Machine Identities Security, Governance, & Management
Machine identities are digital identities assigned to software, devices, and workloads so they can authenticate to other systems. Their credentials include TLS certificates, cryptographic keys, tokens, and cloud workload credentials.
Unlike employees, machines have no HR record or automatic leaver event. When a person resigns, HR starts an off-boarding process. A certificate issued for a migration in 2022 may have no equivalent trigger, so it remains valid until it expires or someone notices it.
That gap used to be manageable. Now it's getting expensive. The maximum lifetime of publicly trusted TLS certificates is falling on a published schedule, and every reduction increases the number of renewals teams must execute correctly.
Discovery matters as much as issuance
Machine identities often lack reliable retirement triggers, making discovery, ownership, and lifecycle management as important as issuance.TLS certificate lifetimes are shrinking fast
Publicly trusted TLS subscriber certificates are capped at 200 days for certificates issued from March 15, 2026, falling to 100 days from March 15, 2027, and 47 days from March 15, 2029. Manual renewal has a shelf life.Risk concentrates at hybrid seams
Risk concentrates at the seams of hybrid environments, where one system issues a credential, another trusts it, and no shared inventory records the relationship.
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