Combined Security Center release notes for upgrades from Xanadu to Australia

How to use this page

To help you prepare for your upgrade, we have combined the cross-family Security Center release notes onto one page. Read this summary of the new features, changes, and updated information for your product from Xanadu to Australia.

Tip:

If there were no updates for a release notes section in a certain family release, we included a short note for your reference. For example, if a product did not have any updates in Tokyo, the row says "No updates for this release."

Important information for upgrading Security Center to Australia

Before you upgrade to Australia, review these pre- and post-upgrade tasks and complete the tasks as needed.


Release	Release notes
Xanadu	No updates for this release.
Yokohama	No updates for this release.
Zurich	No updates for this release.
Australia	No updates for this release.

New features

Between your current release family and Australia, new features were introduced for Security Center.


Release	Release notes
Xanadu	Security Event Notifications Receive prompt notifications on user behaviors that you specify with the Security Event Notifications tool. Users that you choose receive email notifications when a policy is triggered, enabling you to promptly remediate issues. Security Posture Dashboards Monitor the security health of all your instances with the Security posture dashboards. The single instance dashboard provides graphical widgets for key security key process indicators (KPIs). The multi-instance dashboard, only available on production instances, shows the same KPIs for all instances in a table format. The dashboards can be cloned and then fully customized. Security banner announcements Prepare for potential future security announcements from ServiceNow using the Security Banner Announcements. This feature enables ServiceNow to trigger new banners in customer instances that are visible to system administrators. These messages inform them of new and urgent potential security issues and include a link to more details. Data Classification Monitor your sensitive data with the Data Classification metrics in the Security Metrics tool. Updates to the tool include two new metrics. Classifiable Data metrics displays the amount of data that is available for classification and what portion has been already classified. The Classified Data metrics displays the breakdown of the classified data across your classification labels. Security Center version 2.0 introduces a new set of hardening settings Security Center version 2.0, introduced in the November store release, includes several new hardening settings, updates to existing ones, and the removal of some unnecessary settings. The new hardening settings come with recommended configurations to restrict access control lists (ACLs) for human resources apps, minimizing data exposure and enforcing the principle of least privilege. Additional settings help configure service portal widgets to reduce sensitive data exposure in tables, enforce strict code signing, and set role-based restrictions on apps. Several technical configuration names and descriptions have been updated for clarity, and outdated hardening settings have been removed. Improved Security Center architecture The Security Center has been redesigned to help admins understand what tasks they can accomplish with Security Center and to pick the right tools for their tasks.
Yokohama	No updates for this release.
Zurich	Security Task management The new Platform Security Tasks enable administrators to see and manage all their platform security tasks in one place. Use this feature to prioritize, delegate, and monitor progress for tasks related to platform security across your teams. Security tasks can be automatically generated by the platform and manually created by users. Tasks can be assigned to any user who is notified the in app Notifications. Updated overview summary pages Use the overview pages for Security Center tools to understand whether you need to act on the security area these tools help you manage. The following overview pages have been updated. Security Hardening Security Scanner Security Metrics Best Practices New information and video overlays Security Center has been updated to show overlays with short feature introductory videos to help users understand what the tool can do and how to use it. These overlays are tailored to assist both new and infrequent users of Security Center. New Auditor Suite checks Added two new auditor checks: Review Public Knowledge Bases Review Public Knowledge Base Articles Granular admin role for Security Center The granular admin role enables developers and administrators to complete administrative configuration tasks for Security Center without requiring the full admin role. [Placeholder link text to key bundle-psec.access-controls-console] Use the new Access Controls console within Security Center to review and remediate access issues and misconfigurations. The Access Controls console provides enhanced visibility and control of your Access Analyzer findings, and streamlines remediation efforts by enabling you to track, prioritize, and resolve access issues by assigning tasks. Enhanced IAM Integration in Security Center Use the new Identity and Access Management (IAM) section in Security Center to access to critical IAM tools. The new section provides a comprehensive view of security metrics. This integration simplifies the administrative experience by bringing essential IAM functionality directly into Security Center, reducing the need to navigate multiple separate tools.
Australia	Accept risk for hardening settings Accept risk for hardening settings that are not applicable to your organization's security requirements. When accepting risk, provide a mandatory justification and review the projected security score impact before saving your decision. The compliance status updates to Accepted Risk and reflects in all security score calculations. Use the Accept Risk Settings filter to quickly identify and manage all accepted risk items across your instance. Granular admin role for Security Center The granular admin role enables developers and administrators to complete administrative configuration tasks for Security Center without requiring the full admin role. Explore Access management console Use the new Access Controls console within Security Center to review and remediate access issues and misconfigurations. The Access Controls console provides enhanced visibility and control of your Access Analyzer findings, and streamlines remediation efforts by enabling you to track, prioritize, and resolve access issues by assigning tasks. Enhanced IAM Integration in Security Center Use the new Identity and Access Management (IAM) section in Security Center to access to critical IAM tools. The new section provides a comprehensive view of security metrics. This integration simplifies the administrative experience by bringing essential IAM functionality directly into Security Center, reducing the need to navigate multiple separate tools. Version-based hardening settings Security Center now only shows hardening settings that apply to your instance’s family version. This change helps eliminate irrelevant recommendations and provides clearer guidance and a more accurate security experience.

Changes

Between your current release family and Australia, some changes were made to existing Security Center features.


Release	Release notes
Xanadu	Scan checks Schedule security scans with the updated Auditor Suite to monitor access control configurations in the Security Scanner tool. The Auditor Scan suite has been streamlined to contain only access control checks and renamed to Access Control Auditor Suite. The updated access control checks generate a smaller, more focused number of findings that reflect potential security vulnerabilities according to ServiceNow security experts. Legacy workflows have been converted to Flow Designer workflows Legacy base system Workflows have been converted to modern Flow Designer workflows to standardize ServiceNow flows onto the modern technology. The updated low-code flows are designed to be more scalable and make updating and troubleshooting easier.
Yokohama	No updates for this release.
Zurich	Auditor checks The Review Public Knowledge Bases and Review Public Knowledge Base Articles checks use global API calls, so they've been added in the Global scope. Security Center Theming for Security Center Security Center banners and Cascading Style Sheets CSS elements have been updated to conform to any instance-wide themes you apply. Updated first time user experience Security Center has been updated to provide guidance to understand what the tool can do and how to use it. This redesign is tailored to assist both new and infrequent users of Security Center. Hardening settings updates Updated the Security Hardening tool with the latest Instance Security Hardening Settings baseline V6. Security Hardening tool Updates The security Hardening tool has been updated to the latest Instance Security Hardening Settings V7.
Australia	Security Hardening tool Updates The security Hardening tool has been updated to the latest Instance Security Hardening Settings V7.

Removed

Between your current release family and Australia, some Security Center features or functionality were removed.


Release	Release notes
Xanadu	No updates for this release.
Yokohama	No updates for this release.
Zurich	No updates for this release.
Australia	No updates for this release.

Deprecations

Between your current release family and Australia, some Security Center features or functionality were deprecated.


Release	Release notes
Xanadu	Beginning with the ServiceNow AI Platform Xanadu release, ServiceNow will end support for Instance Security Center. For details, see the Deprecation Process article (KB 0867184) in the Now Support Knowledge Base.
Yokohama	No updates for this release.
Zurich	No updates for this release.
Australia	No updates for this release.

Activation information

Review information on how to activate Security Center.


Release	Release notes
Xanadu	Security Center v1.5 is installed by default with the Xanadu family release. Version 1.6 provides significant enhancements. To get Security Center v1,6, visit the ServiceNow store.
Yokohama	No updates for this release.
Zurich	Security Center is a ServiceNow AI Platform application that is installed by default with the Zurich release. In addition, Security Center can be updated from the ServiceNow Store in between family releases for faster adoption of new features.
Australia	Security Center is a ServiceNow AI Platform application that is installed by default with the Zurich release. In addition, Security Center can be updated from the ServiceNow Store in between family releases for faster adoption of new features.

Additional requirements

If any additional requirements were introduced or changed for Security Center we have noted them here.


Release	Release notes
Xanadu	No updates for this release.
Yokohama	No updates for this release.
Zurich	No updates for this release.
Australia	No updates for this release.

Browser requirements

If any specific browser requirements were introduced or changed for Security Center we have noted them here.


Release	Release notes
Xanadu	No updates for this release.
Yokohama	No updates for this release.
Zurich	No updates for this release.
Australia	No updates for this release.

Accessibility information

Review details on accessibility information for Security Center, such as specific requirements or compliance levels.


Release	Release notes
Xanadu	No updates for this release.
Yokohama	No updates for this release.
Zurich	No updates for this release.
Australia	No updates for this release.

Localization information

If there are specific localization considerations for Security Center we have noted them here.


Release	Release notes
Xanadu	No updates for this release.
Yokohama	No updates for this release.
Zurich	No updates for this release.
Australia	No updates for this release.

Highlight information

If there are specific highlight considerations for Security Center we have noted them here.


Release	Release notes
Xanadu	Receive prompt notifications for user behaviors that you specify with the Security Event Notifications tool. Monitor the security health of all your instances and take rapid action using the new Security posture dashboards. Be prepared for potential future security announcements from ServiceNow with Security Banner Announcement capabilities. Schedule security scans with the updated Auditor Suite to monitor access control configurations in the Security Scanner tool. Use the improved Security Center version 2.0 hardening tool to minimize data exposure within your instance. See Security Best Practices, Customer Actions, and Baseline versions, Security Event Notifications, and Data Classification for more information.
Yokohama	No updates for this release.
Zurich	Use the new Identity and Access Management (IAM) section in Security Center to access IAM tools. Use the overview summary pages for each IAM tool to get a summary of which utility each tool provides. See all the platform security tasks that need your attention in Security Center. You can see notifications outside Security Center so that you’re aware of these tasks without having to monitor the task list constantly. See Security Center for more information.
Australia	Use the granular roles to complete administrative configuration tasks for Security Center without requiring the full admin role. Admins can create Security Tasks directly from any Platform Security page using a simple and intuitive chatbot experience within the Now Assist panel. Use the new Identity and Access Management (IAM) section in Security Center to access to critical IAM tools. The new section provides a comprehensive view of security metrics. See for more information.