Non Human Identity
A non-human identity (NHI) is a digital identity assigned to an application, service, script, bot or device rather than to a person, authenticated by keys, tokens or certificates.
What is Non Human Identity?
Definition
Non-Human Identity (NHI) is a digital identity belonging to an application, service, script, bot or device rather than to a person — authenticated with API keys, tokens, certificates or service account credentials instead of a password and a second factor. They now outnumber human identities in most environments, and they behave differently in every way that matters: they are created by automation, they rarely have an owner recorded anywhere, and nothing ever prompts someone to remove them. In cybersecurity that combination is why non-human identities have become one of the most productive routes into cloud environments.
Role in cybersecurity
Non Human Identity plays an important role in building organizational resilience against cyber threats. Implementing appropriate mechanisms in this area is required by regulations such as NIS2, DORA and ISO 27001.