5 Concrete Ways to Make Your SAP System More Secure Today
SAP systems are the backbone of your business. But their complexity can also make them vulnerable—especially if security isn’t a continuous, proactive effort. Here are five practical, high-impact steps you can take today to harden your SAP environment and reduce your risk exposure.
Andy
5/24/20251 min read
1. Review and Harden Your Role Design
The #1 mistake we see in compromised systems? Over-privileged users.
Run a review of your roles and authorizations. Look for:
Users with broad administrative rights
Roles that include unnecessary critical permissions
Conflicting authorizations (SoD violations)
Tip: Don’t just remove access—rebuild roles with least privilege in mind.
2. Patch and Update Frequently
SAP systems are often behind in patching—not because IT is lazy, but because teams fear downtime. But attackers actively look for known vulnerabilities in unpatched components.
Apply SAP Security Notes regularly
Prioritize vulnerabilities marked as “HotNews”
Patch NetWeaver, Gateway, and Web Dispatcher with urgency
3. Disable and Monitor Unused Interfaces
Inactive RFC destinations, forgotten BAPIs, and old IDocs are often left wide open. If you’re not using them, disable them. If you are, monitor their activity continuously.
Every open port or enabled protocol is a potential target.
4. Test Like an Attacker
Don’t assume you’re secure—prove it.
Penetration testing and security assessments that simulate real-world threats inside your SAP system help expose:
Hidden misconfigurations
Backdoors left by legacy implementations
Paths for lateral movement between systems
This is where our team at SAP Guardians brings value. We test your system like attackers would—and then show you how to close the gaps.
5. Unify Security Monitoring and Incident Response
Many organizations still treat SAP as an isolated system outside of their broader SOC. That’s a mistake.
Integrate SAP logs into your SIEM
Set up alerting for critical activities (e.g., SU01, SE38 usage)
Ensure someone is trained to read SAP logs meaningfully
SAP Security Is Ongoing—But It Starts with a Choice
Every step you take to reduce your attack surface buys you time, trust, and resilience.
But you don’t have to do it alone.
At SAP Guardians – MALAM Strategy, we support teams through:
Offensive testing
Compliance guidance
Operational hardening
Third-party risk management