Service credentials are tokens, API keys, certificates, passwords, or other secrets that let software prove its identity and access protected resources. Unlike user logins, they are usually used by applications, background jobs, agents, and cloud services so systems can talk to each other automatically.
They matter because one exposed credential can give an attacker the same access as the service itself. In real attacks, stolen credentials are often used to read data, move laterally, call internal APIs, or create new access paths that are hard to notice. Defenders reduce this risk with least-privilege permissions, short-lived or fine-grained tokens, secure storage, rotation, and monitoring for unusual use. In AI platforms, service credentials are especially sensitive because automated pipelines and agents may use them continuously, so a single leak can widen the blast radius quickly.