Non-human identities (NHIs) are reshaping how organizations secure their infrastructure. As cloud-native architectures, automation, and DevSecOps become the norm, the volume of these identities has exploded—now far exceeding human users in most enterprise environments. But while NHIs power efficiency and scalability, they also introduce new risks. If unmanaged, they can become a silent threat vector for data breaches, insider threats, and privilege misuse.

This article unpacks what NHIs are, how they compare to machine identities, and what security teams need to do to manage them effectively.

What Is a Non-Human Identity?

A non-human identity (NHI) is a digital identity that’s assigned to any system, service, or software component that acts independently of a human. These identities allow automation, communication, and secure access between services without human intervention.

You’ll find NHIs in:

• Cloud services like AWS Lambda, Azure Functions, and Google Cloud Run
• CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions, Jenkins, or GitLab
• Kubernetes workloads and pods
• APIs and third-party service integrations
• Bots, RPA tools, and AI agents
• Scripts and background jobs running on schedule

These identities are authenticated using tokens, API keys, service principals, or workload identities—and they often get created and retired on the fly.

The Modern Shift: From Human to Machine-Driven Access

Today, enterprises run environments where 75% or more of access requests come from non-human entities. For example:

• A microservice fetching secrets from a key vault
• An AI tool connecting to a data lake for real-time processing
• A monitoring tool polling system health every few seconds

Each of these interactions is secured by a non-human identity. The shift to identity-based security has made managing these identities a critical function of zero trust architectures.

Machine Identities vs. Non-Human Identities: What’s the Real Difference?

Although many use the terms machine identity and non-human identity interchangeably, they’re not always the same.

In short: all machine identities are NHIs, but not all NHIs are machine identities. As cloud environments evolve, these distinctions are becoming fuzzier—but understanding them helps you apply the right security controls.

Why Non-Human Identity Management Has Become a Cybersecurity Priority

The identity explosion isn’t just about human users anymore. Gartner predicts that by 2026, over 90% of identities in cloud environments will be non-human.

If left unmanaged, NHIs can:

• Go undetected: Many aren’t tracked like user accounts and may live longer than needed 
• Retain overprivileged access: NHIs often carry broad permissions due to poor design 
• Be misused: Attackers can hijack them to move laterally or exfiltrate data 
• Bypass monitoring tools: Traditional IAM and SIEM tools aren’t always designed to track ephemeral NHIs

Real-World Breach Examples Involving NHIs

✅ SolarWinds Supply Chain Attack: Hackers injected malware into a build server via a compromised code-signing identity—an NHI used in CI/CD. 

✅ Codecov Bash Uploader Incident: Attackers exploited a CI script’s non-human identity to access customer credentials stored in environment variables. (Source)

✅ CloudMisconfig Cases: In many breaches across AWS and GCP, misconfigured service identities allowed broad access across cloud accounts—despite having no associated human user. (Source)

These incidents show that non-human identities are not low-risk. They’re often invisible yet powerful. And when compromised, they’re harder to detect.

How to Secure Non-Human Identities: Best Practices

1. Inventory All Non-Human Identities

Before you can secure what you don’t see, you need visibility. Map out every service account, workload identity, script, API token, and certificate across your cloud and on-prem environments. NHIs are often buried deep in CI/CD tools, container orchestration systems, and legacy services.

Focus on discovering orphaned or unused identities—they’re a prime target for attackers. Use identity management tools that support automated scanning and tagging to simplify ongoing visibility.

2. Apply Least Privilege Access

NHIs should only be granted access to the specific systems, data, and operations they need to perform their role. Unfortunately, many are over-permissioned by default or inherit excessive privileges from parent services.

Use role-based access control (RBAC) or attribute-based access control (ABAC) models. Regularly review permissions and revoke unused or elevated access. Avoid assigning blanket admin rights just to “get things working.”

3. Automate Credential Rotation

Static credentials like API keys, SSH keys, and access tokens can be a serious liability—especially if they don’t expire. Manual rotation isn’t scalable in fast-moving environments.

Automate credential lifecycle using tools like HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, or GCP Secret Manager. Integrate them with your CI/CD pipeline to issue short-lived credentials that are regenerated with every build or deployment.

4. Shorten Identity Lifespans

Many NHIs are created for short-term tasks—so their credentials should reflect that. Long-lived service identities increase the risk of misuse, especially if forgotten.

Use ephemeral identities that automatically expire when a job completes or a container shuts down. For cloud workloads, consider enabling features like Workload Identity Federation or Managed Identities that generate just-in-time access without persistent secrets.

5. Monitor and Audit Behavior

Just because an identity is non-human doesn’t mean its behavior can’t be suspicious. Monitor what services do after they authenticate—especially unusual access patterns or unexpected data transfers.

Integrate NHI logs with your SIEM solution (e.g., Splunk, Sentinel, or Chronicle). Use anomaly detection to flag lateral movements or access outside normal working hours. Establish baselines for NHI behavior and alert on deviations.

6. Segment Access by Function

Don’t treat all NHIs equally. A backup script doesn’t need access to your billing system, and a monitoring agent shouldn’t have write access to storage.

Group NHIs based on function, sensitivity, and risk level. Apply network segmentation, isolate environments (e.g., dev, test, prod), and use firewall rules or service mesh policies to restrict access between services. This limits blast radius in case of compromise.

7. Implement Policy-as-Code

Manually managing permissions for hundreds or thousands of NHIs leads to drift and inconsistency. Policy-as-code allows you to define and enforce rules at scale using automation.

Tools like OPA (Open Policy Agent), AWS IAM policies, or Terraform with Sentinel let you codify security rules and apply them uniformly. This reduces misconfigurations and enables audits and rollbacks. Treat identity policies like application code: version them, test them, and review changes.

To Sum Up

As organizations scale in the cloud, non-human identities are becoming the new perimeter. They’re powerful, fast, and often forgotten. But with the right identity governance, automation tools, and security awareness, you can reduce their risk—while still benefiting from everything automation has to offer. If you’re building a secure, cloud-native business in 2025, managing NHIs isn’t optional. It’s mission-critical.