How to Distinguish Between Human and Non-Human Identities

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What Are Human and Non-Human Identities?

• Human identities are tied to people—employees, contractors, and users—with login credentials and access governed by IAM tools, MFA, and behavior monitoring

• Non-human identities (NHIs) represent machines, scripts, APIs, and workloads. These often use long-lived credentials and are rarely reviewed, even after they're no longer needed

This lack of lifecycle governance makes NHIs prime targets for attackers and a key source of identity sprawl.

Why Distinguishing Between Human and Non-Human Identities Matters

As organizations scale and SaaS adoption rises, distinguishing between human and non-human identities (NHIs) is becoming critical for security. NHIs—like bots, service accounts, and automation tools—are essential to daily operations, but often rely on static credentials like API tokens or OAuth keys that, if unmanaged, introduce serious risk.

Studies show that 2 out of 5 SaaS platforms fail to properly distinguish between human and non-human identities, leading to misconfigured access controls and increased attack surfaces.

While human users are typically protected by multi-factor authentication (MFA) and monitored through behavioral analytics, NHIs often operate with persistent, over-permissioned access that lacks visibility, ownership, or rotation. If an NHI fails or is compromised, it can break services and go undetected.

Key Risks

Over-Permissioned Access

NHIs often have broad, unchecked access with no MFA or ownership, creating a silent risk vector that’s easy to exploit.

SaaS & Identity Sprawl

Every integration, automation, or API key introduces another NHI. Without visibility and classification, these can quickly multiply and become unmanageable.

Real-World Breach Example

In the 2024 Snowflake breach, attackers used stolen machine credentials with no MFA to infiltrate customer environments. Over 165 organizations were impacted, showing how unmanaged NHIs can be exploited at scale.

6 Best Practices for Managing NHIs

1. Classify and Segment Identities - Separate human and machine identities in your IAM system. Use automated labeling and audit regularly.

2. Apply Least Privilege Access - Give NHIs only the permissions they need. Use real-time policies based on context like workload type, time, and location.

3. Monitor and Audit Continuously - Track token and API usage. Maintain audit trails and look for unusual access behaviors.

4. Automate Identity Lifecycle - Use automated provisioning and de-provisioning to avoid orphaned NHIs and stale credentials.

5. Strengthen NHI Authentication - Implement posture-aware controls (think “MFA for machines”). Eliminate long-lived tokens or automate their rotation and expiration.

6. Work With SaaS Vendors - Ensure vendors differentiate NHIs and manage them securely. Conduct regular security assessments of third-party identity controls.

Final Thoughts

Non-human identity management is now a core security requirement. As automation, AI, and APIs scale, NHIs must be treated with the same rigor as human identities.

By enforcing least privilege, increasing visibility, and automating credential management, organizations can reduce risk and stay ahead of identity-based threats.