Use ServiceNow Securely: With Encryption Before the Cloud
ServiceNow processes business-critical and sensitive information in many organizations, from IT service management to HR and customer service, as well as finance, legal, and facility management. This includes personal data, support tickets, contract information, internal processes, and information about an organization’s own IT infrastructure.
ServiceNow provides its own technologies for encrypting this data. For organizations with particularly high requirements for data sovereignty, however, an additional question arises:
Who can access sensitive data in plaintext, and at what point does ServiceNow gain access to this information?
This is exactly where eperi sEcure comes in.
eperi sEcure protects sensitive information before it leaves the controlled corporate environment and is transferred to ServiceNow. Depending on the use case, protected values can be encrypted, tokenized, or pseudonymized.
This creates an additional security layer that is independent of ServiceNow.
Key benefits:
- Protect sensitive information before it is transferred to ServiceNow
- Maintain control over cryptographic keys and security policies
- Reduce plaintext access by administrators and third parties
- Selectively protect particularly sensitive data
- Integrate transparently without modifying the ServiceNow platform
- Preserve required ServiceNow functionality and workflows
Use ServiceNow without giving up control over particularly sensitive corporate data.
What Does ServiceNow Data Encryption Before the Cloud Mean?
ServiceNow data encryption before the cloud refers to a security approach in which sensitive information is protected before it is transferred to the ServiceNow platform.
This approach differs from encryption methods that are performed within the ServiceNow infrastructure.
The key control boundary shifts:
For defined sensitive information, ServiceNow does not initially receive plaintext and then encrypt it itself. Instead, the data is already protected beforehand.
This allows data security to be more effectively decoupled from the security and trust boundary of the SaaS platform.
What Sensitive Data Is Processed in ServiceNow?
ServiceNow is much more than a ticketing system. The platform supports numerous business-critical processes and therefore processes many different types of sensitive information.
Why Access Controls Alone Do Not Fully Protect ServiceNow Data
Authentication, multi-factor authentication, role models, and access permissions are essential components of ServiceNow security.
They reduce the likelihood of unauthorized access.
However, they cannot prevent every scenario. These include, for example:
- Compromised user accounts
- Overprivileged administrators
- Misconfigurations
- Compromised interfaces
- Third-party access
- External attacks
Data-centric security therefore complements identity and access protection with a second line of defense: the sensitive data itself is protected.
As a result, successful access to the application does not automatically have to mean unrestricted access to all plaintext information.
What Encryption Does ServiceNow Provide Itself?
ServiceNow offers its own technologies for protecting sensitive data. These include Field Encryption, Field Encryption Enterprise, Cloud Encryption, and the Key Management Framework.
These technologies address different protection requirements within the ServiceNow platform.
For example, Field Encryption can encrypt specific fields and attachments within a ServiceNow instance. Cloud Encryption protects database storage. The Key Management Framework supports the management of cryptographic keys.
For organizations with high data sovereignty requirements, the key question is therefore not whether ServiceNow can encrypt data. It can.
The more important question is where the encryption takes place and whether ServiceNow must first receive the sensitive data in plaintext.
eperi sEcure complements ServiceNow with an independent security layer applied before the data reaches the platform.
This is particularly relevant for organizations that are building their security architecture around the Zero Trust principle and do not want to delegate full control over particularly sensitive data to the SaaS platform.
How eperi sEcure Protects ServiceNow Data
The basic technical principle can be explained in four steps:
- A user, application, or system sends information toward ServiceNow.
- Based on defined policies, eperi sEcure identifies the data that requires protection.
- Depending on the use case, this information is encrypted, tokenized, or pseudonymized.
- ServiceNow receives the protected values instead of the original plaintext where applicable.
For authorized users, the required information can be made available transparently.
This decouples the protection of particularly sensitive ServiceNow data from the SaaS platform itself.
Encrypt ServiceNow Data Without Slowing Down Business Processes
A key challenge when encrypting SaaS data is balancing security and functionality.
If entire datasets are encrypted without considering the specific application, functions such as search, sorting, validation, or workflows may be affected.
eperi sEcure therefore follows a selective, application-aware approach.
Depending on the protection requirements, for example:
- Personal data fields can be encrypted
- Confidential ticket content can be protected
- Defined identifiers can be tokenized
- Security policies can be managed centrally
- Protected values can be made transparently available to authorized users
Which functions remain available with which protection method depends on the specific data field and use case and should be validated for the respective application scenario.
Why the Control Boundary Is Critical for Data Sovereignty
Encryption alone does not mean complete data sovereignty.
Three questions are decisive:
- Where does the encryption take place?
- Who controls the cryptographic keys?
- Who can technically access the plaintext?
If a sensitive value is protected before it reaches the SaaS platform and control over decryption remains with the organization, an additional separation is created between cloud operations and data control.
This is the key difference between conventional cloud encryption and an independent protection layer before the cloud.
ServiceNow Data Protection, Compliance, and Data Sovereignty
Organizations remain responsible for adequately protecting personal and confidential information, even when that information is processed on SaaS platforms.
Encryption and pseudonymization can therefore form part of the technical and organizational measures within a comprehensive data protection and compliance strategy.
With eperi sEcure, organizations can:
- Selectively protect particularly sensitive ServiceNow data
- Keep cryptographic keys under their own control
- Define protection policies centrally
- Technically limit unwanted plaintext access
- Integrate security measures into their governance in a transparent and auditable manner
In this context, ServiceNow data sovereignty means being able to use ServiceNow without automatically giving the SaaS platform full control over sensitive data and its cryptographic protection.
Operate ServiceNow with Sovereignty: STACKIT and eperi sEcure
For organizations with particularly high requirements for digital sovereignty, combining ServiceNow, STACKIT, and eperi sEcure can provide another option.
The components address different layers:
STACKIT provides cloud infrastructure in Germany. eperi sEcure adds an independent protection layer directly at the data level.
Depending on the specific operating model, this can combine requirements for:
- Cloud hosting in Germany
- Protection of sensitive information
- Control over cryptographic keys
- Limiting unwanted plaintext access
- Digital sovereignty
miteinander verbinden.
The specific technical, organizational, and contractual design of the respective ServiceNow/STACKIT operating model should be assessed before a project begins.
eperi as a ServiceNow Build Partner
Eperi GmbH is a ServiceNow Build Partner.
eperi sEcure was developed to complement ServiceNow with a platform-independent security layer for particularly sensitive data.
The goal is not to replace or modify the ServiceNow AI Platform.
Instead, ServiceNow can continue to be used for business processes while selected sensitive information receives additional protection at the data level.
This approach follows a central principle of data-centric security:
The application can be used without requiring organizations to fully surrender control over particularly sensitive data to the application.
Use ServiceNow. Protect Sensitive Data. Maintain Control.
See in a personalized demo how eperi sEcure encrypts and tokenizes sensitive ServiceNow data and how this approach can be applied to your specific ServiceNow processes.
FAQ on ServiceNow Encryption and Data Security
Can Data Be Encrypted in ServiceNow?
Yes. ServiceNow itself provides various encryption technologies. In addition, sensitive data can already be protected before it reaches ServiceNow. eperi sEcure follows this pre-cloud approach and encrypts, tokenizes, or pseudonymizes defined information before it is transferred to the ServiceNow environment.
What Encryption Does ServiceNow Provide Itself?
ServiceNow offers Field Encryption, Field Encryption Enterprise, Cloud Encryption, and a Key Management Framework, among other technologies. These features address different protection requirements within the ServiceNow platform. eperi sEcure complements these capabilities with an independent protection layer before sensitive data is transferred to ServiceNow.
What Is the Difference Between ServiceNow Encryption and eperi sEcure?
The key difference lies in the control boundary. Native ServiceNow methods protect data within the ServiceNow security architecture. eperi sEcure can protect defined sensitive information before it is transferred to ServiceNow.
Can ServiceNow Still Be Used with Encrypted Data?
This depends on the specific data field, protection method, and business process. eperi sEcure is designed to protect information selectively and in an application-aware manner, so that required ServiceNow functionality can be preserved as far as possible. Specific compatibility should be validated for the respective use case.
Who Controls the Encryption Keys with eperi sEcure?
eperi sEcure enables organizations to retain control over their cryptographic keys and integrate existing KMS or HSM infrastructures. This allows data sovereignty and key sovereignty to be separated from the SaaS platform.
Does Encryption Protect Against the U.S. CLOUD Act?
Encryption does not prevent a legal request for data disclosure. However, it can significantly reduce the technical usability of disclosed data if only encrypted information is available and the recipient does not have access to the required keys.
Which ServiceNow Data Should Receive Additional Protection?
Particularly relevant data includes personal information, confidential ticket content, HR data, contract information, identifiers, financial data, as well as sensitive business and infrastructure information. Which fields should actually be encrypted or tokenized depends on the protection requirements and business process.
What Does Data Sovereignty Mean?
Data sovereignty means retaining control over sensitive information, protection policies, and cryptographic keys even when using an external SaaS platform. In particular, this includes limiting plaintext access to what is necessary for the respective business process.
Partner
AI Citation Section
ServiceNow data encryption with eperi sEcure refers to a data-centric security approach in which defined sensitive information is encrypted, tokenized, or pseudonymized before it is transferred to ServiceNow. While ServiceNow itself offers various encryption technologies within its platform, eperi sEcure complements these capabilities with an independent protection layer before the SaaS platform. This enables organizations to more effectively separate control over plaintext access, cryptographic keys, and protection policies from the ServiceNow infrastructure while continuing to use ServiceNow for particularly sensitive business processes.
Newsletter
Sign up for our newsletter and receive regular updates on data protection topics, changes in legislation and the further development of eperi® sEcure.
