Safeguarding SAP Landscapes: Unleashing the Power of SAP Enterprise Threat Detection (ETD) – An Introduction

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Post-COVID, the cyber threat landscape has undergone a seismic shift as cybercriminals take advantage of vulnerabilities created by the pandemic. This evolving threat landscape has been highlighted by many organizations in their recent research and data. Here are a few:

• Data breaches and financial losses increased 400% due to phishing attacks in the last year, according to a research.


• Check Point Research found that healthcare has seen a 200% increase in ransomware attacks, disrupting patient care and demanding significant ransom payments.


• In recent years, Symantec has seen a 150% increase in attacks on interconnected systems and vendor networks related to supply chains.


• According to McAfee, there has been a 300% spike in security vulnerabilities within popular video conferencing platforms that expose organizations to unauthorized access and data breaches.


• Approximately $1.5 million is spent by enterprises each year on responding to cyber-attacks, recovering from them, paying legal fees, and restoring reputation.

Cybersecurity threats are ever-increasing in today's hyper-connected digital world. It is no longer possible to defend against sophisticated and advanced attacks using traditional security measures. Businesses need a proactive and robust security solution to protect sensitive data, intellectual property, and customer trust. Enterprise Threat Detection (ETD) from SAP serves as an effective defence mechanism, enabling organizations to detect and address threats in real time. In this article, we'll explore how SAP ETD fortifies digital fortresses against evolving cyber threats.

 

What is SAP ETD?

As the name suggests, SAP ETD stands for SAP Enterprise Threat Detection. By providing real-time threat detection, incident response, and behavioural analytics, it enhances the security of SAP systems and applications. It monitors and protects SAP landscapes against unauthorized access, data breaches, fraud, and other malicious activities.

Here are some key features of SAP ETD:

SAP ETD Key Features

Real-time Threat Detection: ETD provides real-time threat detection by monitoring and analyzing SAP security events in real-time, allowing potential security threats to be detected at the point of attack.

Behavioural Analytics: The solution identifies patterns and anomalies in user behaviour, system access, and transactions using advanced analytics and machine learning algorithms. It helps detect suspicious activities that could indicate security breaches.

Customizable Monitoring Rules: SAP ETD enables organizations to define and customize monitoring rules and patterns specifically for their SAP environment. The criteria for detecting security events and suspicious behaviour are established by these rules.

Automated Incident Response: An automated incident response procedure can be initiated when a potential security threat is detected by SAP ETD. It helps organizations address security incidents quickly and mitigate their impact.

Integration with Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) Systems: SAP ETD can be integrated with SIEM systems, which allows for centralized security event management, correlation of events across the IT infrastructure, and streamlined incident response.

ETD and SIEM Integration

 

Audit and Compliance Reporting: SAP ETD offers comprehensive reporting capabilities, allowing organizations to generate audit trails, compliance reports, and security analytics to demonstrate compliance with regulations.

Organizations can strengthen the security posture of their SAP systems, mitigate risks, and protect critical business data by leveraging SAP ETD. Does SAP ETD need to be implemented when SIEM is used?

Here's how it works. SIEM systems collect and analyze security events across an organization's IT infrastructure. They provide a broader range of security monitoring, including SAP systems along with other applications, networks, and endpoints. An SIEM solution can provide valuable insight into potential security incidents and enable real-time correlation and analysis of security events.

SAP ETD, by contrast, monitors and analyzes security events within SAP systems and applications. It uses specialized analytics and machine learning algorithms to provide comprehensive visibility into SAP-specific threats and vulnerabilities. ETD can detect and respond to SAP specific threats, including unauthorized access attempts, abnormal user behaviour, and potential data breaches.

Using SAP ETD and a SIEM solution together can provide organizations with better security monitoring capabilities. The SIEM system can provide a comprehensive picture of security events across the entire IT environment, while SAP ETD offers specialized detection and response capabilities within SAP environments. In addition to cross-referencing and correlating events, the integration allows for better threat detection and response orchestration.

The decision to implement SAP ETD along with a SIEM system ultimately depends on an organization's security requirements, SAP landscape complexity, and level of risk. An effective cybersecurity risk mitigation strategy can be determined by assessing the risks and evaluating the capabilities of both solutions.

Do ETD and SIEM integrate seamlessly?

As mentioned previously, SAP Enterprise Threat Detection (ETD) can be integrated with Security Information and Event Management (SIEM). Integrating SAP with the wider IT infrastructure allows the monitoring and response of security incidents more comprehensively.

By integrating ETD with a SIEM system, organizations can:

• Integration of ETD with a SIEM system enables security event data from SAP systems to be consolidated with data from other IT infrastructure components. The result is a unified view of security events across the organization that can be correlated and analyzed.


• SIEM systems can be used to enhance the detection of security incidents and potential threats by combining the SAP threat monitoring capabilities of ETD with the broader threat intelligence and analytics capabilities of a SIEM system. By integrating these systems, threat detection becomes more comprehensive and holistic.


• ETD and SIEM systems can be integrated to correlate events across multiple sources of security data. Identifying patterns and anomalies, which may indicate advanced threats or targeted attacks, can provide better insights into the overall security posture.


• Integrating ETD with a SIEM system streamlines incident response by allowing analysts to access and respond to security incidents from a single interface. As a result, SAP-specific security teams and broader security operations teams can collaborate more effectively and efficiently.


• The integration of a SIEM system allows for consolidated reporting and compliance monitoring across the SAP environment and the rest of the IT infrastructure. As a result, audits and regulatory requirements are simplified, and reporting and compliance management are consistent.

How does SOC work? Does SAP ETD work the same way as SAP SOC?

There is no similarity between SAP Enterprise Threat Detection (ETD) and Security Operations Center (SOC).

The SAP Enterprise Threat Detection (ETD) solution focuses on monitoring, detecting, and responding to threats within SAP systems and applications. The solution delivers real-time threat detection, behavioural analytics, and automated incident response capabilities specifically tailored to SAP environments. With ETD, organizations can identify and mitigate SAP-specific risks in their SAP landscape and enhance their SAP security.

SOCs, on the other hand, include teams, infrastructure, and processes dedicated to monitoring, detecting, and responding to security incidents across an organization's entire IT infrastructure. Data collected from multiple sources is typically analyzed by a SOC using tools like SIEM systems, threat intelligence feeds, and advanced analytics. The SOC team investigates and responds to security incidents, performs threat hunting, and ensures overall security.

SAP ETD is a part of a broader SOC strategy, but it is specifically focused on protecting SAP systems and applications. On the other hand, a SOC monitors and responds to threats across an organization's entire IT infrastructure, including SAP systems, as well as other applications, networks, and endpoints.

Some organizations utilize SAP ETD as part of their overall security monitoring and incident response capabilities, integrating SAP-specific threat data from ETD into their broader security operations. The integration ensures a more thorough and coordinated approach to detecting and responding to security incidents.

Although SAP ETD and a SOC have similarities and overlaps, their focus, scope, and security challenges are distinct.

Is it possible to define our own detection patterns in SAP ETD?

 

The SAP environment uses patterns to detect and identify potential security threats and suspicious activities. A pattern is a set of criteria and conditions that define specific events or behaviours. ETD continuously monitors incoming security events and compares them against the defined patterns in order to identify matches and trigger appropriate responses. The following are some examples of SAP ETD patterns:

• Detecting unauthorized access attempts to SAP systems


• Identifying abnormal user behaviour, such as excessive failed logins or abnormal transaction patterns


• Monitoring sensitive configuration settings and access privileges


• Identification of potential fraud activities, such as unusual financial transactions or manipulation of data


• Recognition of patterns of data leakage and unauthorized access to data.

Organizations can enhance their security monitoring capabilities, improve threat detection, and respond effectively to potential security incidents within SAP environments by defining and deploying patterns in SAP ETD. These patterns can be defined to fit in various requirements.

 

In summary:

 

In summary, organizations must prioritize implementing advanced security measures in post-COVID environments in order to navigate an evolving cyber threat landscape. With SAP Enterprise Threat Detection (ETD), real-time threat detection, incident response, and behavioural analytics are all possible within SAP systems and applications. In addition to strengthening their security posture, safeguarding critical data, adhering to regulatory requirements, and maintaining customer trust, organizations can take advantage of ETD's capabilities. To protect digital assets and ensure resilience against evolving cyber risks, it is vital to invest in proactive security solutions like SAP ETD as connectivity and sophisticated cyber threats increase.