Configure Continuous Authentication

---
title: Configure Continuous Authentication
description: Configure continuous authentication \(CA\) policies to re-authenticate the users if there's an attempt to access resources that are protected by you.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/platform-security/configure-ca.html
release: brazil
topic_type: task
last_updated: "2026-09-10"
reading_time_minutes: 3
breadcrumb: [Continuous Authentication \(CA\), Zero Trust Access, Access Management]
---

# Configure Continuous Authentication

Configure continuous authentication \(CA\) policies to re-authenticate the users if there's an attempt to access resources that are protected by you.

## Before you begin

-   Role required: ca\_admin

    **Note:** You must elevate your role to **ca\_admin**.

-   You must install the **Zero Trust - Continuous Authentication** \(`com.snc.zero_trust_continuous_authentication`\) for opting CA which requires a license.
-   Enable the Continuous Authentication \(**glide.zta.continuous\_authentication.enabled**\) system property. For more information, see [Continuous authentication system properties](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/platform-security/ca-system-properties.md).
-   Activate the Integration - Multiple Provider Single Sign-On Installer \(**com.snc.integration.sso.multi.installer**\) plugin.
-   Understand the pre-work that is required before configuring CA for the instance. For more information, see [Pre-work for Continuous Authentication](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/platform-security/pre-work-ca.md).
-   CA policies can be configured for Data Class or Table.

## Procedure

1.  Navigate to **All** > **Continuous Authentication**.

2.  Select **Policies** tab.

3.  Select **New**.

4.  On the form, fill in the fields:

<table id="table_cvy_xnw_ycc"><thead><tr><th>

Field

</th><th>

Description

</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>

Policy Name

</td><td>

Name of the policy

</td></tr><tr><td>

Description

</td><td>

Generic description to the policy

</td></tr><tr><td>

Select the resources

</td><td>

Options: -   **Data Class**. You can create data class and use it for CA policy configuration.

**Note:** To know more about how to create data class, see [Data Classification](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/platform-security/data-classification/data-classification.md).

-   **Table**
**Note:**

-   Table selected with metadata displays an error.
-   You need to check if you actually want to restrict access to the metadata table, since it can impact configuration access to your users.
-   The **sys\_properties**, **sys\_continuous\_auth\_policy**, **sys\_user** tables are excluded for CA and cannot be added to the CA policy configuration.


</td></tr></tbody>
</table>    \[Omitted image "ca-policy.png"\] Alt text: CA Policy record

    **Note:** You can use either of the login methods for the CA policy:

    -   **SSO based login**: Specify the fields in the **Continuous Authentication** tab within the Identity Provider record and set the Identity Provider record as **Active**. \[Omitted image "ca-tab.png"\] Alt text: Continuous Authentication - tab information

        To know more about Identity Providers configuration, see [OIDC](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/platform-security/authentication/create-OIDC-configuration-SSO.md) and [SAML](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/platform-security/authentication/t_CreateASAML2Upd1SSOConfigMultiSSO.md).

    -   **Non-SSO based login**: By default, if there are no Identity Providers with Continuous Authentication configuration, Multi-factor Authentication \(MFA\) is used as a login method. Make sure the MFA properties are Active and configured based on your requirement. To know more about MFA properties, see [Multi-factor Authentication system properties](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/platform-security/authentication/mfa-properties.md).
5.  Select **Save &amp; Activate**.


## Result

Based on the details provided for the configuration, CA policy is created with Access Control List \(ACLs\) for the selected table or data class. You can view the details of the ACLs that are created by selecting the **View ACLs** on the policy page.

\[Omitted image "ca-acl-details.png"\] Alt text: CA ACL details

The created CA policy prompts the user for authentication to access table or data class that you've protected using the policy, based on the following scenarios.

-   User who had performed local login to log in to the instance, is displayed with platform MFA for step-up authentication.

    \[Omitted image "mobile-screen-mfa.png"\] Alt text: MFA-SMS

    **Note:** The users recently used MFA factor is displayed for authentication.

-   User who had performed SSO login \(OIDC or SAML\) to log in to the instance is displayed with the SSO for re-authentication.

    \[Omitted image "ca-sso-screen.png"\] Alt text: SSO - Screen


A high assurance session is now established for the user. High assurance session is limited to the High Assurance session length \(**glide.zta.high\_assurance.session.timeout**\) system property. If the high assurance session time exceeds the property length, the user is prompted for re-authentication or step-up authentication.

To know more about the end-to-end configuration of continuous authentication for table or data, see:

-   [Tutorial: Configure Continuous Authentication for a Table](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/platform-security/configure-ca-tutorial-table.md).
-   [Tutorial: Configure Continuous Authentication for a Data Class](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/platform-security/configure-ca-tutorial.md).

**Related topics**  


[Exploring Continuous Authentication](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/platform-security/explore-continuous-auth.md)

[Pre-work for Continuous Authentication](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/platform-security/pre-work-ca.md)

[Activate Continuous Authentication](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/brazil/markdown/platform-security/activate-continuous-authentication.md)