Secure data

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Secure data

    Data security is a critical aspect of application development on the ServiceNow AI Platform. ServiceNow provides automatic access control configuration during table creation to restrict access to authorized users. Proper security involves applying Access Control Lists (ACLs) at both table and column levels to ensure only users with the necessary roles can read, create, write, or delete data.

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    Key Features

    • Access Control Lists (ACLs): ACLs combine multiple access controls to enforce security at various levels. They restrict access to tables, UI pages, and property pages, safeguarding sensitive content.
    • Before-query Business Rules: These run before database queries to control read access to records without showing hidden records to users. However, they do not replace ACLs and should be used sparingly.
    • Performance Considerations: Minimize GlideRecord queries in access control scripts to avoid impacting system performance.
    • Subscription Model Impact: Starting with the Orlando release, customers are charged based on the number of tables a user can access. Proper ACL configuration can limit this by restricting unnecessary table access.
    • Encryption: The platform offers encryption at the application, database, and hardware tiers to enhance data protection.

    Best Practices

    • Configure security settings early in the application development process to avoid rework and ensure consistent protection.
    • Make auto-populated fields read-only to prevent user modification of system-generated data.
    • Use ACLs primarily to control access and manage subscription costs, reserving before-query Business Rules for specific read access scenarios.
    • Review existing Business Rules such as the user query on the sysuser table as examples for implementation.

    What to Expect

    By correctly applying access controls and encryption, ServiceNow customers can ensure that sensitive data is protected from unauthorized access while maintaining system performance and compliance with subscription models. This leads to secure, efficient applications that safeguard data integrity throughout their lifecycle.

    Data security is one of the most important and overlooked aspects of creating an application. ServiceNow automatically configures access control for a new or selected role during the table creation process. Only users with the role can access the table to read, create, write, and delete.

    Use access control rules to configure table and column-level security in the ServiceNow AI Platform. To properly configure access to an application, developers should understand how access controls work and the order in which access controls are evaluated. Apply multiple access controls that together make an Access Control List (ACL).

    Self-Paced Training: Securing Applications

    Documentation: Access Control Lists

    When considering security:
    • Protect tables, UI pages, property pages, and other content with the appropriate access controls and roles.
    • Limit the use of GlideRecord queries in access control scripts. GlideRecord queries can affect performance.
    Beginning with the Orlando Platform Subscription model, customers are charged by how many tables a user can access, regardless of whether the user does access the table. Configure ACLs to restrict access to a table to ensure that only the users that need access to a table can access the table.
    Note:
    Consider making any auto-populated fields read only. If the system is populating the data, a user should not be able to.

    Alternately, secure data on the ServiceNow AI Platform with before-query Business Rules. Before-query Business Rules run before the database query and are limited to controlling read access to a record. Only use before-query Business Rules when necessary. Some considerations when deciding to use Access Controls or before-query Business Rules:

    • GlideRecord queries will bypass read access controls on a table and will be restricted by before-query Business Rules on a table.
    • When access controls restrict read access to records in a list, ServiceNow shows a message saying that access has been restricted for the records. With before-query Business Rules, the number of records in the list total matches the number of records shown to the user. The user receives no indication that some records have been hidden from the list.
    Review the user query Business Rule on the User [sys_user] table for reference.
    Note:
    Before-query Business Rules do not take the place of ACLs. Denying users access to a table via before-query Business Rule will still count the table against the subscription model. Use Access Controls to prevent the table from being counted for the users in the Platform Subscription model.

    Encryption

    The ServiceNow AI Platform also provides various encryption solutions at the application tier, database tier, and hardware tier. Learn more in the Data Encryption Whitepaper.
    Note:
    Set up security before configuring any interfaces or business logic. Since security affects the data available to interfaces and business logic, waiting until the end of the application build process may cause rework and issues.