Workload identities are non-human identities used by software, such as applications, automation jobs, APIs, and service principals, to authenticate to cloud services. In cloud platforms, these identities can have permissions just like user accounts, and they often use certificates, client secrets, tokens, or federated trust instead of passwords.
They matter because attackers often target them to reach data and infrastructure without touching a user account. A leaked secret, an overprivileged service principal, or a stolen token can let an intruder call cloud APIs, read storage, change settings, or move laterally. Defenders protect workload identities by applying least privilege, preferring short-lived credentials, rotating secrets, using workload identity federation where possible, and monitoring audit logs for unusual consent grants, token use, and privileged API activity.