SAP Antivirus Best Practices Include Protection at the Application Layer
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Key Takeaways
⇨ Organizations migrating to SAP S/4HANA must focus on enhancing security measures beyond the baseline protections offered by the platform, as unique challenges and attack vectors can be exploited by malicious actors.
⇨ Adopting a multi-layered security approach, including the implementation of virus scanning solutions specifically designed for application layer threats, is essential to effectively protect SAP environments from potential breaches.
⇨ Businesses should prioritize security during their migration to SAP S/4HANA, ensuring that investments are made to create a robust cybersecurity posture to protect valuable data, rather than solely focusing on the innovations provided by the new system.
As SAP organizations begin to make the move to SAP S/4HANA, they must focus on the task of securing and protecting this new environment. As with any new platform, SAP S/4HANA has unique challenges and attack vectors that malicious outside actors may try to exploit. This also comes in the form of viruses or malware.
In order to properly defend SAP environments, companies should move beyond just the baseline level of protection provided by SAP S/4HANA itself. Leading SAP organizations are taking proactive measures to bolster their SAP landscapes, defending against the various threats and challenges that can arise after deploying a new ERP.
Protecting Investment in SAP S/4HANA
One of the methods that malicious actors use to attack SAP S/4HANA is through malicious application layer data. Many organizations are under the impression that an anti-malware solution installed at the operating system level is sufficient to protect the entire application stack, yet viruses contained in file transfers at the application level can bypass these tools undetected.
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SAP recommends that companies bolster their overall compliance and security posture with the use of virus scanning. Even dating back to the original publication of SAP’s Security Guide for S/4HANA in 2016, SAP recommended utilizing a Virus Scan Interface (VSI). (see https://help.sap.com/doc/d7c2c95f2ed2402c9efa2f58f7c233ec/2023/en-US/SEC_OP2023.pdf)
This is why many SAP customers have utilized tools like bowbridge’s Anti-Virus for SAP Solutions, which is a VSI 2.x-compliant virus scanner that is specifically designed to protect against threats at the application layer within SAP systems. Attackers may try to utilize encrypted connections used to upload files, embed malicious content in seemingly benign files, and exploit gaps in vulnerability shielding software to breach SAP systems. The solutions that bowbridge offers are uniquely capable of detecting these threats that other approaches may miss.
SAP security experts agree that adopting a multi-layered approach provides a more holistic and comprehensive security posture against any potential malicious actors and is better suited to defend against the wide variety of threats that an SAP system may face.
What This Means for SAPinsiders
Follow expert advice. SAP has a vested interest in ensuring that the migration to SAP S/4HANA is a success across the board. Companies making this move would be wise to heed the official recommendations and best practices to adopt virus-scanning solutions like those from bowbridge, ensuring that the vital data contained within SAP S/4HANA is secured.
Tiers of protection. Organizations should avoid relying on only one solution or counting on the minimum included protections for an SAP landscape. Therefore, the most effective SAP cybersecurity postures include not only security at the application layer, but also additional fortifications that ensure that viruses cannot enter the SAP landscape at the application layer to wreak havoc.
Maximize investment in SAP S/4HANA. As companies make the move to SAP S/4HANA, there will always be many different areas that demand attention and investment. With such a large time and financial cost, organizations cannot afford to ignore security concerns that come with their new deployment. All of the potential improvements and innovations that SAP S/4HANA enables should not blind users to the need to fully secure the entire SAP environment to safeguard the valuable data stored within.
