Introduction
Cyber risk management is becoming increasingly significant in the context of planning and executing an organisation’s strategy. Following the daily news, we see new cyberattacks reported almost every day. The key question is: does this also apply to SAP applications?
Generally, several types of cyberattacks can be identified that may affect organisations:
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Denial of Service (DoS) or Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, intended to overload a system and prevent other users from accessing it.
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Theft of financial data, intellectual property information, trade secrets, health data, human resources information or sales data. These attacks are often carried out using phishing techniques, malware or man-in-the-middle attacks.
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Attacks on IT infrastructure using various types of malicious software, such as ransomware (which encrypts data and demands a ransom for its decryption) or trojans, which enable remote control of a system.
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Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) attacks, which involve a prolonged and sophisticated process of network infiltration aimed at exfiltrating valuable information or manipulating a system.
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Botnet-based attacks, which use compromised computers to carry out mass attacks against specific targets.
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Attacks exploiting security vulnerabilities, known as exploits, which allow unauthorised access to a system.
All of these attacks can have a material impact on organisations and their IT infrastructure, including SAP environments. Without appropriate security measures, such attacks can lead to data loss, operational downtime and even serious financial crises.
SNOK, as an expert in SAP cybersecurity, understands these challenges and is able to protect these systems - critical for many organisations - against a growing volume of cyber threats.
How SNOK can help clients
In 2021, SNOK began a strategic partnership with SecurityBridge, the provider of the world’s first and only integrated SAP cybersecurity platform. Through this partnership, we are able to enrich our offering with a unique product that should be available to every organisation running SAP applications.
SecurityBridge is a modern SAP security platform, natively built within SAP. It uses an ABAP-based intrusion detection system to protect all SAP applications around the clock. Thanks to SecurityBridge’s unique approach to protecting SAP NetWeaver, AS ABAP, AS JAVA and, more recently, RISE with SAP or SAP BTP and SAP SuccessFactors, we are able to expose exploitation attempts and uncover previously unknown vulnerabilities.
The future of SAP cybersecurity
Digitalisation is transforming many industries, driving a growing number of increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks. Cybersecurity is not merely about protecting IT infrastructure - it also encompasses risk management, regulatory compliance and data privacy protection.
More and more organisations are moving their ERP applications to the cloud, which presents a significant security challenge. Companies must decide whether to manage security themselves or use services such as SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Private Edition, running on public cloud services such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud Platform.
SAP provides clients with software that helps ensure security, but security must be treated with even greater rigour when using on-premise and private cloud applications such as S/4HANA or ECC. These systems have several thousand configuration parameters that can affect security.
Conclusions
SAP security is a matter of considerable importance in the context of a rising number of cyberattacks. SNOK, through its partnership with SecurityBridge, is able to offer clients comprehensive solutions to protect their SAP systems. Choosing the right approach to cybersecurity is becoming a key element of every organisation’s business strategy, and companies such as SNOK play a crucial role in helping clients navigate this complex domain.
As the renowned security expert Bruce Schneier once said: “Security is not a product, but a process”. SNOK, together with SecurityBridge, is part of that process, providing clients with the tools and support needed to secure their SAP systems in the face of growing cyber threats.