Explore Access findings

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Explore Access findings

    Access Findings is a ServiceNow feature that runs eight out-of-the-box security checks daily against your instance to detect misconfigurations. It automates the security auditing process by continuously monitoring your instance’s configuration and generating actionable findings when risks or violations are detected. This proactive approach helps maintain your instance’s security posture without relying on manual reviews.

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    Key Features

    • Access checks (Rules): These are predefined security rules and logic that specify what constitutes a security risk, such as ensuring client-callable Script Includes have proper Access Controls or restricting public pages. They define the criteria against which your instance is evaluated.
    • Access findings (Results): These are the actual records created when an Access check detects a violation. Each finding highlights a specific vulnerability in your instance, for example, a Script Include missing an ACL.
    • Automated workflow: The system automatically runs checks, generates findings, and enables remediation tracking. A single check can produce multiple findings if the same issue is present in multiple records.
    • AI-powered remediation guidance: The feature includes intelligent guidance to assist you in resolving findings effectively.
    • Prioritized vulnerabilities: Findings are categorized by priority (e.g., High, Medium), helping you focus remediation efforts on the most critical security issues first.
    • Clear contextual links: Each finding connects to the triggering check and the source record, providing precise information on where and why the issue occurred.
    • Dashboards for monitoring: The Access findings dashboard allows you to continuously track and manage security findings to maintain compliance with best practices.

    Key Outcomes

    • Enhanced security posture: By automating detection and remediation, you reduce the risk of security gaps caused by misconfigurations.
    • Reduced manual effort: Automated checks eliminate the need for extensive manual audits, saving time and resources.
    • Focused remediation: Prioritized findings ensure that your security team addresses the most critical vulnerabilities first.
    • Improved compliance: Continuous monitoring helps keep your instance aligned with security best practices and policies.
    • Actionable insights: Clear, contextual findings enable faster and more accurate fixes to security issues.

    Access Findings runs eight out-of-box access checks against your instance on a daily schedule, letting you know when misconfigurations are detected. It also provides a complete remediation workflow that includes AI-powered guidance.

    Access Findings include two core components that work in tandem: Access checks and Access findings.

    Together, these features provide a continuous, automated audit of your instance's security posture, helping you identify risks in real-time rather than waiting for manual reviews. To effectively manage your instance security, it is helpful to understand the distinct roles of checks and findings.

    Access checks (Rules)

    Access checks are the security definitions and logic that run in the background. They serve as the blueprints for a secure instance. Each check represents a specific security rule or best practice, for example:

    • Do all client-callable Script Includes have appropriate Access Controls?
    • Are there any public pages that should be restricted?

    Think of Access checks as the questions the system asks about your configuration. They define what to look for.

    Access findings (Results)

    Access findings are the actionable records generated when an Access check detects a violation. If a specific configuration in your instance fails a check, the system creates a finding.

    Think of Access findings as the answers or results. They represent specific instances of a vulnerability that need your attention (for example, "Script Include 'UpdateAllKnowledge' is missing an ACL").

    How They Work Together

    The relationship between checks and findings is linear and automated:

    1. Definition: An Access check is defined with specific criteria for what constitutes a security risk.
    2. Scan: The system runs these checks against your entire instance configuration.
    3. Generation: If a configuration matches the risk criteria of a check, the system generates an Access finding.
      Note:
      A single Access check can generate multiple Access findings if the same vulnerability exists in multiple records.
    4. Remediation: You resolve the finding by fixing the configuration. Once fixed, the finding is marked as Resolved.

    How This Helps You

    This combined capability transforms security from a manual, reactive task into an automated, proactive workflow.

    • Automated Detection: Instead of manually auditing thousands of scripts and ACLs, the system automatically flags issues for you.
    • Prioritized Remediation: findings are categorized by priority (for example, High, Medium), allowing you to focus your limited time on the most critical vulnerabilities first.
    • Clear Context: Every finding links back to the specific check that triggered it and the Source record involved. This tells you exactly why it was flagged and where to fix it, eliminating the guesswork in security patching.

    By using the Access findings dashboard to monitor these results, you ensure that your instance remains compliant with security best practices and that potential entry points—like client-callable scripts—are properly secured.