Addressing Cybersecurity by Utilizing a Reactive Approach to SAP Landscapes

⇨ It is crucial for SAP users to establish a system that could help in analyzing cybersecurity risks and fixing vulnerabilities in application configurations.

⇨ The approach of Zero Trust may not be efficient enough for SAP users due to lack of dynamic approach to various access contexts in ERP systems.

⇨ Pathlock's Zero Risk strategy can help eliminate time-consuming obstacles of Zero Trust by providing the necessary flexibility in SAP users' journey towards a comprehensive risk management strategy.

A few years ago, President Biden signed an Executive Order to help improve the USA’s cybersecurity posture and strengthen Federal networks. The order was preceded by several high-profile attacks like SolarWinds and the Colonial Pipeline – both of which highlighted key deficiencies in the federal government’s ability to detect, respond, and ultimately communicate about cybersecurity threats. The issuing of that order gave birth to what became known as Zero Trust – a security concept centered on the belief that organizations should not automatically trust anything inside and outside its perimeters, and instead must apply verifications across all their systems before granting access.

For users who are navigating the complex transformations and migrations in their SAP journeys, it is crucial to establish a system that could help in analyzing access risk, provisioning new users, establishing visibility around control effectiveness, and ensuring an efficient strategy for detecting and fixing vulnerabilities in application configurations. Although Zero Trust is a necessary foundational belief in the modern context of technology, it can be complicated to implement in applications that leverage role-based access controls. Since ERP applications were designed decades before Zero Trust was recommended, their processes are not dynamic enough for various access contexts. An automated and sophisticated approach is required to develop a comprehensive risk management strategy for SAP users.

This is where SAP-endorsed third-party companies that specialise in SAP cybersecurity come in. One of them is Pathlock who have recently launched the Zero Risk approach. A brand-new strategy, Zero Risk is aimed at eliminating time-consuming obstacles of Zero Trust approach that requires a significant amount of time, effort, and cost to implement. With the goal to create a more scalable journey toward aligning to evolving security practices and frameworks like NIST and COSO, Zero Risk utilizes a cross-functional nature that encompasses elements of IT Operations, Cybersecurity, Audit, Risk, and Compliance. Pathlock’s new strategy fills the gap of lack of contextual functions that was inevitable in the Zero Trust initiatives.

Risk mitigation is a natural part of cybersecurity and SAP users should aim to utilize approaches like Zero Risk due to their flexible, cross-functional, and contextually aware features, designed specifically for complex contexts of ERP systems. Application of such approach will not only help to mitigate necessary risks and address vulnerabilities but would also lift the burden off the businesses’ shoulders in their cybersecurity implementation efforts.