How to Identify and Prevent SAP Security Threats

In today’s digital-first landscape, protecting your business from cyberattacks isn’t optional—it’s essential. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms, such as SAP, are often central to a company’s operations, encompassing everything from customer data and HR records to supply chain and financial information. Unfortunately, their high value makes them prime targets for cybercriminals. As SAP adoption continues to rise, so do the risks associated with SAP security threats.

Whether it’s unpatched vulnerabilities, misconfigured environments, or sophisticated ransomware attacks, the threat landscape is evolving. Knowing how to identify and prevent SAP security threats is crucial for safeguarding your organization’s most valuable assets.

The Rising Stakes of SAP Security Threats

Today, over 90% of Fortune 500 companies use SAP solutions. These systems manage vast amounts of sensitive and operationally critical data, making them an attractive target for cyberattacks. SAP systems have increasingly become the focus of targeted attacks. A report by Onapsis revealed that exploited SAP vulnerabilities are now being weaponized within 72 hours of public disclosure—a significant jump from the average two-week window just a few years ago.

This rapid exploitation rate means organizations must move faster than ever to protect their SAP landscapes. Whether you're running SAP ECC or transitioning to S/4HANA, it’s crucial to understand the most common vulnerabilities and how to defend against them.

Common SAP Security Threats Every Organization Must Know

1. Outdated or Unpatched SAP Systems

Failing to apply SAP security patches remains one of the most common—and preventable—causes of breaches. Cybercriminals actively monitor patch releases and scan the internet for unpatched systems, giving them a wide attack surface.

Each month, SAP releases critical security patches on what’s known as “SAP Security Patch Day.” Organizations that ignore or delay these updates leave their systems open to exploitation.

What to do: Implement a strict patch management policy. SAP-focused managed security providers offer automated patch monitoring and deployment to ensure vulnerabilities are addressed immediately.

2. Misconfigurations and Overprivileged Users

Even if your SAP system is fully patched, incorrect configuration settings can expose it to risk. Common issues include open remote function calls (RFCs), unused ports, or excessive permissions granted to users and service accounts.

Around 80% of security breaches involve privileged credentials. In SAP, this often means users with unnecessary admin rights or broad access to sensitive modules.

What to do: Follow the principle of least privilege and implement role-based access control (RBAC). Consider using tools to regularly audit and validate authorization objects, as well as segment duties, to prevent potential conflicts or internal fraud.

3. Vulnerabilities in Custom SAP Code

Custom ABAP code allows companies to tailor SAP to their specific business needs, but it also introduces additional risks. Unlike SAP’s native code, custom developments often lack robust testing and security review processes.

Hackers exploit these vulnerabilities using injection attacks, buffer overflows, and insecure data handling practices to access critical data or execute commands within the system.

What to do: Conduct regular code scans using static analysis tools like SAP Code Vulnerability Analyzer or third-party solutions. Approyo also provides in-depth security testing and vulnerability assessments tailored to your custom SAP codebase.

4. Ransomware Targeting SAP Data

Ransomware is a growing threat across all industries, and SAP systems are not immune. Attackers may use phishing or malicious attachments to gain access to a user's device and, from there, pivot into the SAP environment. Some advanced ransomware variants can even target SAP HANA databases directly.

These attacks can paralyze business operations, encrypt mission-critical data, and lead to multimillion-dollar ransom demands. Worse, even paying the ransom doesn’t guarantee your data will be restored—or that it hasn’t been sold.

What to do: Back up SAP environments frequently and use immutable storage when possible. Combine this with endpoint detection, email filtering, and employee awareness training to prevent the initial infection.

5. Supply Chain Attacks and Third-Party Integrations

SAP systems often rely on integrations with third-party apps, vendors, or managed services. While these integrations improve business efficiency, they can also introduce external attack vectors.

In a recent example, attackers exploited compromised third-party connectors to insert malware into core ERP workflows, resulting in unauthorized data access and operational disruptions.

What to do: Vet all third-party vendors rigorously and continuously monitor the behavior of integrated applications to ensure optimal performance. Utilize firewalls and secure API gateways to limit exposure and restrict access by IP address where feasible.

Why SAP Systems Are Prime Targets

SAP applications are a goldmine for cybercriminals. These platforms manage nearly every core business process, including finance, HR, logistics, and inventory. That makes them a one-stop shop for sensitive data, intellectual property, and operational control.

By gaining access to an SAP system, a hacker could:

• Exfiltrate customer records, credit card numbers, or trade secrets.
• Disrupt production lines by altering system parameters.
• Manipulate financial data to commit fraud or destroy company credibility.
• Hold systems hostage through ransomware.

Given these high stakes, securing your SAP environment isn’t just an IT responsibility—it’s a business imperative.

Best Practices for Preventing SAP Security Threats

Implement Proactive Monitoring and Incident Response

Real-time monitoring is crucial to detecting unusual activity before it turns into a full-scale breach. SAP systems generate a massive amount of log data, so having a solution that can filter through this information and identify anomalies is essential.

Services like Overwatch by Approyo provide continuous monitoring, alerting, and threat remediation to protect against both internal and external threats.

Encrypt Data In Transit and At Rest

Use industry-standard encryption protocols to protect sensitive SAP data. This includes encrypting communications between SAP components (e.g., HTTPS, SNC) and encrypting storage volumes for databases and backups.

Data encryption also helps organizations meet compliance requirements for GDPR, HIPAA, and other regulations.

Adopt a Zero Trust Architecture

With hybrid cloud environments becoming the norm, adopting a Zero Trust model—where no user or device is automatically trusted—is a powerful way to secure SAP environments. Combine multi-factor authentication (MFA), device posture checks, and strict access policies to reduce your exposure.

Regularly Audit Roles and Permissions

Conduct periodic reviews of user access, especially for users with administrative or elevated privileges. Ensure that user roles align with current job responsibilities and remove any dormant accounts promptly.

SAP’s Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) module can help enforce policies related to the segregation of duties and detect any violations.

Keep SAP Security at the Forefront with Expert Support

The complexity of SAP systems makes cybersecurity a challenging—but not impossible—task. By understanding the most common SAP security threats and applying layered defenses, your organization can significantly reduce the risk of breaches, downtime, and financial loss.

Whether you're managing a single SAP instance or an entire multi-cloud landscape, working with an experienced partner like Approyo ensures your defenses stay sharp and up to date. From patch management to advanced monitoring, Approyo’s SAP-certified experts bring peace of mind through end-to-end security solutions.

Don't wait for a breach to take SAP security seriously. Contact Approyo today to discover how our managed services can safeguard your mission-critical systems.