Database export / import
SM51 Application server instances
Why should we even have an individual SAP Security Check performed? Your SAP authorisation concept is designed to ensure the security and protection of data against unauthorised access and abuse. The technical complexity of SAP systems and the ongoing adaptations of business processes often lead to unknown security vulnerabilities. In addition, the increasing digital networking with business partners offers further attack points on your SAP system. SAP Security Check gives you an overview of the security situation of your SAP systems. This will identify potential risks that could jeopardise the safe operation of your IT landscape. Your starting situation The ongoing changes in your IT systems lead to unrecognised security vulnerabilities and your auditors will regularly report to you in the final report on abuses in the authorisation concept. The legal requirements (e.g. EU guidelines) to secure your business processes and IT systems have not yet been implemented and the increasing networking with business partners presents new challenges to your security system. The security-related system settings and permissions settings applied to your SAPS systems are poorly documented, which in many cases causes the system settings to allow extensive critical access unchecked. Critical SAP permissions, profiles, and roles identify permissions that allow critical operations to be performed in terms of security or from a legal or business perspective are called "critical permissions" by SAP. The granting of critical allowances must therefore generally be carried out with particular care and should therefore be planned in advance. Technical and organisational measures and processes must then ensure that the desired level of safety is implemented.
Remove weak password hashes from the system: Only updating the profile parameter does not provide you with the necessary security. There are still many weak hash values in your database that can be used to attack your system. These must be completely removed from the database. To do this, use the report CLEANUP_PASSWORD_HASH_VALUES. To do this, call the transaction SA38 and enter the name of the report in the input field. Run or F8 executes the programme and cleans your database Report CLEANUP_PASSWORD_HASH_VALUES This programme removes the outdated hash values across all clients. Have you already experienced this attack method or any other comments on this topic? Share your experiences with us in the form of a comment under this article.
EXPERT TEAM LEAD (ETL)
Regular maintenance tasks or the standard procedures must be described and defined to build checklists based on them and to control compliance with this standard. The SAPSolution-Manager can also support this as a tool of SAP e.g. through the Guided Procedures. In this context, it is also necessary to document the functionality of an underlying application and thereby determine what testing and monitoring activities are necessary. This is a reconciliation process between the SAP basis, other IT departments and, if necessary, the business areas concerned. The defined standard and the system's IST situation must be fully documented and regularly checked for compliance. This can be done through automated monitoring, validation using tools such as SAP-LVM (Landscape Virtualisation Management) or SAP Solution Manager, as well as manual checklists. Only the regular review of the standards guarantees their compliance. It can also support the regular use of SAP services such as Go-live Checks or Early Watch. Examples of how to standardise procedures are listed here: ・ Naming of system instances and logical hosts, or at least one central registry in a directory service, or LVM or SAP customer portal ・ Centrally starting and stopping systems, such as via the LVM ・ Categorising SAP instances by T-shirt size to define profile standards and cost them.
To facilitate communication within IT departments, it is necessary to identify clear communication channels and contact persons and also to use uniform tools for communication. It would also be possible to designate contact points (contact points) for upstream and downstream IT departments and external service providers and suppliers.
For administrators, a useful product - "Shortcut for SAP Systems" - is available in the SAP basis area.
The role serves as the interface and contact of the SAP basis to other specialist areas such as memory management or operating systems.
Public cloud environments such as Azure and AWS provide a layer of abstraction that eliminates the difficult task of maintaining the hardware that was required with SAP on-premises.