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Key Takeaways
What you need to know
The SAP Shared Responsibility Model is widely misunderstood — while SAP secures the underlying infrastructure, customers remain fully responsible for application configurations, user access, custom development, and applying SAP Security Notes in their cloud environments.
Cloud migration dramatically expands the SAP attack surface, introducing new risks such as insecure APIs, hybrid environment blind spots, and excessive user privileges that native SAP tools alone are not equipped to fully detect or remediate.
Achieving compliance with GDPR, SOX, HIPAA, and PCI DSS in cloud SAP environments requires continuous monitoring and automated controls — not just one-time configuration — making purpose-built security platforms essential for maintaining audit readiness at scale.
What is SAP?
SAP is a global leader in enterprise application software, with solutions like ERP, CRM, and BI that power business-critical operations. As organizations modernize their environments through offerings like RISE with SAP and SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP), securing these cloud-based systems has become a critical priority.
Understanding SAP Cloud Security
Businesses are increasingly turning to cloud solutions to streamline operations and improve efficiencies. One such solution is SAP Cloud, which offers a range of enterprise applications and services to help businesses grow and scale. However, with the benefits of cloud computing come security concerns, and it is essential for businesses to understand how to optimize their SAP Security to protect their valuable data and assets.
SAP Cloud Security refers to the policies, technologies, and controls designed to protect SAP applications and data hosted in cloud environments. As organizations migrate to cloud-based ERP solutions like SAP S/4HANA Cloud, SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP), and RISE with SAP, ensuring a secure cloud foundation becomes critical to safeguarding business operations.
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Why SAP Cloud Security Matters
SAP systems manage core business functions like finance, HR, supply chain, and more. In cloud environments, these systems are exposed to new risks, including misconfigurations, unauthorized access, and third-party integration vulnerabilities. Cyber attackers actively target SAP applications, and cloud-based systems increase the potential attack surface.
Security incidents involving SAP can lead to data loss, regulatory penalties, and operational disruption. Cloud-specific risks—such as insecure APIs, poor identity governance, and insufficient visibility across hybrid environments—make proactive SAP cloud security essential.
Key Principles of SAP Cloud Security
Effective SAP Cloud Security strategies align with the following principles:
SAP’s cloud products include built-in security features, but these are not comprehensive. Organizations must implement additional controls and continuous monitoring to achieve full protection and compliance. Onapsis helps fill this critical gap by providing visibility into cloud misconfigurations, user activity anomalies, and unpatched vulnerabilities across SAP BTP, RISE with SAP, and S/4HANA Cloud. With threat intelligence and automation from Onapsis Research Labs, enterprises can confidently secure their SAP cloud environments beyond native tools alone.
What is the SAP Shared Responsibility Model?
The SAP Shared Responsibility Model defines which aspects of security are managed by SAP and which are the responsibility of the customer. In cloud and hybrid SAP environments such as SAP BTP, RISE with SAP, and S/4HANA Cloud, SAP is responsible for securing the infrastructure, including physical data centers, network controls, and the hypervisor. Customers, on the other hand, are responsible for securing application configurations, user access, integrations, and any custom development.
This division of responsibilities is often misunderstood, leading to critical security gaps. For example, while SAP may patch the underlying infrastructure, it is the customer’s responsibility to apply SAP Security Notes, manage roles and authorizations, and monitor for application-layer threats.
Onapsis helps organizations operationalize the shared responsibility model by providing continuous visibility, compliance assurance, and real-time threat detection across the parts of SAP environments that customers are responsible for securing.
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