Access Evaluation log events

See how client applications access user data

Depending on your Google Workspace edition, you might have access to the security investigation tool, which has more advanced features. For example, super admins can identify, triage, and take action on security and privacy issues. Learn more

As your organization's administrator, you can use Access Evaluation log events to understand how the different security policies in Google Workspace impact user access to third-party and Google-owned apps. For example, an organization can have multiple OAuth policies that control app access based on different rules. An organization can also have service on/off policies that prevent or allow access to certain services. Access Evaluation log events show the policies that impact user access, whether access was granted, and how those decisions were made. You can use this information to review and revise your organization's security policies and configuration.

Run a search for log events

Your ability to run a search depends on your Google edition, your administrative privileges, and the data source. You can run a search on all users, regardless of their Google Workspace edition.

Audit and investigation tool

To run a search for log events, first choose a data source. Then choose one or more filters for your search.

  1. In the Google Admin console, go to Menu and then Reporting and thenAudit and investigation and thenAccess Evaluation log events.

    Requires having the Reports administrator privilege.

  2. To filter events that occurred before or after a specific date, for Date, select Before or After. By default, events from the last 7 days are shown. You can select a different date range or click to remove the date filter.

  3. Click Add a filter and thenselect an attribute. For example, to filter by a specific event type, select Event.
  4. Select an operator and thenselect a value and thenclick Apply.
    • (Optional) To create multiple filters for your search, repeat this step.
    • (Optional) To add a search operator, above Add a filter, select AND or OR.
  5. Click Search. Note: Using the Filter tab, you can include simple parameter and value pairs to filter the search results. You can also use the Condition builder tab, where the filters are represented as conditions with AND/OR operators.

Security investigation tool

Supported editions for this feature: Frontline Standard and Frontline Plus; Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus; Education Standard and Education Plus; Enterprise Essentials Plus; Cloud Identity Premium. Compare your edition

To run a search in the security investigation tool, first choose a data source. Then, choose one or more conditions for your search. For each condition, choose an attribute, an operator, and a value.

  1. In the Google Admin console, go to Menu and then Security and thenSecurity center and thenInvestigation tool.

    Requires having the Security center administrator privilege.

  2. Click Data source and select Access Evaluation log events.

  3. To filter events that occurred before or after a specific date, for Date, select Before or After. By default, events from the last 7 days are shown. You can select a different date range or click to remove the date filter.

  4. Click Add Condition.
    Tip: You can include one or more conditions in your search or customize your search with nested queries. For details, go to Customize your search with nested queries.
  5. Click Attribute and thenselect an option. For example, to filter by a specific event type, select Event.
    For a complete list of attributes, go to the Attribute descriptions section.
  6. Select an operator.
  7. Enter a value or select a value from the list.
  8. (Optional) To add more search conditions, repeat the steps.
  9. Click Search.
    You can review the search results from the investigation tool in a table at the bottom of the page.
  10. (Optional) To save your investigation, click Save and thenenter a title and description and thenclick Save.

Notes

  • In the Condition builder tab, filters are represented as conditions with AND/OR operators. You can also use the Filter tab to include simple parameter and value pairs to filter the search results.
  • If you give a user a new name, you will not see query results with the user's old name. For example, if you rename OldName@example.com to NewName@example.com, you will not see results for events related to OldName@example.com.
  • You can only search for data in messages that have not yet been deleted from Trash.

Attribute descriptions

Your organization can have multiple security policies from different sources that impact user access. Access Evaluation logs help you understand the combined behavior of those policies, and which specific policies you might want to change.

For example, if unauthorized users are accessing a messaging app, Access Evaluation log events help you understand which policies are being used. If you change a policy, the log events will show the result of that change.

You can also use Access Evaluation log events to investigate your organization's security posture. For example:

  • Monitor for suspicious activity: You can use the logs to monitor for suspicious activity, such as attempts to access sensitive data, or access from prohibited locations.
  • Audit your organization's security posture: You can use the logs to audit your organization's security posture and ensure that your data is protected.

A log entry is created for the first event within a 24-hour span. Duplicate events with the same information are not logged until 24 hours have passed. For example, if an entry with User1, Client1 and IP1 occurs at time X, duplicate events with the same information are not logged until 24 hours have passed.

Note: Each log entry may include some, but not all, of the following information. For example, the service account field is typically empty unless access is performed by a service account.

Column name Comments Example
Event Event name
  • Access Token Request (when an OAuth token is successfully issued)
  • Allow Token Impersonation (when access is through a service account)
  • Allow Cookie Validation Request (when credentials associated with a cookie are successfully validated against security policies during application access)
Description Description of the event FirstName LastName access request to Myapp for certain scopes is allowed
Date Date and time when the request was evaluated 2022-08-11T10:00:53-07:00
Actor User email address for which the evaluation was requested and allowed firstlast@sample-win.info
Application name Name of the application being accessed Reddit
IP address IP address from which the user requested access evaluation 2601:600:8780:19d0:925:e630:d20e:b1cc

IP ASN

You need to add this column to the search results. For the steps, go to Manage search results column data.

IP Autonomous System Number (ASN), subdivision, and region associated with the log entry.

To review the IP ASN and subdivision and region code where the activity happened, click the name in the search results.

IP ASN: 12345

Subdivision code: IN-KA

Region code: IN
OAuth Client ID

Client ID of the application for which access was evaluated

Note: This attribute is applicable only for Access Token Request and Allow Token Impersonation events.

 705819728788-b2c1kcs7tst3b7ghv7at0hkqmtc68ckl.apps.google.sample.com
Scope

Scope for which the request was granted

Note: OAuth scope information isn't shown for Google-owned apps.

 https://www.googleapis.com/auth/userinfo.email, https://www.googleapis.com/auth/userinfo.profile, openid
Configuration Source

Describes whether a client ID was allowed due to a Google Workspace policy that explicitly allowed user access to this application ID

Note: This attribute is applicable only for Access Token Request and Allow Token Impersonation events.

 For details, go to Configuration source descriptions later on this page.
Client type

Type of application for which access was evaluated

Note: This attribute is applicable only for Access Token Request and Allow Token Impersonation events.

 Web, Android, IOS, etc.
Service Account

Service account email ID if it was used to impersonate any user

Note: This attribute is applicable only for Allow Token Impersonation events.

 abc-alpha@gserviceaccount.com

Configuration Source descriptions

The Configuration Source describes whether a client ID was allowed due to a Google Workspace policy that explicitly allowed user access to the application ID.

Note: These scenarios only apply to OAuth-related Access Token Request or Allow Token Impersonation access events.

Scenario Description
No app configuration

Access was allowed because admins have not set any policy using API Controls that blocks access to the client ID.

To add blocking policies, go to Control which apps access Google Workspace data.
API controls configuration

Access was allowed because the application was trusted or limited in a policy using API Controls.

For details, go to Control which apps access Google Workspace data.
Endpoint Management configuration

Access was allowed because the application was trusted or limited in a policy using Google endpoint management.

For details, go to Overview: Manage devices with Google endpoint management
Workspace Marketplace configuration

Access was allowed because the application was installed in Google Workspace Marketplace.

For details, go to Find and install an app in the Marketplace.
Domain-wide delegation configuration

Access was allowed because this application was domain-wide delegated.

For details, go to Control API access with domain-wide delegation

Manage log event data

Manage search results column data

You can control which data columns appear in your search results.

  1. At the top-right of the search results table, click Manage columns .
  2. (Optional) To remove current columns, click Remove .
  3. (Optional) To add columns, next to Add new column, click the Down arrow and select the data column.
    Repeat as needed.
  4. (Optional) To change the order of the columns, drag the data column names.
  5. Click Save.

Export search result data

You can export search results to Sheets or to a CSV file.

  1. At the top of the search results table, click Export all.
  2. Enter a name and then click Export.
    The export displays below the search results table under Export action results.
  3. To view the data, click the name of your export.
    The export opens in Sheets.

Export limits vary:

  • The total results of the export are limited to 100,000 rows.
  • Supported editions for this feature: Frontline Standard and Frontline Plus; Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus; Education Standard and Education Plus; Enterprise Essentials Plus; Cloud Identity Premium. Compare your edition

    If you have the security investigation tool, the total results of the export are limited to 30 million rows.

For more information, go to Export search results.

When and how long is data available?

Take action based on search results

Create activity rules & set up alerts

  • You can set up alerts based on log event data using reporting rules. For instructions, go to Create and manage reporting rules.
  • Supported editions for this feature: Frontline Standard and Frontline Plus; Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus; Education Standard and Education Plus; Enterprise Essentials Plus; Cloud Identity Premium. Compare your edition

    To help prevent, detect, and remediate security issues efficiently, you can automate actions in the security investigation tool and set up alerts by creating activity rules. To set up a rule, set up conditions for the rule, and then specify the actions to perform when the conditions are met. For more details, go to Create and manage activity rules.

Take action based on search results

Supported editions for this feature: Frontline Standard and Frontline Plus; Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus; Education Standard and Education Plus; Enterprise Essentials Plus; Cloud Identity Premium. Compare your edition

After you run a search in the security investigation tool, you can act on your search results. For example, you can run a search based on Gmail log events, and then use the tool to delete specific messages, send messages to quarantine, or send messages to users' inboxes. For more details, go to Take action based on search results.

Manage your investigations

Supported editions for this feature: Frontline Standard and Frontline Plus; Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus; Education Standard and Education Plus; Enterprise Essentials Plus; Cloud Identity Premium. Compare your edition

View your list of investigations

To view a list of the investigations that you own and that were shared with you, click View investigations . The investigation list includes the names, descriptions, and owners of the investigations, and the date last modified.

From this list, you can take action on any investigations that you own, for example, to delete an investigation. Check the box for an investigation and then click Actions.

Note: You can view your saved investigations under Quick access, directly above your list of investigations.

Configure settings for your investigations

As a super administrator, click Settings to:

  • Change the time zone for your investigations. The time zone applies to search conditions and results.
  • Turn on or off Require reviewer. For more details, go to Require reviewers for bulk actions.
  • Turn on or off View content. This setting allows admins with the appropriate privileges to view content.
  • Turn on or off Enable action justification.

For more details, go to Configure settings for your investigations.

Save, share, delete & duplicate investigations

To save your search criteria or share it with others, you can create and save an investigation, and then share, duplicate, or delete it.

For details, go to Save, share, delete, and duplicate investigations.