The Critical Security Gap Hiding in Plain Sight

Zero Trust has become the gold standard for modern cybersecurity architectures, built on “never trust, always verify.” Yet a recent study by the Cloud Security Alliance reveals that nearly 1 in 5 organizations have experienced a security incident related to non-human identities, with only 15% remaining confident in their ability to secure them. The culprit? Device identity—the missing link that can render even the most sophisticated Zero Trust strategy ineffective.

In an era where connected IoT devices are growing 13% to 18.8 billion globally by 2024 and are projected to reach 40 billion by 2030, failing to verify and manage device identities isn’t just a security gap—it’s an existential threat to business continuity.

That’s why Olympus and Device Authority are joining forces to close this critical vulnerability, redefining what it means to adopt a truly comprehensive Zero Trust model that begins where digital trust must start: at the device level.

The Non-Human Identity Crisis

Most Zero Trust architectures were designed for a simpler time when security perimeters were clear, and identities were predominantly human. Today’s enterprise operates in a fundamentally different reality:

The Scale Challenge:

• Manufacturing plants deploying thousands of sensors per facility
• Healthcare systems managing hundreds of connected medical devices per hospital
• Smart cities coordinating millions of IoT endpoints across infrastructure

The Complexity Challenge:

• Devices operating autonomously without human oversight
• Legacy systems lacking modern identity frameworks
• Hybrid environments spanning cloud, edge, and on-premises infrastructure
• Supply chain devices with unknown or compromised provenance

The Risk Amplification:

• Non-human identities often outnumber human identities by a factor of 82 to 1 (CyberArk, 2025)
• 45% of NHI security incidents caused by lack of credential rotation
• 37% stem from inadequate monitoring and logging
• 37% result from over-privileged accounts or identities

Source: Cloud Security Alliance & Astrix Security “State of Non-Human Identity Security Survey Report” (September 2024) – survey of 800+ experts plus data from 2+ million monitored NHIs in Fortune 500 companies

Without verified device identities, organizations are essentially operating blind—unable to answer the fundamental question: “What devices are on my network, and can I trust them?”

Identity-First Security: Beyond Human-Centric Models

Traditional security models were built for a simpler world where identities were predominantly human, and perimeters were clearly defined. But today’s enterprise operates in a fundamentally different reality where machines vastly outnumber people, and the concept of a network edge has all but disappeared.

The shift to identity-first security means reimagining how we establish trust in this device-dominated landscape. Rather than treating device identity as a bolt-on security feature, organizations must embed it as a foundational element from the moment a device is manufactured or deployed. This begins with hardware-rooted trust anchors—cryptographic identities that are established at the silicon level and cannot be easily compromised or cloned.

But static identity alone isn’t sufficient in dynamic environments where devices move between networks, update their software, and interact with countless other systems. Modern device identity requires continuous assessment and validation. Organizations need systems that can monitor device behavior patterns, assess health status, and automatically adjust trust levels based on real-time risk factors. When a device begins exhibiting unusual communication patterns or shows signs of compromise, the identity system must be able to respond immediately by quarantining the device or restricting its access before damage occurs.

Perhaps most critically, device identities must be managed throughout their entire operational lifecycle. This means seamless onboarding processes that establish trust from day one, automated credential rotation that prevents the exposure risks we see with static passwords, and secure decommissioning that ensures retired devices can’t become backdoors into the network.

Device Authority’s KeyScaler® platform addresses these challenges by automating identity provisioning and lifecycle management at scale, while Olympus brings the enterprise integration expertise needed to weave these device trust anchors into existing identity governance frameworks. Together, we’re enabling organizations to enforce consistent security policies across every identity in their environment—whether human or machine.

Where the Stakes Are Critical

The consequences of weak device identity create significant risks across critical sectors:

Healthcare: Life-Critical Systems Connected medical devices—from infusion pumps to patient monitors—require absolute trust in their identity and communications. Device spoofing or compromise in healthcare environments can directly impact patient safety and treatment outcomes.

Critical Infrastructure: National Security Implications the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack demonstrated how industrial systems become attack vectors. Attackers who can masquerade as legitimate operational technology devices gain the ability to disrupt essential services, from power grids to water treatment facilities.

Financial Services: Regulatory and Compliance Requirements Financial institutions deploying ATMs, point-of-sale terminals, and trading systems face strict regulatory requirements under frameworks like PCI DSS. Strong device identity provides the foundation for demonstrating compliance and preventing unauthorized access to financial systems.

Manufacturing: Operational Continuity Modern manufacturing depends on precise coordination between robots, sensors, and control systems. Unverified devices in these environments can disrupt production workflows, compromise product quality, or provide entry points for industrial espionage.

Bridging the Gap: Chip-to-Cloud Security Architecture

The complexity of modern device identity isn’t just about establishing trust—it’s about maintaining that trust across an intricate technology ecosystem that spans from embedded hardware to cloud-native applications. Each layer of this stack presents unique challenges, and the security of the entire system depends on seamless integration between them all.

At the hardware foundation, modern devices increasingly rely on secure boot processes that verify digital signatures before allowing any code to execute. Hardware security modules and trusted platform modules provide tamper-resistant storage for cryptographic keys, ensuring that even if a device is physically compromised, its core identity remains protected. But hardware-level security is only as strong as the identity frameworks built on top of it.

The identity layer bridges this hardware foundation with enterprise systems through standards-based approaches like X.509 certificates and emerging technologies such as DICE (Device Identifier Composition Engine). This is where integration with established PKI infrastructure becomes critical, organizations have existing investments in platforms from partners like KeyFactor and Venafi, and device identity solutions must work within these established frameworks rather than requiring complete infrastructure replacement.

Policy enforcement represents where device identity moves from theoretical security to practical business outcomes. Modern organizations need systems that can make real-time access decisions based on device trust scores, automatically adjust permissions as conditions change, and integrate with existing identity platforms including Okta, Ping Identity, and SailPoint. The goal isn’t to create separate management silos for devices and humans, but to extend existing identity governance to encompass every endpoint.

The orchestration layer ties everything together through API-driven management that can scale to millions of devices while providing the audit trails and compliance reporting that modern enterprises demand. Integration with SIEM platforms like Splunk enables security teams to correlate device behavior with broader threat intelligence, while automated incident response capabilities can quarantine compromised devices before they impact business operations.

Our partnership delivers this unified approach by combining Device Authority’s specialized IoT security capabilities with Olympus’s deep expertise in enterprise identity governance. Rather than forcing organizations to rip and replace their existing security investments, we provide a bridge that extends proven identity management practices to the edge of the network.

The Quantum-Ready Imperative

The approaching era of quantum computing presents both an existential threat and a strategic opportunity for device identity management. While much of the cybersecurity industry is still grappling with the theoretical implications of quantum computing, forward-thinking organizations recognize that the transition to quantum-resistant cryptography isn’t a distant future concern, it’s a present-day planning imperative.

The challenge is staggering in scope. Billions of IoT devices currently deployed across global infrastructure rely on RSA and elliptic curve cryptography algorithms that quantum computers will eventually render obsolete. Unlike enterprise software that can be updated with patches, many of these devices operate in environments where updates are difficult, expensive, or impossible. Industrial sensors embedded in concrete, medical devices with decade-long operational lifecycles, and automotive systems designed for 15-year service lives all represent potential points of cryptographic vulnerability.

But this challenge also presents an unprecedented opportunity for organizations willing to think strategically about their device identity architectures. The natural refresh cycles of IoT deployments provide built-in migration windows for transitioning to quantum-resistant algorithms like CRYSTALS-Kyber and CRYSTALS-Dilithium. Organizations that implement crypto-agile device identity frameworks today can position themselves to seamlessly transition to post-quantum cryptography as standards mature and hardware implementations become available.

The key is to build flexibility into device identity systems from the beginning. Rather than hard-coding specific cryptographic algorithms into device firmware, organizations need frameworks that can adapt cryptographic methods through configuration changes and certificate updates. This crypto-agility approach ensures that today’s device identity investments won’t become tomorrow’s legacy liabilities.

Our joint approach recognizes that quantum readiness isn’t just about cryptographic algorithms—it’s about building identity architectures that can evolve with emerging threats and technologies. By establishing flexible, standards-based device identity frameworks today, organizations can protect their current investments while maintaining the agility needed to adapt to the post-quantum future.

Measurable Business Impact

90% of organizations experienced at least one identity-related incident in the past year, with 84% suffering direct business impact from identity-based breaches, according to the Identity Defined Security Alliance’s 2024 Trends in Securing Digital Identities report. This represents an increase from 68% reporting direct business impact in 2023.

The most prevalent breach impacts include significant distraction from core business (52%), cost to recover from breach (47%), and negative impact on reputation (26%). These impacts demonstrate that identity-related incidents extend far beyond technical issues to affect fundamental business operations.

The investment in comprehensive device identity management becomes particularly compelling when considering these statistics. Forward-thinking organizations are addressing these challenges through device identity strategies that integrate with their existing security investments, recognizing that non-human identities represent a critical and often overlooked attack vector.

From Edge to Enterprise: A New Security Paradigm

The future of cybersecurity isn’t about building higher walls around shrinking perimeters. It’s about establishing trust relationships that scale across distributed, heterogeneous environments where human oversight becomes impossible.

By combining Olympus’s deep expertise in enterprise identity governance with Device Authority’s specialized IoT security capabilities, we’re enabling organizations to achieve true Zero Trust—one that recognizes every connected endpoint as a potential attack vector requiring verification, not assumption.

We’re helping critical sectors move beyond reactive security models toward proactive, identity-first approaches built for today’s connected reality and resilient against tomorrow’s evolving threats.

Ready to close your device identity gap? Olympus Solutions brings enterprise-grade identity governance expertise, while Device Authority provides specialized IoT and device security technology. Together, we deliver comprehensive Zero Trust solutions that protect organizations from edge to enterprise. Fill out the form below to learn how our partnership can extend your Zero Trust architecture to every connected endpoint in your environment.