Collect ServiceNow audit logs

Supported in:

Google secops SIEM

Note: This feature is covered by Pre-GA Offerings Terms of the Google Security Operations Service Specific Terms. Pre-GA features might have limited support, and changes to pre-GA features might not be compatible with other pre-GA versions. For more information, see the Google SecOps Technical Support Service guidelines and the Google SecOps Service Specific Terms.

This document explains how to ingest ServiceNow audit logs to Google Security Operations using multiple methods.

Option A: AWS S3 with Lambda

This method uses AWS Lambda to periodically query the ServiceNow REST API for audit logs and store them in an S3 bucket. Google Security Operations then collects the logs from the S3 bucket.

Before you begin

• A Google SecOps instance
• Privileged access to ServiceNow tenant or API
• Privileged access to AWS (S3, IAM, Lambda, EventBridge)

Collect ServiceNow prerequisites (IDs, API keys, org IDs, tokens)

1. Sign in to the ServiceNow Admin Console.
2. Go to System Security > Users and Groups > Users.
3. Create a new user or select an existing user with appropriate permissions to access audit logs.
4. Copy and save in a secure location the following details:
   • Username
   • Password
   • Instance URL (e.g., https://instance.service-now.com)

Configure AWS S3 bucket and IAM for Google SecOps

1. Create Amazon S3 bucket following this user guide: Creating a bucket
2. Save bucket Name and Region for future reference (for example, servicenow-audit-logs).
3. Create a User following this user guide: Creating an IAM user.
4. Select the created User.
5. Select the Security credentials tab.
6. Click Create Access Key in the Access Keys section.
7. Select Third-party service as the Use case.
8. Click Next.
9. Optional: Add a description tag.
10. Click Create access key.
11. Click Download CSV file for save the Access Key and Secret Access Key for later use.
12. Click Done.
13. Select the Permissions tab.
14. Click Add permissions in the Permissions policies section .
15. Select Add permissions.
16. Select Attach policies directly.
17. Search for and select the AmazonS3FullAccess policy.
18. Click Next.
19. Click Add permissions.

Configure the IAM policy and role for S3 uploads

1. In the AWS console, go to IAM > Policies > Create policy > JSON tab.

2. Copy and paste the policy below.

   {
     "Version": "2012-10-17",
     "Statement": [
       {
         "Sid": "AllowPutObjects",
         "Effect": "Allow",
         "Action": "s3:PutObject",
         "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::servicenow-audit-logs/*"
       },
       {
         "Sid": "AllowGetStateObject",
         "Effect": "Allow",
         "Action": "s3:GetObject",
         "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::servicenow-audit-logs/audit-logs/state.json"
       }
     ]
   }
   

   • Replace servicenow-audit-logs if you entered a different bucket name.

3. Click Next > Create policy.

4. Go to IAM > Roles > Create role > AWS service > Lambda.

5. Attach the newly created policy.

6. Name the role servicenow-audit-lambda-role and click Create role.

Create the Lambda function

1. In the AWS Console, go to Lambda > Functions > Create function.
2. Click Author from scratch.

3. Provide the following configuration details:

   Setting	Value
   Name	servicenow-audit-collector
   Runtime	Python 3.13
   Architecture	x86_64
   Execution role	servicenow-audit-lambda-role

4. After the function is created, open the Code tab, delete the stub and enter the following code (servicenow-audit-collector.py):

   import urllib3
   import json
   import os
   import datetime
   import boto3
   import base64
   
   def lambda_handler(event, context):
       # ServiceNow API details
       base_url = os.environ['API_BASE_URL']  # e.g., https://instance.service-now.com
       username = os.environ['API_USERNAME']
       password = os.environ['API_PASSWORD']
   
       # S3 details
       s3_bucket = os.environ['S3_BUCKET']
       s3_prefix = os.environ['S3_PREFIX']
   
       # State management
       state_key = os.environ.get('STATE_KEY', f"{s3_prefix}/state.json")
   
       # Pagination settings
       page_size = int(os.environ.get('PAGE_SIZE', '1000'))
       max_pages = int(os.environ.get('MAX_PAGES', '1000'))
   
       # Initialize S3 client
       s3 = boto3.client('s3')
   
       # Get last run timestamp from state file
       last_run_timestamp = get_last_run_timestamp(s3, s3_bucket, state_key)
   
       # Current timestamp for this run
       current_timestamp = datetime.datetime.now().isoformat()
   
       # Query ServiceNow API for audit logs with pagination
       audit_logs = get_audit_logs(base_url, username, password, last_run_timestamp, page_size, max_pages)
   
       if audit_logs:
           # Write logs to S3 in NDJSON format (newline-delimited JSON)
           timestamp = datetime.datetime.now().strftime('%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%S')
           s3_key = f"{s3_prefix}/servicenow-audit-{timestamp}.ndjson"
   
           # Format as NDJSON: one JSON object per line
           body = "\n".join(json.dumps(log) for log in audit_logs) + "\n"
   
           s3.put_object(
               Bucket=s3_bucket,
               Key=s3_key,
               Body=body,
               ContentType='application/x-ndjson'
           )
   
           # Update state file
           update_state_file(s3, s3_bucket, state_key, current_timestamp)
   
           return {
               'statusCode': 200,
               'body': json.dumps(f'Successfully exported {len(audit_logs)} audit logs to S3')
           }
       else:
           return {
               'statusCode': 200,
               'body': json.dumps('No new audit logs to export')
           }
   
   def get_last_run_timestamp(s3, bucket, key):
       try:
           response = s3.get_object(Bucket=bucket, Key=key)
           state = json.loads(response['Body'].read().decode('utf-8'))
           return state.get('last_run_timestamp', '1970-01-01T00:00:00')
       except:
           return '1970-01-01T00:00:00'
   
   def update_state_file(s3, bucket, key, timestamp):
       state = {'last_run_timestamp': timestamp}
       s3.put_object(
           Bucket=bucket,
           Key=key,
           Body=json.dumps(state),
           ContentType='application/json'
       )
   
   def get_audit_logs(base_url, username, password, last_run_timestamp, page_size=1000, max_pages=1000):
       """
       Query ServiceNow sys_audit table with proper pagination.
       Uses sys_created_on field for timestamp filtering.
       """
       # Encode credentials
       auth_string = f"{username}:{password}"
       auth_bytes = auth_string.encode('ascii')
       auth_encoded = base64.b64encode(auth_bytes).decode('ascii')
   
       # Setup HTTP client
       http = urllib3.PoolManager()
   
       headers = {
           'Authorization': f'Basic {auth_encoded}',
           'Accept': 'application/json'
       }
   
       results = []
       offset = 0
   
       for page in range(max_pages):
           # Build query with pagination
           # Use sys_created_on (not created_on) for timestamp filtering
           query_params = (
               f"sysparm_query=sys_created_onAFTER{last_run_timestamp}"
               f"&sysparm_display_value=true"
               f"&sysparm_limit={page_size}"
               f"&sysparm_offset={offset}"
           )
   
           url = f"{base_url}/api/now/table/sys_audit?{query_params}"
   
           try:
               response = http.request('GET', url, headers=headers)
   
               if response.status == 200:
                   data = json.loads(response.data.decode('utf-8'))
                   chunk = data.get('result', [])
                   results.extend(chunk)
   
                   # Stop if we got fewer records than page_size (last page)
                   if len(chunk) < page_size:
                       break
   
                   # Move to next page
                   offset += page_size
               else:
                   print(f"Error querying ServiceNow API: {response.status} - {response.data.decode('utf-8')}")
                   break
           except Exception as e:
               print(f"Exception querying ServiceNow API: {str(e)}")
               break
   
       return results
   

5. Go to Configuration > Environment variables > Edit > Add new environment variable.

6. Enter the following environment variables, replacing with your values.

   Key	Example value
   S3_BUCKET	servicenow-audit-logs
   S3_PREFIX	audit-logs/
   STATE_KEY	audit-logs/state.json
   API_BASE_URL	https://instance.service-now.com
   API_USERNAME	<your-username>
   API_PASSWORD	<your-password>
   PAGE_SIZE	1000
   MAX_PAGES	1000

   Note: For production environments, it is strongly recommended to store credentials in AWS Secrets Manager instead of environment variables and reference them in your Lambda code.

7. After the function is created, stay on its page (or open Lambda > Functions > servicenow-audit-collector).

8. Select the Configuration tab.

9. In the General configuration panel click Edit.

10. Change Timeout to 5 minutes (300 seconds) and click Save.

    Note: Timeout is a hard upper limit, meaning if the function is still running when the timer hits 5 minutes, AWS Lambda will terminate it. Any shorter execution just finishes normally; you are billed only for the actual run time.

Create an EventBridge schedule

1. Go to Amazon EventBridge > Scheduler > Create schedule.
2. Provide the following configuration details:
   • Recurring schedule: Rate (1 hour).
   • Target: Your Lambda function servicenow-audit-collector.
   • Name: servicenow-audit-collector-1h.
3. Click Create schedule.

Configure a feed in Google SecOps to ingest ServiceNow Audit logs

1. Go to SIEM Settings > Feeds.
2. Click + Add New Feed.
3. In the Feed name field, enter a name for the feed (for example, ServiceNow Audit logs).
4. Select Amazon S3 V2 as the Source type.
5. Select ServiceNow Audit as the Log type.
6. Click Next.
7. Specify values for the following input parameters:
   • S3 URI: s3://servicenow-audit-logs/audit-logs/
   • Source deletion options: Select deletion option according to your preference.
   • Maximum File Age: Include files modified in the last number of days. Default is 180 days.
   • Access Key ID: User access key with access to the S3 bucket.
   • Secret Access Key: User secret key with access to the S3 bucket.
   • Asset namespace: The asset namespace.
   • Ingestion labels: The label applied to the events from this feed.
8. Click Next.
9. Review your new feed configuration in the Finalize screen, and then click Submit.

Option B: Bindplane agent with syslog

This method uses a Bindplane agent to collect ServiceNow Audit logs and forward them to Google Security Operations. Since ServiceNow doesn't natively support syslog for audit logs, we'll use a script to query the ServiceNow REST API and forward the logs to the Bindplane agent via syslog.

Before you begin

Make sure you have the following prerequisites:

• A Google SecOps instance
• A Windows 2016 or later or Linux host with systemd
• If running behind a proxy, ensure firewall ports are open per the Bindplane agent requirements
• Privileged access to the ServiceNow management console or appliance

Get Google SecOps ingestion authentication file

1. Sign in to the Google SecOps console.
2. Go to SIEM Settings > Collection Agents.
3. Download the Ingestion Authentication File. Save the file securely on the system where Bindplane will be installed.

Get Google SecOps customer ID

1. Sign in to the Google SecOps console.
2. Go to SIEM Settings > Profile.
3. Copy and save the Customer ID from the Organization Details section.

Install the Bindplane agent

Install the Bindplane agent on your Windows or Linux operating system according to the following instructions.

Linux installation

1. Open a terminal with root or sudo privileges.

2. Run the following command:

   sudo sh -c "$(curl -fsSlL https://github.com/observiq/bindplane-agent/releases/latest/download/install_unix.sh)" install_unix.sh
   

Additional installation resources

• For additional installation options, consult this installation guide.

Configure the Bindplane agent to ingest Syslog and send to Google SecOps

1. Access the configuration file:

   1. Locate the config.yaml file. Typically, it's in the /etc/bindplane-agent/ directory on Linux or in the installation directory on Windows.
   2. Open the file using a text editor (for example, nano, vi, or Notepad).

2. Edit the config.yaml file as follows:

   receivers:
     udplog:
       # Replace the port and IP address as required
       listen_address: "0.0.0.0:514"
   
   exporters:
     chronicle/chronicle_w_labels:
       compression: gzip
       # Adjust the path to the credentials file you downloaded in Step 1
       creds_file_path: '/path/to/ingestion-authentication-file.json'
       # Replace with your actual customer ID from Step 2
       customer_id: <YOUR_CUSTOMER_ID>
       # Replace with the appropriate regional endpoint
       endpoint: <CUSTOMER_REGION_ENDPOINT>
       # Add optional ingestion labels for better organization
       log_type: 'SERVICENOW_AUDIT'
       raw_log_field: body
       ingestion_labels:
   
   service:
     pipelines:
       logs/source0__chronicle_w_labels-0:
         receivers:
           - udplog
         exporters:
           - chronicle/chronicle_w_labels
   

• Replace the port and IP address as required in your infrastructure.
• Replace <YOUR_CUSTOMER_ID> with the actual Customer ID.
• Replace <CUSTOMER_REGION_ENDPOINT> with the appropriate regional endpoint from the Regional Endpoints documentation.
• Update /path/to/ingestion-authentication-file.json to the path where the authentication file was saved in the Get Google SecOps ingestion authentication file section.

Restart the Bindplane agent to apply the changes

• To restart the Bindplane agent in Linux, run the following command:

  sudo systemctl restart bindplane-agent
  

• To restart the Bindplane agent in Windows, you can either use the Services console or enter the following command:

  net stop BindPlaneAgent && net start BindPlaneAgent
  

Create a script to forward ServiceNow Audit logs to syslog

Since ServiceNow doesn't natively support syslog for audit logs, we'll create a script that queries the ServiceNow REST API and forwards the logs to syslog. This script can be scheduled to run periodically.

Python Script Example (Linux)

• Create a file named servicenow_audit_to_syslog.py with the following content:

  import urllib3
  import json
  import datetime
  import base64
  import socket
  import time
  import os
  
  # ServiceNow API details
  BASE_URL = 'https://instance.service-now.com'  # Replace with your ServiceNow instance URL
  USERNAME = 'admin'  # Replace with your ServiceNow username
  PASSWORD = 'password'  # Replace with your ServiceNow password
  
  # Syslog details
  SYSLOG_SERVER = '127.0.0.1'  # Replace with your Bindplane agent IP
  SYSLOG_PORT = 514  # Replace with your Bindplane agent port
  
  # State file to keep track of last run
  STATE_FILE = '/tmp/servicenow_audit_last_run.txt'
  
  # Pagination settings
  PAGE_SIZE = 1000
  MAX_PAGES = 1000
  
  def get_last_run_timestamp():
      try:
          with open(STATE_FILE, 'r') as f:
              return f.read().strip()
      except:
          return '1970-01-01T00:00:00'
  
  def update_state_file(timestamp):
      with open(STATE_FILE, 'w') as f:
          f.write(timestamp)
  
  def send_to_syslog(message):
      sock = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_DGRAM)
      sock.sendto(message.encode(), (SYSLOG_SERVER, SYSLOG_PORT))
      sock.close()
  
  def get_audit_logs(last_run_timestamp):
      """
      Query ServiceNow sys_audit table with proper pagination.
      Uses sys_created_on field for timestamp filtering.
      """
      # Encode credentials
      auth_string = f"{USERNAME}:{PASSWORD}"
      auth_bytes = auth_string.encode('ascii')
      auth_encoded = base64.b64encode(auth_bytes).decode('ascii')
  
      # Setup HTTP client
      http = urllib3.PoolManager()
  
      headers = {
          'Authorization': f'Basic {auth_encoded}',
          'Accept': 'application/json'
      }
  
      results = []
      offset = 0
  
      for page in range(MAX_PAGES):
          # Build query with pagination
          # Use sys_created_on (not created_on) for timestamp filtering
          query_params = (
              f"sysparm_query=sys_created_onAFTER{last_run_timestamp}"
              f"&sysparm_display_value=true"
              f"&sysparm_limit={PAGE_SIZE}"
              f"&sysparm_offset={offset}"
          )
  
          url = f"{BASE_URL}/api/now/table/sys_audit?{query_params}"
  
          try:
              response = http.request('GET', url, headers=headers)
  
              if response.status == 200:
                  data = json.loads(response.data.decode('utf-8'))
                  chunk = data.get('result', [])
                  results.extend(chunk)
  
                  # Stop if we got fewer records than PAGE_SIZE (last page)
                  if len(chunk) < PAGE_SIZE:
                      break
  
                  # Move to next page
                  offset += PAGE_SIZE
              else:
                  print(f"Error querying ServiceNow API: {response.status} - {response.data.decode('utf-8')}")
                  break
          except Exception as e:
              print(f"Exception querying ServiceNow API: {str(e)}")
              break
  
      return results
  
  def main():
      # Get last run timestamp
      last_run_timestamp = get_last_run_timestamp()
  
      # Current timestamp for this run
      current_timestamp = datetime.datetime.now().isoformat()
  
      # Query ServiceNow API for audit logs
      audit_logs = get_audit_logs(last_run_timestamp)
  
      if audit_logs:
          # Send each log to syslog
          for log in audit_logs:
              # Format the log as JSON
              log_json = json.dumps(log)
  
              # Send to syslog
              send_to_syslog(log_json)
  
              # Sleep briefly to avoid flooding
              time.sleep(0.01)
  
          # Update state file
          update_state_file(current_timestamp)
  
          print(f"Successfully forwarded {len(audit_logs)} audit logs to syslog")
      else:
          print("No new audit logs to forward")
  
  if __name__ == "__main__":
      main()
  

Set Up Scheduled Execution (Linux)

1. Make the script executable:

   chmod +x servicenow_audit_to_syslog.py
   

2. Create a cron job to run the script every hour:

   crontab -e
   

3. Add the following line:

   0 * * * * /usr/bin/python3 /path/to/servicenow_audit_to_syslog.py >> /tmp/servicenow_audit_to_syslog.log 2>&1
   

PowerShell Script Example (Windows)

• Create a file named ServiceNow-Audit-To-Syslog.ps1 with the following content:

  # ServiceNow API details
  $BaseUrl = 'https://instance.service-now.com'  # Replace with your ServiceNow instance URL
  $Username = 'admin'  # Replace with your ServiceNow username
  $Password = 'password'  # Replace with your ServiceNow password
  
  # Syslog details
  $SyslogServer = '127.0.0.1'  # Replace with your Bindplane agent IP
  $SyslogPort = 514  # Replace with your Bindplane agent port
  
  # State file to keep track of last run
  $StateFile = "$env:TEMP\ServiceNowAuditLastRun.txt"
  
  # Pagination settings
  $PageSize = 1000
  $MaxPages = 1000
  
  function Get-LastRunTimestamp {
      try {
          if (Test-Path $StateFile) {
              return Get-Content $StateFile
          }
          else {
              return '1970-01-01T00:00:00'
          }
      }
      catch {
          return '1970-01-01T00:00:00'
      }
  }
  
  function Update-StateFile {
      param (
          [string]$Timestamp
      )
  
      Set-Content -Path $StateFile -Value $Timestamp
  }
  
  function Send-ToSyslog {
      param (
          [string]$Message
      )
  
      $UdpClient = New-Object System.Net.Sockets.UdpClient
      $UdpClient.Connect($SyslogServer, $SyslogPort)
  
      $Encoding = [System.Text.Encoding]::ASCII
      $Bytes = $Encoding.GetBytes($Message)
  
      $UdpClient.Send($Bytes, $Bytes.Length)
      $UdpClient.Close()
  }
  
  function Get-AuditLogs {
      param (
          [string]$LastRunTimestamp
      )
  
      # Create auth header
      $Auth = [System.Convert]::ToBase64String([System.Text.Encoding]::ASCII.GetBytes("${Username}:${Password}"))
  
      $Headers = @{
          Authorization = "Basic ${Auth}"
          Accept = 'application/json'
      }
  
      $Results = @()
      $Offset = 0
  
      for ($page = 0; $page -lt $MaxPages; $page++) {
          # Build query with pagination
          # Use sys_created_on (not created_on) for timestamp filtering
          $QueryParams = "sysparm_query=sys_created_onAFTER${LastRunTimestamp}&sysparm_display_value=true&sysparm_limit=${PageSize}&sysparm_offset=${Offset}"
  
          $Url = "${BaseUrl}/api/now/table/sys_audit?${QueryParams}"
  
          try {
              $Response = Invoke-RestMethod -Uri $Url -Headers $Headers -Method Get
              $Chunk = $Response.result
  
              $Results += $Chunk
  
              # Stop if we got fewer records than PageSize (last page)
              if ($Chunk.Count -lt $PageSize) {
                  break
              }
  
              # Move to next page
              $Offset += $PageSize
          }
          catch {
              Write-Error "Error querying ServiceNow API: $_"
              break
          }
      }
  
      return $Results
  }
  
  # Main execution
  $LastRunTimestamp = Get-LastRunTimestamp
  $CurrentTimestamp = (Get-Date).ToString('yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss')
  
  $AuditLogs = Get-AuditLogs -LastRunTimestamp $LastRunTimestamp
  
  if ($AuditLogs -and $AuditLogs.Count -gt 0) {
      # Send each log to syslog
      foreach ($Log in $AuditLogs) {
          # Format the log as JSON
          $LogJson = $Log | ConvertTo-Json -Compress
  
          # Send to syslog
          Send-ToSyslog -Message $LogJson
  
          # Sleep briefly to avoid flooding
          Start-Sleep -Milliseconds 10
      }
  
      # Update state file
      Update-StateFile -Timestamp $CurrentTimestamp
  
      Write-Output "Successfully forwarded $($AuditLogs.Count) audit logs to syslog"
  }
  else {
      Write-Output "No new audit logs to forward"
  }
  

Set Up Scheduled Execution (Windows)

1. Open Task Scheduler.
2. Click Create Task.
3. Provide the following configuration:
   • Name: ServiceNowAuditToSyslog
   • Security options: Run whether user is logged on or not
4. Go to the Triggers tab.
5. Click New and set it to run hourly.
6. Go to the Actions tab.
7. Click New and set:
   • Action: Start a program
   • Program/script: powershell.exe
   • Arguments: -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "C:\path\to\ServiceNow-Audit-To-Syslog.ps1"
8. Click OK to save the task.

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