Best Practices for Securing ERP Solutions | Free Antivirus Software

What Does ERP Security Mean?

The purpose of a system for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is to collect all business data and administrative information, which are important for the handling of business processes and management, in a centralized application. ERP security is a package of measures to protect ERP systems from attackers and intruders.

Gathering and storing all critical data and important business information in one place can pose a significant threat to an organization. If the system is compromised by a hacker, he has access to the company's most valuable resources - across different departments. Due to the amount of exposed critical and sensitive data stored in an ERP solution, ERP security is an essential package of measures to ensure the security and continued existence of a company.

ERP security encompasses various aspects, such as the security of the infrastructure, network security, the security of the operating system, and the database. A secure provision of the ERP system is also essential. This includes the secure configuration of servers, activation of the security protocols, security in-system communication, and data security. User and authorization management are no less critical. It is also important to ensure system compliance through continuous monitoring and audits as well as the creation of emergency plans.

Why Do Hackers Attack ERP Systems?

ERP security is often a blind spot in the IT landscape. Companies invest a lot of time and resources in costly ERP systems and their management, but often fail to invest in adequate security solutions.

An attack on an ERP system can have devastating effects on business operations and lead to financial loss and damage to the company's image. Organizations need to protect these systems from internal and external cyber threats to ensure confidentiality, availability, and integrity. However, in many organizations, the security teams are not responsible for monitoring the ERP systems or companies only rely on the tools of the ERP providers. The monitoring and maintenance of the ERP systems represent a challenge in terms of security. As a result, many ERP systems are not patched for years, and companies often lack the necessary security knowledge.

The continuous protection of ERP solutions is a difficult and complex undertaking. It takes discipline to effectively monitor and protect ERP systems. First of all, ERP systems are large and complex applications. For users to be able to perform actions in the application, hundreds of authorization objects may have to be taken into account in the system. Authorizations, system settings, and parameter adjustments enable a very flexible, but at the same time complex system configuration.

Also, ERP systems are also connected to other applications, so that a single security breach can endanger the entire business. The large attack surface in connection with low security measures and a lack of know-how increases the risk of hacker attacks and makes ERP systems - such as the solution from SAP - an attractive target for opponents.

Also, there is a lack of experts in ERP security who have sufficient knowledge to operate the systems in the company securely. Even if many ERP providers offer their own security solutions, these often cannot be integrated into the central security monitoring due to a lack of resources. This creates blind spots for the security team and increases the risk of external and internal cyber threats.

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Best Practices for Securing Your ERP Software

For your ERP to be protected and secure, it is crucial to establish suitable control mechanisms by implementing ERP security solutions and integrating them into the security processes of the entire company.

To stay one step ahead of potential threats, it is important to be fully informed and up to date. Cyber ​​threats are evolving continuously and rapidly. Therefore, your company should involve everyone - from the management level to the users - in the topic of security.

Adequate password hygiene and employee training are crucial given the internal security risk posed by inadequate security knowledge. Security breaches can often be traced back to compromises such as phishing attacks. A company can prevent compromise by a user if employees are trained, a two-step authentication is enforced and software and security updates are implemented regularly and consistently.

Keep everyone informed Keeping everyone involved in the loop is essential to running an informed and well-organized business. Acting consistently and precisely is exactly what keeps intruders away from sensitive data.

Protect yourself from external risks
In addition to internal risks, it is just as important to protect yourself from external attackers. The best way to do this is with an ERP security the solution that can:

• Detection of exploits and fraud
• Ensuring data integrity
• Identification of unauthorized access
• Continuous execution of automated audits
• Detection of data leaks
• Centralization of security monitoring

Security solutions for ERP systems can monitor system settings, patch management, authorization management, or even RFC communication.

The use of an ERP security solution reduces the attack surface of a company and increases company security. The integration of a solution for ERP security monitoring in a central SIEM such as LogPoint offers considerable added value for cybersecurity, IT operations, and compliance. Ideally, these platforms use UEBA (User Entity and Behavior Analytics) to be able to gain insights into user behavior in addition to rule-based monitoring.

Companies should continuously and automatically monitor their ERP security with a SIEM solution. The integration of ERP security in the company's central security processes, for example in a Security Operations Center (SOC), is necessary to be able to recognize threats immediately, react to them immediately and thus guarantee a high level of security.

The Advantages of Combining Your ERP Solution with SIEM

The combination of your ERP solution with SIEM makes it possible to monitor ERP events and ERP information almost in real-time. In addition, ERP operations teams can save time and money if they use ready-to-use control mechanisms, reports, and other tools for automated compliance and maintenance monitoring. By integrating an ERP system such as SAP into a SIEM solution, you can increase cybersecurity, centralize monitoring and perform automated audits - from your local IT infrastructure to your cloud environment.

If you're wondering how to integrate ERP and SIEM systems, the short answer is: very good. LogPoint offers tools for SAP security monitoring that can be individually adapted to the requirements and security guidelines of a company.

LogPoint has developed more than 200 use cases and scenarios that we recommend for basic SAP security. These scenarios encompass all three core areas of an SAP implementation: application, users, and data.