA Platforms | Identity lifecycle management |
| Behavioral Analytics | UEBA Solutions | Detection of anomalous user behavior |
Identity Security Posture Management (ISPM) platforms represent a new generation of tools specifically designed to identify and eliminate identity blind spots. These systems automatically discover all identities within an organization, analyze their access rights, identify shadow administrators and provide recommendations for reducing risk. Privileged Access Management (PAM) solutions provide strict control over privileged accounts by requiring multi-factor authentication, session recording and temporary privilege elevation.
Technology solutions must be supported by proper processes and organizational culture. Regular access-rights audits should become standard practice rather than an exception. The offboarding process for departing employees should include automatic revocation of all access rights across every system. Training employees in identity security fundamentals helps prevent phishing attacks and social engineering aimed at stealing credentials.
Managing AI agents and other non-human identities requires dedicated policies enforcing least privilege, auditable calls and rapid rollback in the event of suspicious activity. All machine identities should be registered in a centralized catalog with clearly identified owners, purposes and expiration dates.
To evaluate the effectiveness of an identity risk management program, organizations need to track key metrics. Time to detect a compromised account, average time to revoke excessive privileges, percentage of identities protected by multi-factor authentication, number of shadow administrators and secret rotation frequency all help measure the maturity of an identity security program.
Identity blind spots represent one of the most critical threats facing modern organizations. Identity sprawl, privilege creep and shadow admin rights create invisible backdoors that attackers actively exploit to penetrate corporate networks. Traditional IAM tools cannot provide complete protection because they cover only integrated systems, leaving machine identities, shadow IT and cross-domain permissions outside their visibility.
An effective risk reduction strategy requires a comprehensive approach that includes a complete inventory of all identities, implementation of the principle of least privilege, automated secrets management and continuous monitoring for anomalous activity. Organizations that proactively eliminate identity blind spots significantly reduce their exposure to modern cyberattacks and improve the overall resilience of their security infrastructure.
“Identity security is not a one-time event, but a continuous process. In today's world, every unaccounted-for identity is a potential backdoor for attackers.”
— Bruce Schneier, cryptography and security expert
