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Verify that Sensitive Actions Service is working by intentionally triggering the
Persistence: project SSH key added detector and checking for findings.
To complete this guide, you must have an Identity and Access Management (IAM) role with
the compute.projects.setCommonInstanceMetadata and iam.serviceAccounts.actAs
permissions in the project where you will perform the test, such as the Compute
Admin role (roles/compute.admin).
Testing Sensitive Actions Service
To test Sensitive Actions Service, you add a project-level SSH key, which may grant SSH
key access to all instances in the project.
This detector doesn't generate a finding if there is already a project-level SSH key set on
the project. Choose a project that doesn't already have
any project-level SSH keys.
Step 1: Triggering a Sensitive Actions Service detector
To trigger the detector, you need a test user account. You can create
a test user account with a gmail.com email address or use an existing user
account in your organization. You add the test user account to your
organization and grant it excessive permissions.
Verify that there aren't currently any SSH keys set on the project. If SSH keys are set, you will see the existing keys in a table, and the test won't work.
Choose a project that doesn't have any existing project-level SSH keys for
the test.
Click Add SSH Key.
Add a public key into the text box. For more details on how to generate an
SSH key, see Create SSH
keys.
Click Save.
Next, verify that the Persistence: project SSH key added detector has written findings.
Step 2: Viewing the finding in Security Command Center
To review Sensitive Actions Service findings in the console, follow
these steps:
In the Google Cloud console, go to the Findings page of Security Command Center.
In the Quick filters section, in the Source display name subsection, select
Sensitive Actions Service. The findings query results are updated to show only the findings
from this source.
To view the details of a specific finding, click the finding name in the Category column.
The details panel for the finding opens and displays the Summary tab.
On the Summary tab, review the details of the finding, including information about what
was detected, the affected resource, and—if available—steps that you can take to
remediate the finding.
Optional: To view the full JSON definition of the finding, click the JSON tab.
Step 3: Viewing the finding in Cloud Logging
You can view sensitive action log entries by using Cloud Logging.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-25 UTC."],[],[],null,["# Testing Sensitive Actions Service\n\n| Standard, Premium, and Enterprise [service tiers](/security-command-center/docs/service-tiers)\n\nVerify that Sensitive Actions Service is working by intentionally triggering the\n`Persistence: project SSH key added` detector and checking for findings.\n\nTo learn more about the Sensitive Actions Service service, see\n[Sensitive Actions Service overview](/security-command-center/docs/concepts-sensitive-actions-overview).\n\nBefore you begin\n----------------\n\nTo complete this guide, you must have an Identity and Access Management (IAM) role with\nthe `compute.projects.setCommonInstanceMetadata` and `iam.serviceAccounts.actAs`\npermissions in the project where you will perform the test, such as the Compute\nAdmin role (`roles/compute.admin`).\n\nTesting Sensitive Actions Service\n---------------------------------\n\nTo test Sensitive Actions Service, you add a project-level SSH key, which may grant SSH\nkey access to all instances in the project.\n\nThis detector doesn't generate a finding if there is already a project-level SSH key set on\nthe project. Choose a project that doesn't already have\nany project-level SSH keys.\n\n### Step 1: Triggering a Sensitive Actions Service detector\n\nTo trigger the detector, you need a test user account. You can create\na test user account with a gmail.com email address or use an existing user\naccount in your organization. You add the test user account to your\norganization and grant it excessive permissions.\n\nFor more instructions on how to add the project-level SSH key, see\n[Add SSH keys to project metadata](/compute/docs/connect/add-ssh-keys#add_ssh_keys_to_project_metadata).\nFor instructions on how to generate an SSH key, see [Create SSH keys](/compute/docs/connect/create-ssh-keys).\n\n1. Go to the [Compute Engine Metadata](https://console.cloud.google.com/compute/metadata)\n page in the Google Cloud console.\n\n [Go to Metadata](https://console.cloud.google.com/compute/metadata)\n2. Click the **SSH Keys** tab.\n\n3. Verify that there aren't currently any SSH keys set on the project. If SSH keys are set, you will see the existing keys in a table, and the test won't work.\n Choose a project that doesn't have any existing project-level SSH keys for\n the test.\n\n4. Click **Add SSH Key**.\n\n5. Add a public key into the text box. For more details on how to generate an\n SSH key, see [Create SSH\n keys](/compute/docs/connect/create-ssh-keys).\n\n6. Click **Save**.\n\nNext, verify that the `Persistence: project SSH key added` detector has written findings.\n\n### Step 2: Viewing the finding in Security Command Center\n\nTo review Sensitive Actions Service findings in the console, follow\nthese steps:\n\n1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the **Findings** page of Security Command Center.\n\n [Go to Findings](https://console.cloud.google.com/security/command-center/findingsv2)\n2. Select your Google Cloud project or organization.\n3. In the **Quick filters** section, in the **Source display name** subsection, select **Sensitive Actions Service**. The findings query results are updated to show only the findings from this source.\n4. To view the details of a specific finding, click the finding name in the **Category** column. The details panel for the finding opens and displays the **Summary** tab.\n5. On the **Summary** tab, review the details of the finding, including information about what was detected, the affected resource, and---if available---steps that you can take to remediate the finding.\n6. Optional: To view the full JSON definition of the finding, click the **JSON** tab.\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n### Step 3: Viewing the finding in Cloud Logging\n\nYou can view sensitive action log entries by using Cloud Logging.\n\n1. Go to **Logs Explorer** in the Google Cloud console.\n\n [Go to Logs Explorer](https://console.cloud.google.com/logs/query)\n2. If required, change to the organization view by using the\n **Organization selector** at the top of the page.\n\n3. Use the **Query** pane to build your query:\n\n 1. In the **All resources** list, select **sensitiveaction.googleapis.com/Location**.\n 2. Click **Apply** . The **Query results** table is updated with the logs you selected.\n4. To view a log, click a table row, and then click **Expand nested fields**.\n\nClean up\n--------\n\nWhen you're finished testing, remove the project-level SSH key.\n\n1. Go to the **Compute Engine Metadata** page in the Google Cloud console.\n\n [Go to Metadata](https://console.cloud.google.com/compute/metadata)\n2. Click **Edit**.\n\n3. Click delete**Delete item** next to the SSH key.\n\n4. Click **Save**.\n\nWhat's next\n-----------\n\n- Learn more about [using Sensitive Actions Service](/security-command-center/docs/how-to-use-sensitive-actions).\n- Read a high-level overview of [Sensitive Actions Service concepts](/security-command-center/docs/concepts-sensitive-actions-overview).\n- Learn how to [investigate and develop response plans](/security-command-center/docs/how-to-investigate-threats) for threats."]]