Field-level security in Salesforce plays a critical role in ensuring that the right people have access to the right information while unauthorized users are kept out. However, many Salesforce teams struggle with managing this critical security layer.
Inconsistent configurations, lack of visibility into who has access to what, and the constant push to balance functionality with security can leave orgs exposed to compliance violations and data breaches.
Below, we’ll address these challenges head-on to provide Salesforce security teams with actionable strategies to implement and manage field-level security without compromising functionality or efficiency. If you’re ready to reclaim control over your data security, read on.
What is Field Level Security?
Field Level Security (FLS) controls access to individual fields within Salesforce objects, ensuring users see only the data they are authorized to access. This granular level of control helps prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information, such as Social Security Numbers, financial details, or confidential business data, even if users have access to the broader object or record.
Why is Field Level Security Important for Security Leaders?
FLS in Salesforce is a critical component of data security and governance, designed to ensure sensitive information is accessible only to authorized users. For security-focused Salesforce teams and leaders, understanding and leveraging Field Level Security is essential for:
1. Data protection
Sensitive fields, like Personally Identifiable Information (PII), need stringent access controls to prevent unauthorized access, whether intentional or accidental.
2. Regulatory compliance
Regulations such as GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA mandate strict control over data access. Field Level Security helps demonstrate compliance by restricting access to sensitive fields.
3. Least privilege principle
By implementing FLS, you enforce the principle of least privilege, ensuring users only access the data necessary for their role.
4. Audit Readiness
Detailed control over field access provides better visibility into who can view or edit sensitive data, making audits smoother and more transparent.
How Does Field Level Security Work?
Field Level Security operates as a layered safeguard, ensuring sensitive information is protected at multiple touchpoints within your Salesforce environment. By understanding how FLS integrates into the broader security architecture, you can better align it with your organization’s data protection goals:
1. Profiles and permission sets
Field access is managed at the user level through Profiles and Permission Sets, which define whether a field is visible or editable for a given user.
2. Interaction with page layouts
FLS works in conjunction with page layouts but overrides their settings. Even if a field is on a page layout, FLS can hide it or make it read-only.
3. Impact on API access
FLS also applies to API calls, ensuring sensitive data remains protected even in integrations.
Benefits of Effective Field-Level Security
Implementing strong field-level security offers several key benefits that not only protect your data but also streamline compliance and efficiency. Here’s why it’s worth prioritizing:
1. Prevents unauthorized data exposure
By locking down specific fields, you can make sure sensitive data, like salary details or customer PII, stays off-limits to users who don’t need it. This prevents accidental data leaks that could put your business at risk.
2. Meets data protection standards
Compliance doesn’t have to be a headache. Field-level security helps you align with strict data privacy regulations like GDPR and HIPAA by ensuring only authorized users can access protected information. It’s a straightforward way to check those compliance boxes.
3. Enhances security without performance impact:
Tightening security often feels like it comes with trade-offs, but not here. Field-level security lets you protect critical data without slowing down Salesforce or complicating workflows.
Common Field-Level Security Challenges
While the benefits of effective field-level security are clear, implementing and managing it isn’t always straightforward. Many orgs encounter challenges that can lead to gaps in protection, compliance issues, or unnecessary complexity.
Let’s dive into some of the most common field-level security challenges and why addressing them is critical to keeping your Salesforce environment secure and efficient.
1. Access and role complexity
Salesforce’s role hierarchies and permission sets can get complicated fast, especially in larger organizations. It’s easy to lose track of who has access to what, which can create unexpected vulnerabilities or overly restrictive settings that frustrate users.
2. Configuration gaps
Setting up permissions manually might work for small teams, but in larger orgs with complex roles and profiles, it’s a recipe for disaster. A missed setting or oversight can leave sensitive data exposed or block users from accessing the tools they need. Tools like Field History Tracking and Field Audit Trail can mitigate these risks by providing visibility into field changes over time.
Field History Tracking lets you monitor changes to specific fields, helping you identify when critical configurations have been altered and by whom. It supports up to 20 fields per object, making it a valuable tool for smaller-scale monitoring. For larger orgs or environments with high compliance requirements, Field Audit Trail (available with Salesforce Shield) expands this capability to track up to 60 fields per object. Both features provide an essential audit trail, ensuring field-level security isn’t compromised due to unnoticed or unauthorized changes
3. Changing compliance requirements
Regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and others evolve over time. Keeping field-level security settings aligned with the latest requirements can be a constant challenge. By using tools such as Field History Tracking and Field Audit Trail, you can maintain detailed logs that demonstrate compliance with regulatory standards, giving your organization a stronger position during audits or incident investigations.
4. Visibility limitations
Without strong visibility controls, sensitive data can accidentally end up in the hands of users who shouldn’t have it. This often happens when access permissions are too broad or when new fields are added without proper oversight, creating unnecessary risk. A robust tracking strategy ensures changes to sensitive fields are properly monitored, allowing for swift corrective action if exposure occurs.
Planning to Set Up Field-Level Security in Salesforce
Before diving into configurations, having a structured plan for Field Level Security (FLS) is critical to creating a secure, scalable Salesforce environment. Security leaders should take a strategic approach to ensure sensitive data is protected without hindering operational efficiency. Here’s how to build a robust plan:
1. Map user roles and responsibilities
Start by thoroughly documenting your organization’s user roles and the specific tasks they perform in Salesforce. This mapping helps identify:
- Who Needs Access: Determine which roles require access to sensitive fields to perform their duties.
- Who Doesn’t: Highlight roles that do not need access, reducing unnecessary exposure.
For example, sales representatives may need access to account contact details but not to sensitive financial information stored within the same record.
2. Classify data sensitivity
Not all data fields are created equal. Classify fields based on their sensitivity and regulatory requirements:
- Public: Fields that can be broadly visible without risk.
- Confidential: Fields that require limited access within internal teams.
- Restricted: Highly sensitive fields such as Personally Identifiable Information (PII) or financial data.
This classification serves as a guide for configuring FLS policies and prioritizing protection for critical fields.
3. Choose the Right Fields for Field History Tracking
For organizations implementing Field History Tracking, it’s crucial to determine which fields to monitor. With a limit of 20 fields per object, prioritize fields that:
- House highly sensitive information: Focus on tracking changes to fields that store PII or other regulated data to ensure you know where and how this information is accessed or modified. This is vital for compliance and risk mitigation.
- Support executive-level or revenue-impacting decisions: Track fields critical to key business decisions, such as financial metrics, product pricing, or sales quotas. Monitoring these fields makes it easier to identify, revert, or rollback unexpected changes that could disrupt operations or decision-making.
By strategically selecting these fields, you can maximize the value of Field History Tracking while maintaining a clear record of changes to your most critical data.
For larger-scale tracking needs, consider Field Audit Trail, available through Salesforce Shield, which expands tracking to up to 60 fields per object. This is particularly beneficial for organizations with extensive compliance requirements or complex data environments.
4. Enforce the principle of least privilege
When assigning access, follow the principle of least privilege—granting users only the minimum access necessary to perform their tasks. Over-permissioning increases the risk of data breaches and non-compliance.
To enforce this principle:
- Use Profiles for baseline access based on job roles.
- Leverage Permission Sets for exceptions and temporary access needs without overcomplicating the role hierarchy.
5. Test and validate configurations
After configuring Field Level Security, simulate real-world scenarios to validate settings. Ensure that:
- Users can access fields they need for their role but cannot view or edit restricted fields.
- Integrations respect FLS configurations to prevent unintended data exposure through APIs.
6. Plan for ongoing governance
Field-level security is not a “set it and forget it” process. Incorporate FLS into your organization’s broader security governance:
- Schedule regular audits to ensure configurations align with evolving business needs.
- Monitor changes to FLS settings and roles with tools like Sonar to quickly identify and address misconfigurations or unauthorized updates.
- Document your security policies and train users to understand their access limits and responsibilities.
By taking a proactive, structured approach to planning Field Level Security, you can minimize risks, maintain compliance, and create a flexible framework that evolves with your organization.
Steps to Configure Field-Level Security
Configuring Field Level Security (FLS) in Salesforce is a critical step in safeguarding sensitive information, ensuring compliance, and maintaining operational efficiency. With the right setup, you can tightly control who can view or edit specific fields, minimizing risks associated with unauthorized access or accidental data exposure. Below is an expanded, detailed guide to help you configure FLS effectively, along with best practices for sustaining secure configurations over time.
1. Set Field-Level Security
The first step is establishing who can access specific fields by defining permissions through profiles and permission sets. These two tools work together to create a layered security model:
- Start with profiles: Profiles are the foundation of Salesforce access control, allowing you to set default permissions for groups of users with similar roles. For example, you might configure a “Sales User” profile to allow access to basic customer details while restricting sensitive financial information.
- Refine with permission sets: For users who need special or temporary access, permission sets provide an additional layer of flexibility. They allow you to grant access to fields on an as-needed basis without modifying the broader profile. This prevents over-permissioning, keeps configurations clean, and supports specific business scenarios such as temporary access for auditors or contractors.
In larger or rapidly evolving environments, analyzing overlaps and redundancies in profiles and permission sets can be challenging. Tools like Sonar can help streamline this process by providing clear insights into existing permissions and highlighting potential misconfigurations.
2. Adjust permissions for all field types
Once you’ve mapped out user roles and access needs, it’s essential to review the permissions applied to all types of fields in your Salesforce instance. This ensures no gaps are left in your configurations:
- Review custom fields: Custom fields often hold organization-specific data that may not have built-in security settings. These fields should be audited to confirm that only relevant user groups can access them. For example, a custom “SSN” field should be restricted to HR or compliance roles.
- Audit standard fields: Standard fields like “Account Balance” or “Contact Phone Number” may seem straightforward, but they often contain sensitive or regulated information. Salesforce assigns default permissions to these fields, so a review ensures they align with your security policies.
- Include integration fields: Fields used in API integrations with third-party applications require special attention. Improperly configured field access could lead to inadvertent exposure of sensitive data during integrations or data syncs. Restrict access to these fields based on roles or systems requiring them.
Regularly auditing all field types prevents sensitive information from slipping through unnoticed. Additionally, Sonar can enhance this review process by identifying potentially risky field configurations and flagging instances where access settings may not align with security best practices, particularly for sensitive or integration-related fields.
3. Configure field access settings
After identifying which users need access to specific fields, it’s time to configure field-level permissions. Salesforce offers several options to control visibility and editability:
- Visibility options: Define field access levels for each user group:
- Hidden: Fields are entirely inaccessible to users who do not need them. This is ideal for highly sensitive data, such as medical records or employee salaries.
- Read-only: Users can view but not edit fields. For instance, a sales representative might see a customer’s credit rating but lack the ability to modify it.
- Editable: Only grant this level of access to users who absolutely need to modify data. This could include finance teams updating payment statuses or HR staff managing employee records.
- Combine with page layouts: Page layouts and FLS work hand-in-hand. Even if a field is visible on a page layout, FLS settings can make it hidden or read-only. This ensures consistency across both the user interface and backend access.
Using a combination of these controls ensures sensitive data is accessible only to authorized users and use cases.
4. Test your configuration
Testing is a crucial step to validate that your configurations are working as intended. Here’s how to approach it:
- Simulate user access: Log in as different users or use Salesforce’s “View As” feature to see exactly what each role can access. Check that restricted fields are hidden or read-only, and editable fields are available only to appropriate users. Ensure you have a strong user access policy in place.
- Verify API behavior: Ensure FLS applies to integrations by testing API access for external systems. Sensitive fields should remain protected in data exchanged through third-party applications.
Thorough testing minimizes the risk of gaps or misconfigurations that could lead to data exposure. Sonar’s impact analysis capabilities can help you understand how changes to field-level security, profiles, or integrations affect access across your system, ensuring you maintain control over sensitive data.
5. Document and communicate settings
Clear documentation and communication are essential for long-term success:
- Create documentation: Record the purpose and permissions for each field, detailing who has access and why. This documentation serves as a valuable reference for audits, troubleshooting, or onboarding new team members.
- Train users: Educate your team on access limitations and the importance of maintaining data security. This ensures everyone understands their role in protecting sensitive information.
A well-documented and informed approach ensures that your FLS configurations remain effective and adaptable over time. By using tools that generate reports on field-level security, such as Sonar’s built-in reporting capabilities, you can quickly document configurations and provide audit-ready insights with minimal manual effort.
6. Monitor and maintain
Field-level security requires continuous oversight to remain effective as your organization evolves:
- Automate monitoring: Use tools like Sonar to monitor changes to FLS settings in real-time. Automated alerts notify you of unauthorized modifications or potential misconfigurations, allowing you to act quickly to mitigate common security risks.
- Regular audits: Schedule periodic reviews of FLS settings to ensure they still align with your business and security requirements. As new fields or roles are introduced, revisit and update permissions accordingly.
By maintaining an ongoing process of monitoring and auditing, you ensure that your security controls remain robust and aligned with organizational needs. Sonar’s real-time monitoring and alerting capabilities can reduce the burden of manually tracking changes, allowing your team to focus on high-priority tasks while ensuring the integrity of your security controls.
Advanced Tips for Field-Level Security Mastery
To truly master field-level security, it’s important to go beyond the basics. While tools like Sonar can streamline Salesforce security success, advanced strategies can help you optimize your setup, future-proof your configurations, and stay ahead of evolving security challenges. We’ve compiled a few tips to take your field-level security to the next level.
- Segmentation of sensitive data: Not all data is created equal, so why treat it that way? By classifying and segmenting your data, you can apply more granular control to the fields that need it most. This way, highly sensitive info like financial or personal data gets stricter protections while less critical fields remain accessible as needed.
- Regular audits and reporting: Stay ahead of security gaps by setting up automated audits and generating detailed field-level access reports. These tools help you spot issues early and provide the documentation you need for compliance reviews.
- Field encryption and Shield platform encryption: For fields containing ultra-sensitive information, encryption is your best friend. Salesforce Shield’s Platform Encryption adds an extra layer of protection, ensuring that even if data is accessed, it’s unreadable without the right decryption keys.
- Cross-org security alignment: If you’re managing multiple Salesforce orgs, keeping field-level security consistent across them can be a challenge. Use tools and templates to standardize your security configurations, so you can maintain control and reduce the risk of inconsistent protections.
Conclusion: A Complete Guide to Navigating Field-Level Security
Mastering field-level security in Salesforce is all about finding the right balance between keeping your data safe and making sure everything runs smoothly. From getting the basics down and tackling common challenges to using advanced strategies and tools like Sonar, you’ve got a solid roadmap to protect your sensitive info. Proactive monitoring, regular audits, and staying on top of compliance are the keys to staying secure without slowing things down.
Ready to level up your field-level security? Schedule a demo with Sonar today to see how features like real-time alerts, automated compliance checks, and proactive monitoring can take the stress out of security management. Let Sonar do the hard work, so your team can stay focused on what they do best.