In this single‑speaker presentation, Salesforce security architect Rachel Beard introduces the company’s Unified Security Framework, organized into three layers—Foundational, Configurable, and Enhanceable—to help enterprises secure data as they adopt agentic AI. The foundational layer consists of secure‑by‑design, Salesforce‑managed controls such as Hyperforce (a hardened public‑cloud infrastructure) and a 24/7 incident‑response team that continuously monitor and mitigate threats. The configurable layer gives customers out‑of‑the‑box tools they can enable, including the free Security Health Check, mandatory multi‑factor authentication (MFA) and optional single sign‑on (SSO), IP allow‑listing, and the principle of least privilege enforced through permission sets and field‑level security. The enhanceable layer adds optional, purpose‑built solutions for advanced needs: Salesforce Shield (real‑time event monitoring and transaction security policies), Security Center (a unified dashboard of security signals across orgs), and Backup & Recover (rapid data restoration). Beard emphasizes that security is a shared responsibility and that trust is a prerequisite for successful agentic enterprises, urging viewers to run a health check and upskill via a Trailhead Security Trailmix.
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Security threats are evolving more rapidly than ever, and bad actors are constantly looking to exploit both technical and human vulnerabilities. As organizations rush to transform their businesses with AI, a massive question is on every executive's mind: Can I trust you to power my agentic enterprise? And as businesses undergo a massive shift toward agentic AI, trust has become a mandate. It's not an option. Welcome to our Trusted Enterprise Security series. I'm Rachel Beard, a Salesforce security architect. At Salesforce, we know that protecting your data is a partnership. Today, we're breaking down our Unified Security Framework into 3 easy-to-understand layers: foundationals, configurables, and enhanceables. Let's dive right into Layer 1. The foundationals are the powerful, secure-by-design controls that Salesforce manages for you. They're always on, working invisibly in the background across our physical infrastructure, application, and network layers. An example of this foundational security is Hyperforce, our secure public cloud infrastructure, which is secured through a combination of physical security and network security measures. We are monitoring the network constantly for signs of intrusion, but we don't just build it and forget about it. We also have a 24/7 dedicated incident response team working to keep our systems, our products, and our customers secure. You can think of them as our digital firefighters. Their sole mission is to actively identify vulnerabilities, intercept threats in real time, and deploy mitigations before your risks can can even impact your business. But that's just what we do behind the scenes. Remember, security is a shared responsibility. So that brings us to our second layer. Moving over to those configurables, these are the powerful out-of-the-box controls that every customer has access to. We build the secure foundation, but you get to set the controls. When customers ask me where to begin, I like to point them to the security health check. It's free and it's built right into setup. It benchmarks your org against Salesforce's baseline security standards. It highlights misconfigurations that attackers target first, like weak password policies or overly long session settings. In addition to configuring these controls, you need to use secure authentication methods. At a minimum, every org should enforce multi-factor authentication. MFA, and ideally single sign-on, SSO. You should also use IP allow listing to restrict login ranges and prevent anomalous logins. And whatever you do, don't forget about the principle of least privilege. Users and AI agents should only have the exact amount of access that they need to do their jobs and nothing more. Using features like permission sets and field-level security greatly reduces your risk of data loss. Okay, so you've got a rock-solid foundation and your built-in configurables are locked down tight. What more can you do to level up your security and reduce risk in your orgs? Whether you have sensitive data to protect, or you're in a highly regulated industry, or you need to scale your security to meet advanced security requirements, you've got options. And that's where our third layer of security comes in: the Enhanceables. These are advanced, purpose-built add-on solutions that let you scale security and move faster with confidence. The star of the show here is Salesforce Shield. Shield is all about visibility plus action. With real-time event monitoring, you can track API calls and report exports live. And with transaction security policies, you can actually block a risky action like somebody trying to export a report with sensitive data in it, in real time before the data ever leaves Salesforce. Enhanceables also include tools like Security Center, which aggregates critical security configuration signals from one or multiple orgs into one single pane of glass view. Understanding changing security conditions and getting alerted on drifting health check scores connected apps, and permission settings is critical to your success. Finally, let's not forget about Backup and Recover. It's a massive game changer for peace of mind. If users accidentally delete or corrupt critical records, you can quickly restore your data to its original state and resume business operations. So there you have it. Foundational, Configurable, and Enhanceable. Together, they create a unified proactive defense system that protects your most critical data. As you build out your Agentic Enterprise, remember that you can't succeed if you don't get trust right first. To learn more and to check out your org's baseline, go ahead and run a security health check today, and then skill up using our Security Trailmix on Trailhead. Thanks for joining me.
