Non-Human Identity
A Non-Human Identity is a digital identity used by a system, service, workload, bot, script, or automation rather than by a person.
- Acronym
- NHI
- Synonym
- NHI
Definition
Non-Human Identities encompass any identity that represents software-driven activity instead of a human user. This includes service accounts, workloads, bots, automation jobs, AI agents, and machine credentials. These identities often require the same lifecycle discipline as human identities, including ownership, validity, review, and revocation.
Why it matters
Non-Human Identities often outnumber human identities and can accumulate powerful, unreviewed access.
The Ariovis perspective
Machine, workload and agent identities need the same fundamentals as human identities: a clear owner, controlled credentials, limited permissions, a lifecycle and traceability.
Common pitfalls
- A common pitfall is exempting non-human identities from lifecycle governance because they do not belong to a person.
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