What Is Non-Human Identity Management
SC World, Thursday, June 4th, 2026
Explainer on managing non-human identities (NHIs) like service accounts, machine accounts, workloads and API keys that authenticate without humans.
Non-human identities (NHIs) are digital accounts that let systems, applications and automated processes authenticate without human interaction, spanning service accounts, machine accounts, workload identities and API identities.
Securing them centers on protecting three components: the machine (cloud workloads, AI bots, devices), the account representing its unique identity, and the credentials (tokens, certificates, API keys) that validate access.
NHIs now outnumber human identities and pose distinct risks: compromised automation accounts give attackers persistent access that evades user-focused controls, and failed credential rotation turns static, long-lived secrets into durable backdoors. Effective NHI management requires discovery, ownership, least privilege, secret rotation and governance tailored to machine identities rather than human-centric IAM models.