The JIT Paradox: Why Ephemeral Access Is A Trap Without Zero Trust

InnovationThe JIT Paradox: Why Ephemeral Access Is A Trap Without Zero TrustByItzik Alvas,Forbes Councils Member.for Forbes Technology CouncilCOUNCIL POSTExpertise from Forbes Councils members, operated under license. Opinions expressed are those of the author. | Membership (fee-based)May 13, 2026, 06:30am EDTItzik Alvas is the CEO and cofounder of Entro Security. getty​For the past few years, the security industry has been chasing a holy grail: the death of standing privileges. We've realized that leaving static API keys and long-lived service tokens sitting in our environments is a recipe for disaster.The widely accepted solution is just-in-time (JIT) access. The logic is sound: If an access token only exists for 15 minutes to execute a specific task, the window of opportunity for an attacker drops to near zero.However, as organizations rush to deploy JIT across their cloud and CI/CD pipelines, a new, hidden risk is compounding. We've successfully shortened the lifespan of the secrets, but we've blindly trusted the machinery that mints them.JIT is a massive step forward, but without applying zero-trust principles to the non-human identities (NHIs) requesting that access, JIT's a trap.The Factory Versus The ProductTo understand the trap, look at the architecture. To generate a temporary token, you need a broker, a centralized engine, a pipeline runner or an identity provider that possesses the authority to create that access on demand. We've effectively replaced scattered, long-lived keys with a highly centralized "token factory," which requires persistent, overarching privileges to function. It needs "God-mode."Hackers, as rational economic actors, have already adapted. They aren't trying to steal your 15-minute token; the window is too small, and the effort is too high. Instead, they're targeting the system that mints the tokens. If an attacker can compromise a workload, spoof a machine identity or hijack a C...