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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteNon-human identity management is the process of discovering, governing, securing, monitoring, and retiring digital identities used by software, services, machines, and workloads. It helps an organization know which automated actors can access its systems, what they are allowed to do, who is accountable for them, and how their credentials are protected throughout their lifecycle.
What counts as a non-human identity?
A non-human identity (NHI) is a digital identity used by something other than a person. Examples include an application calling an API, a deployment pipeline accessing a cloud account, a service running on a server, or a physical device connecting to a network. The federal GSA and Federal CIO Council Cloud Identity Playbook, version 1.3, dated March 17, 2026, defines a non-person entity as “Any non-human with a digital identity in cyberspace.” The playbook is practical guidance, not a mandate, and its stated scope centers on federal cloud workforce identity and access management.
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Related terms describe different things
- Machine identity: The playbook uses this term for a digital identity associated with physical hardware, such as a server, switch, or printer.
- Digital worker identity: The playbook’s category for software identities, including AI and machine-learning systems, bots, programs, and services.
- Workload identity: An identity used by an application, workload, operational tool, or component when it requests access to services or resources. AWS, for example, describes machine identities for workload applications, operational tools, and components making requests to AWS services.
- Service account: A platform-specific account or principal used by an application, service, or process. It is one common way to represent an NHI, not a universal synonym for every machine or workload identity.
Terminology varies across platforms. Organizations should define a consistent internal taxonomy and inventory rather than assume that similarly named objects behave identically in every system.
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Identity, credential, and permission are not the same
A useful practical model separates three pieces of an access request:
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- Identity: Which software, workload, service, or device is making the request?
- Credential: What does it present to prove or establish that identity? Examples include a token, API key, certificate, or secret.
- Permission: What actions or resources is the authenticated identity allowed to use?
These boundaries are not a universal standards taxonomy, and a platform may bundle or label the pieces differently. But the distinction matters operationally: rotating a credential does not necessarily change the identity or reduce its permissions, and deleting an identity is not the same as revoking every credential that could still be used to access a system.
NHI management governs the identity and its access over time, while credential management protects the material used in authentication and authorization flows. NIST’s final September 2026 IR 8587 addresses identity tokens, access tokens, assertions, signing keys, token verification, key management, and lifecycle protections.
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Why NHI management matters
Automated identities can accumulate across cloud accounts, applications, build pipelines, and infrastructure. If an identity has no clear owner, more access than its task requires, or credentials that remain usable after its purpose ends, it can become an overlooked route into systems. NHI management makes those identities visible and gives organizations a repeatable way to control access and respond when an identity or credential is no longer needed.
The Cloud Security Alliance’s online survey of 818 IT and security professionals, conducted in June 2024 and summarized on September 11, 2024, reported that 15% of respondents felt highly confident in preventing NHI attacks and 69% expressed concern about such attacks. The same survey reported that 20% had formal API-key offboarding and revocation processes, with even fewer reporting procedures for rotating API keys. These are self-reported survey results, not universal prevalence estimates or measurements of actual breach rates.
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- POWERFUL SECURITY KEY: The YubiKey 5 NFC is the most versatile physical passkey, protecting your digital life from phishing attacks. It ensures only you can access your accounts
- WORKS WITH 1000+ ACCOUNTS: Compatible with popular accounts like Google, Microsoft, and Apple. A single YubiKey 5 NFC secures 100+ of your favorite accounts, including email, password managers, and more
- FAST & CONVENIENT LOGIN: Plug in your YubiKey 5 NFC via USB and tap it, or tap it against your phone (NFC), to authenticate. No batteries, no internet connection, and no extra fees required
- MOST SECURE PASSKEY: Supports FIDO2/WebAuthn, FIDO U2F, Yubico OTP, OATH-TOTP/HOTP, Smart card (PIV), and OpenPGP. That means it’s versatile, working almost anywhere you need it
- PRIMARY & SPARE KEYS: Just like having a spare house key, we recommend buying two YubiKeys - one for daily use and one as a spare. That way you’ll never get locked out of your accounts
Cloud services do not remove the customer’s responsibility to govern access. The federal Cloud Identity Playbook describes cloud security as a shared responsibility and identifies customer responsibilities that include identity and access management, least privilege, role-based access, MFA, and risk decisions. Its federal context should be kept in mind when applying the guidance elsewhere.
How to manage non-human identities
A workable program connects discovery, ownership, access decisions, credential controls, monitoring, and retirement. The exact mechanisms depend on the platform and workload, but the following sequence provides a practical starting point.
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- POWERFUL SECURITY KEY: The Security Key NFC is the essential physical passkey for protecting your digital life from phishing attacks. It ensures only you can access your accounts.
- WORKS WITH 1000+ ACCOUNTS: Compatible with Google, Microsoft, and Apple. A single Security Key NFC secures 100 of your favorite accounts, including email, password managers, and more.
- FAST & CONVENIENT LOGIN: Plug in your Security Key NFC via USB-A and tap it, or tap it against your phone (NFC) to authenticate. No batteries, no internet connection, and no extra fees required.
- TRUSTED PASSKEY TECHNOLOGY: Uses the latest passkey standards (FIDO2/WebAuthn & FIDO U2F) but does not support One-Time Passwords. For complex needs, check out the YubiKey 5 Series.
- BUILT TO LAST: Made from tough, waterproof, and crush-resistant materials. Manufactured in Sweden and programmed in the USA with the highest security standards.
- Discover identities. Inventory service accounts, workload principals, API keys, OAuth tokens, certificates, and secrets across cloud accounts, applications, infrastructure, and deployment pipelines. Include identities created by automation as well as those provisioned manually.
- Record purpose and owner. For each identity, document the workload or process it supports, its business purpose, an accountable team or owner, the systems it needs to reach, and how it is created and removed. An identity without a known owner or current purpose needs investigation before it is left in service.
- Limit access to the task. Grant only the permissions and resource access required for the workload’s job. Use scoped roles or equivalent platform controls where available, and review whether access is still needed as workloads change.
- Choose an appropriate credential pattern. Prefer short-lived or temporary credentials where the platform supports them, and avoid relying on static credentials when a suitable alternative exists. Set controls for credential issuance, lifetime, storage, rotation, and revocation. Protect signing keys and secret material against exposure.
- Make activity observable. Ensure identity use is recorded in logs that the responsible team can review. Monitoring should help identify unexpected access, unusual use, or credentials that remain active after a workload has been retired.
- Test rotation, revocation, and retirement. Establish how to replace a credential, stop its use, and remove an identity when the workload ends. Exercise the process so teams know how to respond without leaving a stale credential or unnecessary access behind.
NIST IR 8587’s final September 2026 guidance covers token and assertion protection, including key management, token verification, and lifecycle controls for single sign-on, federation, API access, and workload access. Its accompanying summary says workload scenarios should favor short-lived tokens over dependence on static credentials and secrets.
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Choosing an implementation pattern
There is no single pattern that fits every platform. Compare options against how credentials are issued and revoked, the scope of permissions, identity discovery and ownership, audit visibility, deployment-tool integration, and operational recovery. AWS documents temporary, limited-privilege credentials for programmatic access and machine-to-machine token and role-session patterns; these are AWS examples, not a cross-cloud ranking.
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- The information below is per-pack only
- POWERFUL SECURITY KEY: The Security Key C NFC is the essential physical passkey for protecting your digital life from phishing attacks. It ensures only you can access your accounts.
- WORKS WITH 1000+ ACCOUNTS: Compatible with Google, Microsoft, and Apple. A single Security Key C NFC secures 100 of your favorite accounts, including email, password managers, and more.
- FAST & CONVENIENT LOGIN: Plug in your Security Key C NFC via USB-C and tap it, or tap it against your phone (NFC) to authenticate. No batteries, no internet connection, and no extra fees required.
- TRUSTED PASSKEY TECHNOLOGY: Uses the latest passkey standards (FIDO2/WebAuthn & FIDO U2F) but does not support One-Time Passwords. For complex needs, check out the YubiKey 5 Series.
| Pattern | What it means | What to evaluate |
|---|---|---|
| Long-lived static credential | A key or secret remains usable until it is rotated, revoked, or otherwise invalidated. | Where it is stored, who can retrieve it, how often it is rotated, how quickly it can be revoked, and whether its continued use is visible. NIST’s September 2026 summary says workload scenarios should favor short-lived tokens over dependence on static credentials and secrets. |
| Short-lived or temporary credential | A credential is issued for a limited period rather than kept valid indefinitely. | How the workload obtains it, its lifetime, whether permissions are appropriately scoped, and how issuance and use are logged. NIST and AWS describe short-lived or temporary credentials in their respective guidance. |
| Federated or role-based workload access | A workload uses a platform’s identity or role-assumption flow to request access rather than relying on a separately stored long-lived secret. | How the workload is identified, which roles it may assume, the granted permissions, platform coverage, audit visibility, and recovery procedures. AWS documents machine-to-machine and role-session examples; behavior varies by platform. |
The table describes decision criteria, not a universal ranking. A pattern that reduces stored secrets can still be poorly governed if the identity is overprivileged, ownerless, difficult to monitor, or left active after its workload has ended.
Quick Recap
What a sound NHI program should be able to answer
- Can the organization find identities and associated credentials across the systems where workloads run?
- Is there an accountable owner and documented purpose for each active identity?
- Are permissions limited to the workload’s current task?
- Can teams determine how credentials are issued, protected, rotated, and revoked?
- Are identity actions visible in logs, and is there a process for investigating unexpected use?
- Can access be safely removed when a workload, service, or device is retired?
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