Non-Human Identity Management is Hard..But It Has To Happen

Have you ever wondered how many digital “users” are actually not human? In 2024, Gartner reported that 60% of access credentials in enterprise environments belong to non-human identities, things like service accounts, APIs, bots, and automated workflows.

The rise of cloud platforms and SaaS tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Google Cloud has fueled this growth. Every time you integrate two apps, deploy a microservice, or automate a task, you’re creating a non-human identity.

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These identities aren’t optional anymore. They’re critical for seamless workflows and 24/7 availability. But they also create a security blind spot you can’t afford to ignore.

Let’s explore what non-human identities really are, why managing them is so tough, and how you can get ahead of the risk before it snowballs.

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TL;DR 

• Non-human identities are machine or app accounts (like APIs, bots) essential for automation but often created without oversight, leading to security blind spots.
• They’re hard to manage due to long lifespans, rapid uncontrolled growth, and poor visibility compared to human accounts.
• Poor management risks include leaked credentials, excessive permissions, unnoticed breaches, and compliance failures.
• As cloud and SaaS use grows, managing these identities is critical to meet regulations and protect brand reputation.
• Best practices: maintain a full inventory with automated discovery, enforce least privilege access, use short-lived credentials, and regularly review and revoke unused identities.

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1. Understanding Non-Human Identities

At its core, a non-human identity is any digital identity used by a machine, application, or process rather than a person. This includes service accounts, APIs, microservices, bots, scripts, and cloud resources.

For example, when you link your Slack workspace with Google Drive, there’s a service account behind the scenes managing that connection. Or when Microsoft Teams schedules a meeting automatically, it’s using a bot with its own identity.

These identities are essential because they allow systems to communicate and operate without manual intervention. They handle data transfers, trigger automated actions, and keep your tech stack running smoothly.

The tricky part? Non-human identities often have privileged access and are created in the background without much visibility. Over time, they pile up, leading to a tangled web of accounts that few people actually monitor.

Understanding these identities is your first step toward securing them. By recognizing where they exist and how they operate, you can begin to bring order to the chaos.

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2. Why Managing Non-Human Identities Is So Challenging

Managing human identities is relatively straightforward. You have onboarding and offboarding processes, password policies, and user behavior monitoring. But non-human identities don’t follow the same rules.

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Let’s break down the key challenges:

A. Extended Lifespan of Non-Human Identities

• Non-human identities, such as service accounts or API keys, frequently persist long after their original purpose has ended.
• For instance, you might deploy a third-party integration in Slack, retire it years later, but its associated credentials remain active, retaining unnecessary access to sensitive data.
• These ongoing identities lead to hidden weaknesses, giving opponents chances to exploit areas that are usually missed during regular checks.

B. Fast Growth Across Complex Environments

• Every new automation, cloud service, or SaaS integration typically generates its own identity.
• Imagine a situation where you set up a Google Cloud function to handle data. Every time a function runs, it makes its own service account, which leads to a huge mess of identities that are hard to keep track of.
• This fast growth can easily go beyond what your organization can handle, resulting in unmonitored or overlooked identities that create serious security threats.

C. Inadequate Visibility and Monitoring Capabilities

• Traditional identity and access management (IAM) tools mainly focus on human users, which means that machine identities often get overlooked and not properly tracked.
• As a result, many organizations lack visibility into the full lifecycle of non-human identities, making it difficult to track their creation, modification, and usage.
• This oversight makes it really hard to spot unusual activities, ensure compliance, or quickly react to possible security threats.

Managing non-human identities is tricky because they are so different: extended lifespan, uncontrolled growth, and limited oversight. 

To tackle these issues, you need to change how you handle identity governance, making sure that machine identities are treated with the same care and control as human identities.

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3. The Security Risks of Poor Non-Human Identity Management

Non-human identities have become essential in SaaS ecosystems. They drive automations, enable integrations, and manage sensitive information. However, if these identities are overlooked or poorly managed, they can create significant vulnerabilities that may result in expensive security breaches. 

This isn't just a theory; it's supported by actual incidents and strong data.

A. Credential Leakage and Exposure

Static credentials, such as API keys and tokens, are usually found in code or configuration files. If these credentials aren't changed often or are made public in repositories, they can be taken advantage of by hackers.

• A report by Entro Security found that 44% of tokens are exposed in the wild, being sent or stored over platforms like Teams, Jira tickets, Confluence pages, code commits, and more. 
• The OWASP Non-Human Identities Top 10 report highlights that 70% of organizations have plaintext secrets embedded in their source code repositories.

B. Over-Permissioned Identities

NHIs often have broader access than necessary, violating the principle of least privilege. This over-permissioning can lead to unauthorized access if the identity is compromised.

• According to CyberArk research, non-human identities outnumber human identities by at least 45-to-1 in 2022.
• The OWASP report notes that 13% of all cloud roles are privileged, with 53% of organizations granting privileged access to more than 10% of their roles.

C. Lack of Visibility and Monitoring

Many organizations struggle with visibility into their NHIs, making it difficult to monitor and manage them effectively. This lack of oversight can lead to unnoticed security breaches.

• According to the CSA and Astrix report, 38% of organizations have no or low visibility into third-party vendors connected by OAuth apps.
• The same report indicates that only 20% of organizations have formal processes for offboarding and revoking API keys.

D. Inadequate Governance and Policy Enforcement

Without proper governance, NHIs can grow out of control, which can create security risks. Organizations need robust policies to manage the lifecycle of NHIs, including creation, usage, and decommissioning.

• The ESG survey revealed that 83% of organizations expect to increase their spending on NHI security, indicating a recognition of the need for better governance and policy enforcement.
• According to a report by Aembit, 35.6% of organizations cite managing identities in hybrid and multi-cloud environments as their top challenge. 

Poor management of non-human identities can lead to credential leakage, over-permissioned access, lack of visibility, and inadequate governance, all of which pose significant security risks. Organizations must implement robust identity and access management practices tailored to NHIs to mitigate these risks effectively.

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4. Why Non-Human Identity Management Is More Important Than Ever

As cloud and SaaS become more popular, everything is more connected than before. Each new integration, automation, and microservice adds to the complexity, bringing in new non-human identities that need to be managed. The number of these identities is huge. 

As we get closer to 2026, a major trend in cybersecurity is the increase of Non-Human Identities (NHIs). These include things like API keys, service accounts, and cloud tokens, and they are expected to surpass human identities by a ratio of 100 to 1 in businesses. 

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The regulatory landscape is getting tougher, and companies need to protect every identity, whether it's a person or a machine. Failing to meet these requirements can lead to serious consequences.

• SOC 2 demands strict access control and regular audits of both human and non-human accounts.
• ISO 27001 emphasizes continuous risk management for all system components, including automated services.
• HIPAA enforces rigorous safeguards for healthcare data, extending to all API integrations and automated workflows.

Key risks of poor non-human identity management include:

• Security breaches stemming from compromised API keys or service accounts.
• Compliance failures result in hefty fines and operational disruptions.
• Brand damage that erodes customer confidence and loyalty.

By prioritizing a strong management strategy, you safeguard not only your data but also your brand’s integrity and long-term success.

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5. Best Practices for Non-Human Identity Management

Getting a handle on non-human identities requires a structured, proactive approach. Here’s where to start:

A. Comprehensive Inventory of All Non-Human Identities

Before you can secure non-human identities, you need to know exactly what you’re dealing with. This is where many organizations fall short. Unlike human users, non-human identities are often created automatically, during software deployments, API integrations, or even temporary processes. 

If you don't do a thorough inventory, you might miss some important details. These ignored accounts can have too many permissions or stay active longer than necessary, which gives hackers a great chance to exploit them.

a. Key Steps

• Catalog All Identities:
  Track every service account, API key, microservice, bot, and automated script. Don’t forget cloud-native identities (e.g., AWS IAM roles, Azure Managed Identities).
• Automate Discovery:
  Use discovery tools like CyberArk Conjur, HashiCorp Vault, and Venafi to detect undocumented or “shadow” identities that may have slipped through manual reviews.
• Map Relationships and Dependencies:
  Understand which identities interact with which services, databases, or users to identify critical pathways and dependencies.
• Ongoing Monitoring:
  Ensure your inventory remains up to date by scheduling automated scans at regular intervals, especially after deployments or tool integrations.

b. Why it Matters 

• Helps ensure complete visibility and control over all machine identities.
• Reduces the likelihood of security gaps due to untracked identities.
• Enhances access management by ensuring only necessary identities are allowed access.

Making a full list of all non-human identities is key to safe identity management. When you automate the discovery process and keep an updated catalog, you get complete visibility and control, which greatly lowers the chances of a security breach.

B. Enforce the Principle of Least Privilege

Once you've figured out your non-human identities, the next step is to look at access control. The principle of least privilege (PoLP) means that each identity should only have the bare minimum permissions needed to do its job. 

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Accounts with too many permissions, more than they need, can create big security problems. This rule is really important for non-human identities since they usually have wide-ranging permissions that can be easily misused.

a. Key Steps

• Minimize Permissions:
  Only grant permissions that are essential for the non-human identity’s role. Avoid overly broad roles such as "admin" unless absolutely necessary.
• Implement Role-Based Access Controls (RBAC):
  Use RBAC frameworks to assign specific roles and permissions to non-human identities, ensuring consistent and least-privileged access across your environment.
• Leverage Just-in-Time (JIT) Access:
  Implement JIT access provisioning to grant permissions only when needed, automatically revoking them after use.
• Regular Reviews and Audits:
  Conduct quarterly or bi-annual audits to review and adjust the permissions of non-human identities to ensure they still adhere to least privilege guidelines.
• Monitor for Permission Changes:
  Set up automated alerts to monitor any changes in the permissions of non-human identities, enabling you to catch potential issues early.

b. Why it Matters 

• Limits the scope of access for non-human identities, reducing the potential damage from a breach.
• Helps prevent misuse of over-privileged accounts that attackers can exploit.
• Reduces the attack surface by ensuring identities only have the permissions they need to perform their tasks.

Enforcing least privilege is an ongoing process, not a one-time task. While tools can help automate this process, regular audits and human oversight are still critical for fine-tuning access control. 

C. Use Short-Lived Credentials

Another important security step is using temporary credentials for non-human accounts. These credentials, like API tokens or OAuth tokens, only last for a short time and are automatically canceled when they're not needed anymore. 

The longer a credential is active, the higher the chance it could be hacked. By using short-lived credentials, you make sure that even if an account gets hacked, the time they can access things is restricted.

a. Key Steps

• Implement Short-Lived Tokens:
  Use time-sensitive credentials for machine identities and ensure they are automatically revoked after use or expiration.
• Leverage OAuth or API Keys with Expiry:
  Set expiration times for OAuth tokens or API keys to ensure they are not valid indefinitely. Configure systems to automatically revoke expired tokens.
• Automated Credential Rotation:
  Regularly rotate short-lived credentials to ensure that compromised keys don’t persist. Tools can help automate this process, reducing administrative overhead.
• Use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA):
  Implement MFA alongside short-lived credentials to further enhance security and reduce the risk of credential theft.

b. Why it Matters 

• Limits the window of opportunity for attackers to use compromised credentials.
• Reduces the risk associated with long-lived credentials that may be forgotten or mismanaged.
• Helps automate identity and access management processes, streamlining security operations.

Temporary credentials limit the chances of long-term risks, making sure that non-human users can only get into systems for a short period. When you pair these with multi-factor authentication and automatic credential updates, short-lived tokens build a strong security system that really lowers your risk.

D. Regularly Review and Revoke Unused Identities

Regularly checking non-human accounts is important to keep your security rules working well. Accounts that aren't used anymore can be a big security threat. By setting up a routine to review these accounts, you can quickly turn off the ones that aren't needed. 

Automating this process helps avoid mistakes and makes sure that unnecessary accounts don't keep running without supervision.

a. Key Steps

• Set Expiration Dates:
  Establish expiration policies for non-human identities, particularly for temporary or project-based accounts, and ensure they are automatically deactivated after their use period ends.
• Automate Cleanup Processes:
  Implement tools that automatically detect and deactivate unused or inactive non-human identities.
• Track Identity Usage:
  Maintain logs that track the last activity of non-human identities to quickly identify and revoke those that are no longer required.
• Automate Notifications:
  Use alerts to notify administrators when an identity is unused for a specified period, prompting a review for possible deactivation.

b. Why it Matters 

• Reduces the security risk associated with dormant or inactive accounts that may still have access to systems.
• Ensures your environment stays clean and organized, avoiding unnecessary complexity.
• Helps identify identities that no longer serve a legitimate purpose, minimizing unauthorized access.

Regularly reviewing and deactivating unused non-human identities is a key component of any effective identity management strategy. By ensuring that only active, necessary identities remain in your environment, you minimize potential vulnerabilities and streamline your security 

Infrastructure.

E. Rotate Credentials Regularly

Credential rotation is an essential practice for maintaining a strong security posture. With all the new threats out there, it's crucial to update access credentials for non-human identities often to lower the chances of unauthorized access.

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By rotating credentials on a scheduled basis, you make it tougher for hackers to maintain access if they get hold of valid ones. Using automated systems for this process also helps cut down on mistakes and keeps the organization prepared for any risks.

a. Key Steps

• Implement Automatic Credential Rotation:
  Leverage identity management tools that automate the process of rotating credentials at regular intervals, ensuring they are updated without requiring manual intervention.
• Set Rotation Intervals:
  Define a clear rotation schedule, such as every 30, 60, or 90 days, based on the criticality of the non-human identity and its associated system access.
  
  
• Integrate with Access Control Systems:
  Ensure that credential rotation is aligned with your access control systems to prevent access disruptions during the update process.
• Audit and Monitor Rotations:
  Continuously monitor credential rotation logs to ensure compliance and track any potential issues that arise during the process.

b. Why it Matters 

• Limits the impact of a potential breach by frequently changing access credentials.
• Reduces the chances of long-term exposure from compromised keys or passwords.
• Ensures that unauthorized access can be detected and cut off quickly if credentials are leaked.

Credential rotation is a straightforward yet highly effective strategy for mitigating risks associated with non-human identities. By keeping your credentials updated regularly, you significantly reduce the potential for unauthorized access and ensure that your security systems remain agile and resilient against evolving threats.

F. Offboard Unused Identities

Offboarding unused or unnecessary non-human identities is a critical component of a comprehensive identity management strategy. Whether it's a machine identity or an automation script, having unused identities that still have access can be a big security problem. 

By having an offboarding process, you can quickly deactivate these unused identities, stopping them from being easy targets for hackers. Regularly offboarding also makes your identity management system run smoother, making sure only the important accounts are still active.

a. Key Steps

• Automate Offboarding Processes:
  Use identity management tools that automatically deactivate unused or expired non-human identities, ensuring that nothing is left unchecked.
• Set Clear Guidelines for Identity Lifecycle:
  Define and enforce policies that govern when non-human identities should be created, used, and ultimately deactivated, based on project timelines or access needs.
• Track Identity Activity:
  Implement a system that logs usage patterns, so inactive identities can be easily identified and removed, reducing the potential for overlooked accounts.
• Review Periodically:
  Regularly audit non-human identities to identify those that are no longer in use, ensuring they are offboarded efficiently.

b. Why it Matters 

• Eliminates unnecessary risks by ensuring inactive or unused identities don’t retain access.
• Prevents former employees or decommissioned services from retaining privileges, reducing insider threats.
• Helps maintain a streamlined and efficient identity management system by eliminating clutter.

Offboarding unused non-human identities plays a key role in reducing security risks. By actively monitoring and removing unnecessary accounts, you ensure that access is limited to only those identities that are essential.

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6. The Benefits of Properly Managing Non-Human Identities

Properly managing non-human identities is essential for organizations to bolster security, streamline operations, and stay compliant with industry regulations. 

Let's take a deeper dive into the main advantages of properly handling non-human identities.

A. Reduction of Security Risks

Effective management of non-human identities directly minimizes security risks by controlling and limiting access to critical systems and data. Non-human identities often have broad system access, making them prime targets for cybercriminals.

• Minimized unauthorized access: Restricting non-human identities to only essential systems and tasks prevents unauthorized access.
• Principle of least privilege: Ensures that non-human identities are granted the minimum required permissions, reducing potential damage from security incidents.

Proper management helps mitigate risks such as privilege escalation, which is often an entry point for cyberattacks. With reduced access and tighter control, businesses significantly limit the chances of a breach. 

B. Enhanced Visibility and Control

Gaining full visibility into non-human identities is crucial for identifying potential vulnerabilities and managing access across systems. Non-human identities often go unnoticed or are difficult to track, but with the right monitoring in place, organizations can gain real-time insights into these identities' activities.

• Real-time monitoring: Track and analyze non-human identity activities continuously, allowing for immediate detection of any unusual behavior.
• Anomaly detection: Identifying and addressing unusual access patterns before they escalate into security threats.

With proper visibility, companies can respond quickly to unauthorized access, ensuring that security protocols are adhered to and preventing potential misuse of non-human identities.

C. Simplified Compliance with Industry Regulations

Compliance with industry regulations is a major concern for many organizations, especially when it comes to handling sensitive data. Proper management of non-human identities plays a key role in ensuring compliance with standards like GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI-DSS

• Audit readiness: Maintain complete and accurate access logs, making it easier to pass audits and meet compliance standards.
• Meeting regulatory standards: Avoid penalties and fines by adhering to compliance regulations and guidelines related to identity management.

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Organizations can avoid costly penalties and reputation damage by ensuring that their non-human identities are compliant with necessary standards. Proactive management ensures that audit trails are clear and accessible when required.

D. Increased Operational Efficiency

Operational efficiency is a key benefit of managing non-human identities. These identities often run behind the scenes, handling essential tasks such as automated processes, system maintenance, and data integration. 

• Reduced system clutter: Deactivating unused or unnecessary non-human identities streamlines IT systems, improving performance.
• Faster troubleshooting: When non-human identities are organized and tracked, IT teams can quickly identify and resolve system issues without sifting through unnecessary accounts.

By optimizing non-human identity management, organizations improve IT efficiency, reduce downtime, and enhance the overall productivity of their systems and employees.

E. Improved System Resilience

Handling non-human identities plays a big role in making systems more resilient by providing the right access control and reducing the chances of mistakes or misconfigurations. These identities often perform critical functions, such as automating processes and accessing sensitive data. 

• Minimized service disruptions: By limiting non-human identity access to only necessary systems, businesses reduce the chances of system downtime due to misconfigurations.
• Improved automation reliability: Well-maintained identities ensure that automation processes run smoothly, reducing the risk of failures.

With better control over non-human identities, organizations can maintain system stability and ensure uninterrupted operations, even as automation and other critical processes evolve.

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7. Final Thoughts

Non-human identity management is essential for businesses to maintain security and operational efficiency. These identities, such as bots and service accounts, are often overlooked but can pose significant risks if not properly managed.

Managing non-human identities effectively has obvious advantages. It boosts security, makes workflows run smoother, and helps with compliance. By managing these identities, companies can protect their systems and concentrate on growing, confident that their infrastructure is safe from unseen dangers.

Still wondering how to make all of this simpler without overwhelming your team? With CloudEagle.ai, you gain full visibility into your SaaS environment, streamline access management, and stay audit-ready, all without adding extra manual effort.

Book a demo today at CloudEagle.ai and take control of your SaaS security.

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8. Frequently Asked Questions 

1. How to manage non-human identities?

Use identity access management (IAM) tools to discover, monitor, and control all non-human identities. Enforce least privilege, regularly rotate credentials, and audit access to reduce security risks.

2. What is a non-human identity?

A non-human identity refers to any digital credential used by applications, devices, bots, or APIs to authenticate and perform tasks without human intervention in IT environments.

3. What is an example of a non-human identity?

Typical examples include service accounts in cloud platforms, API tokens used by apps, or bots in collaboration tools like Slack that automate workflows.

4. What is the difference between non-human identity and machine identity?

Non-human identity covers all non-user entities, while machine identity specifically refers to credentials that identify hardware devices, virtual machines, or workloads in a network.

5. Can a non-human be a person?

In legal terms, certain entities like corporations can be considered “non-human persons,” but in identity management, non-human refers only to digital or automated agents, not people.

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