A non-human identity is any digital identity used by a system, application, service, or automated process—rather than by an individual person—to authenticate, authorize, and perform actions within an IT environment.

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These identities can include:

• Service accounts – accounts used by applications or services to interact with other systems.
• Application identities – credentials or tokens tied to a specific app or API integration.
• Machine identities – identities for servers, virtual machines, containers, or IoT devices.
• Bot accounts – accounts used by automated scripts, RPA bots, or AI agents.
• API keys and tokens – cryptographic credentials enabling programmatic access.

Key characteristics:

• They often have elevated or persistent permissions.
• They are typically managed by IT, DevOps, or application owners.
• Unlike human identities, they don’t have inherent personal accountability but still require lifecycle management (creation, rotation, deactivation).

In cybersecurity and identity governance, managing non-human identities is critical because their high privileges and static credentials can make them prime targets for attackers.