Published Release Notes

Integrated Application Security Checklist helps you deploy a secure application

Pega^® Platform now provides an Application Security Checklist that you can refer to when you prepare your application for deployment. By completing the recommended tasks in this checklist, you can track your progress, access instructional information for tasks, and verify that your configurations are secure.

For more information, see Preparing your application for secure deployment, Compliance Score tab, Designer Studio — Home page.

Encrypt sensitive case data by using a secure default Pega Platform cipher and AWS KMS keys

You can encrypt sensitive data within your application without having to write custom cipher classes. You can configure encryption on the Data Encryption landing page by using your own keys managed in your private Amazon Web Services Key Management Service (AWS KMS) instance. Pega^® Platform encryption uses keys that are stored in AWS KMS to support both time-based and on-demand key rotation. Technical issues can arise in some cases, for example, if a key is deleted from AWS KMS.

For more information, see Potential problems with keystores when using AWS KMS, Configuring a Platform cipher, Types of ciphers.

REST services support password credentials and JWT Bearer grant types

Pega^® Platform REST services now support password credentials and the JWT (JSON Web Token) Bearer grant type when you enable OAuth 2.0-based authentication. By using password credentials, you can quickly migrate clients from direct authentication schemes, provide additional flexibility when other grants are not available, and integrate your application with REST services in other applications. You can add compatibility with modern JWT-based cloud security IDPs by using the JWT Bearer grant type.

For more information, see About OAuth 2.0 Provider data instances, OAuth 2.0 Client Registration data instances - Completing the Client Information tab, Creating an Identity Mapping data instance.

SAML single sign-on is easier to configure

Implementing SAML single sign-on (SSO) login authentication in your application is now less complex. You can now configure most requirements that used custom activities or Java code in previous releases from the Authentication services form.

For more information, see Creating an authentication service.

Manage and debug your access control policies on the Policy-based Access landing page

You can now view, manage, and debug access control policies that are used in your application on the Policy-based Access landing page. You can also verify whether relevant access control policies grant or deny access to a specific case for a specific operator. By using this new landing page you can manage and debug policies by yourself without contacting Global Customer Support.

For more information, see Reviewing access control policies, Verifying access control policies​

Configure role dependencies to grant access rights

You can configure role dependencies in a role to grant access rights, which are inherited from the role. Role dependencies are relationships between roles that mirror an organization hierarchy or a more complex relationship among groups of operators, roles, or functional areas. Use role dependencies to simplify role configuration, minimize the number of roles needed by an access group, and minimize the number of privileges that you have to manually define for roles in your application.

For more information, see Access Role rules, Access Role form – Using the Role tab.

Improved operator security

To improve security, Pega® Platform now requires the following:

• During deployment, you must configure a password for [email protected].
• The administrator must enable new out-of-the-box operators.
• The administrator and new Pega-supplied operators must change their passwords after the first login.

These requirements replace the optional secured mode in earlier versions of Pega Platform.

Multifactor authentication now supports SMS

Multifactor authentication now supports short message service (SMS) as well as email. Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS) is supported as a provider.

For more information, see Security policies settings.

Operator provisioning is supported by SAML and OpenID Connect authentication services

When you use SAML and OpenID authentication services, operators can be automatically provisioned without the need to write custom activities. Users can now be authenticated and provisioned from authentication providers that adhere to the OpenID Connect specification, such as Auth0, NetIQ, and Google.

For more information, see Configuring operator provisioning for a SAML SSO authentication service and Configuring operator provisioning for an OpenID Connect authentication service.

Support for OpenID Connect authentication

Pega^® Platform now supports authentication services that use OpenID Connect, an emerging standard for government and enterprise cloud environments. This standard facilitates interoperability among identity management solutions and authentication through authentication providers that adhere to the OpenID Connect specification, including Auth0, NetIQ, and social media sites such as Google.

For more information, see Configuring an OpenID Connect authentication service.