As one of the most widely used enterprise software, SAP applications encompass critical aspects of business operations, ranging from CRM and ERP to financial transactions and supply chain management. The sensitive data contained within the SAP applications are under increasingly rampant threats of data loss. Externally, researchers discovered a 400% increase in ransomware incidents that involved compromising the SAP systems and data in recent years. Internally, dispersed workforce and extended collaboration landscape increased the risks of accidental data leakage.

The imperative to guard against external and internal threats calls for a fine-grained and flexible solution that protects SAP data regardless of where it resides throughout its lifecycle. This is a scenario where a data protection solution can help. Data loss protection is a combination of methods and technologies that categorize, identify, and safeguard sensitive data against unauthorized access, modification, sharing, and use. This article discusses the mechanism and consequences of data leakage in SAP applications, and how a data loss protection solution can help prevent these disastrous results.

How can data loss happen?  

The term data loss is often related to “data breach” and “data leak” but are not strictly interchangeable. The three terms describe unwanted exposure of sensitive data, but they incorporate different types of incidents and characteristics.  

Let’s examine the definitions of these three terms: 

  • A data breach, as defined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), is the unauthorized access or use of sensitive data. It usually involves intentional cyberattacks conducted by external or internal parties exploiting security vulnerabilities.  
  • A data leak refers to the unauthorized disclosure of information, usually due to the unintentional exposure of sensitive data in transit or at rest. It is largely due to internal causes like personal negligence but can also result from phishing by cybercriminals following a previous breach. Due to its accidental nature, it may take an organization some time to identify the leak and act accordingly.  
  • A data loss refers to an incident where data is destroyed, deleted, corrupted, or made unreadable by users and software applications. It is often unintentional and caused by internal reasons, affecting data availability and integrity.  

A data loss protection solution speaks to all three categories, which cause unwanted exposure of sensitive data to unauthorized parties.  

In SAP systems, the risks of data loss are inherent in the daily workflow of an organization. Unauthorized access and modification of databases, whether intentional or not, can easily lead to data loss. In the context of global partnerships, supply chains, and a diversified workforce, it is challenging to restrict data flow within a fixed perimeter. It is common to download and share relevant documents with external users – whether as attachments, document info records, or AO reports – potentially disclosing sensitive information inadvertently.  

Consequences of data leaks in SAP

SAP applications entail various types of sensitive data, including intellectual property, trade secrets, financial data, sales forecasts, customer lists, and pricing information. Therefore, data loss within SAP systems can result in severe financial and legal costs for organizations. For example, mishandling an AO report might expose the company’s trade secrets to unauthorized parties, causing great financial loss, a trust crisis among customers, and potential legal consequences.

Another major concern regarding SAP data leakage is regulatory noncompliance. Companies use the SAP system to process large amounts of Personal Identifiable Information (PII), such as names, Social Security numbers, and addresses. If PII is leaked, companies risk violating regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Whether it involves customer lists, user records, or supply chain collaborators, a PII leak to unauthorized parties can result in enormous costs to restore the data, recover financial losses, and regain reputation.

Preventing Data Loss in SAP

To prevent financial losses and regulatory noncompliance from the unwanted exposure of sensitive data, it is crucial to implement a solution that safeguards data without compromising work efficiency. In today’s connected world, securing data solely within the perimeter of the SAP systems is insufficient. Global partnerships, a dispersed workforce, and the use of mobile devices require frequent file transfers outside the SAP repository. Therefore, a modern cybersecurity strategy should encompass security measures to safeguard data within the repository, protect data in transit, and ensure sensitive information is not wrongfully disclosed and transferred inside and outside the corporate network.

In addressing the data loss challenges associated with ERP systems, it is crucial to establish comprehensive security requirements that safeguard data at every level. These requirements form the backbone of a robust ERP data security strategy:

  • Secure Data at All Access Points: The first line of defense in protecting data in an ERP system is to secure data at the source, at rest, in use, and on the move. Encrypting data at rest and in transit prevents unauthorized access and ensures that even if data is intercepted, it remains unreadable. Additionally, securing data at its source involves implementing strict controls over data entry points to prevent malicious injections or unauthorized access.
  • Secure the Application Itself: This involves regularly updating and patching the software to address vulnerabilities, using strong authentication methods to control access, and conducting regular security audits and assessments to identify and mitigate potential risks.
  • Implement Strong Security Measures for Data Sharing: When sharing data, whether internally or with external partners, prevent unauthorized extraction with encrypted channels for data transmission, strict access controls and authentication processes for data retrieval, and data loss prevention tools to monitor and control data transfer.
  • Encrypt Data during Transmission and ETL: When aggregating data from multiples sources into a data lake or enterprise data warehouse, particularly during ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes, special attention must be paid to data encryption to prevent unauthorized exposure. Implementing logical data segregation, which involves classifying and controlling access to data based on sensitivity, user roles, or functional requirements, is key to enhancing security and privacy within these processes.

Key technologies for preventing data loss include:    

  • Data classification: Data classification is the process of identifying sensitive data, categorizing it, and assigning the appropriate level of security based on the level of sensitivity.
  • Fine-grained access control: Attribute-based access control (ABAC) ensures that users can only access data they are authorized to and have only the necessary permissions to perform their specific task.
  • Data segregation: Logical data segregation is the practice of logically separating data based on specific criteria, such as sensitivity, access requirements, or functional requirements. It involves implementing measures to control access, visibility, and security of data based on its classification, user roles, or other relevant factors.
  • Data masking: Upon user’s access, dynamic data masking can mask the data following pre-designed policies and delivers only authorized levels of data to the user. The unauthorized portion will be masked without being altered.
  • Digital rights protection: Digital rights protection involves applying data protection measures to critical files that organizations share internally and with extended enterprise. This process includes classifying files, encrypting them, and applying policies to determine access rights. These measures ensure that sensitive information is secured with the proper level of security throughout its lifecycle, both within the organization and across the extended enterprise.

Preventing Data Loss in SAP with NextLabs

By enabling organizations to implement Zero-Trust principles, NextLabs Zero Trust Data-Centric Security for SAP prevents data loss in SAP by preventing unauthorized access and distribution of sensitive data.

  • CloudAz is NextLabs’ unified policy management platform that enables centralized policy enforcement with NextLabs Dynamic Authorization Policy Engine
  • SkyDRM is NextLabs’ enterprise digital rights management (E-DRM) product that provides persistent protection of critical files and documents at rest, when they are shared and, on the move,
  • DLP for SAP secures data within SAP applications, leveraging SAP’s classifications and user context to enforce policies at the application layer restricting access to data and preventing unauthorized download and distribution of data.
  • Data Access Enforcer (DAE) enforces policies at the data access layer, applying data segregation and obfuscation to prevent unauthorized access to data.

NextLabs solutions for preventing data loss in SAP can be applied to both SAP ECC and S/4 HANA systems to protect data and prevent unauthorized extraction of data and different types of files, including Office, CAD, source code and rich media.

For more information, please read our whitepaper, recently published in collaboration with Deloitte, titled “Prevent Data Loss Across the ERP Landscape.”