Think back to a couple of decades ago, when user passwords were jotted down on sticky notes and rarely changed. User identity evolved to password managers, MFA, SSO, IAM, and now Zero Trust. But we’re about to go through a déjà vu scenario with non-human identities, which are outpacing human ones by a staggering 45:1. The importance of managing secure workload-to-workload communication has never been more pronounced, as applications evolve from monolithic to dynamic and distributed. All this is driven by API-first and cloud-native environments, as well as serverless functions and microservices architectures. 

So, how do we properly manage and secure workload interactions? Most importantly, how do we end our dependence on vulnerable secrets as the primary means to secure workload-to-workload access? This talk navigates past, present, and future, preparing practitioners to thrive in a non-human identity-saturated world, free from the operational inefficiency and exposure risks of secrets.

Attendees can expect to walk away with practical guidance for:

Transitioning to Modern Credential Management: Master the shift away from traditional security practices by phasing out long-lived secrets and hardcoded credentials, such as those stored in CI/CD pipelines. This transformation simplifies system integration and reduces developer burden, enhancing efficiency in a cloud-native landscape.

Advancing Cloud-Native Integration and Security: Leverage workload IAM technology to extend secure workload access to both virtual machines and Kubernetes, enhancing cloud-native deployments. This integration simplifies application delivery, accelerates innovation, and ensures seamless, secure connections across diverse environments, facilitating smooth transitions to cloud-native architectures.

Implementing Zero Trust in Cloud-Native Environments: Understand how to apply a zero trust-style security model to cloud-native environments. This approach includes policy enforcement, continuous verification, and conditional access controls tailored for non-human identities.