Why ERP Security is a Priority

 

ERP Applications Keep Organizations Running

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, like SAP and Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS), are the operational engine of many organizations—running business applications and holding the sensitive data needed for businesses to function.

Payroll

Payroll

Treasury

Treasury

Inventory

Inventory
Management

Manufacturing Operations

Manufacturing
Operations

Sales

Sales

Logistics

Logistics

Billing

Billing

PII & PHI

PII & PHI

ERP Security is Often Forgotten

ERP systems often fall into a cybersecurity blindspot, left unprotected against internal misuse and external attacks. The results can be devastating for businesses without the right partner.

In the last two years,
64% of ERP systems 
were breached.

In the last five years,
US-CERT published
six SAP vulnerability alerts.

70% of organizations
say their application portfolios
have become more vulnerable.

Why is ERP Security Important?

Most traditional cybersecurity vendors don’t provide visibility into the application layer of complex ERP implementations.

 

Securing ERP applications requires visibility that many organizations lack because ERP implementations are highly custom to the business, with:

  • Dozens of modules
  • Hundreds of interfaces
  • Thousands of custom code modifications


Standard security offerings from SAP and Oracle can’t scale well with that amount of complexity. 

Security Concerns & Risk Factors for ERP Applications

Increasing ERP System Attacks 

Cyber attacks targeting ERP systems are on the rise, and successful attacks have the potential to disrupt the delivery of goods and services as well as put sensitive company and customer data at risk.

Cloud Migration and Modernization 

Modernization of systems, particularly cloud migrations, are critical in order to improve access to systems that contain customer and partner data. Harnessing the cloud to streamline processes and reduce costs is key for organizations to be able to operate more efficiently.

Critical Infrastructure Regulations 

Many industries, like energy and oil and gas, are categorized as critical infrastructure and therefore are subject to strict government regulations. New clean energy legislation means even more attention must be paid to compliance audits. Failing to comply with audit regulations can result in significant financial impacts to the organization as well as reputational damage.

Strict Audit Requirements

Pharmaceutical companies, for example, are subject to strict compliance regulations by government offices for drug development as well as for the protection of patient and customer data. Failure to comply with laws and regulations can result in significant financial impacts to the organization including fines, revenue loss, and reputation damage.

Digitization and Interconnectivity 

The focus on streamlining operations and creating more efficient processes is transforming supply chains into more localized, digitized, and interconnected systems. This makes companies more agile and able to respond to supply and demand changes. However, this deeper interconnection greatly increases potential unmonitored risks.

New Models and Processes Needed to Support Sustainability

Heavy manufacturing in particular, faces both regulatory and consumer pressure, therefore manufacturers are adopting new service-based models, industry 4.0 technologies, circular supply chains, and green manufacturing processes to reduce emissions and create greener products.

Expanded E-Commerce and Digital Sales

As more retail & personal care manufacturers go direct-to-consumer or enhance their e-commerce experiences to address evolving market demand, protecting consumer PII must be top of mind. Failure to do so could result in significant financial loss due to reputation damage or compliance violation (e.g., GDPR, CCPA).

How to Make ERP Security a Priority

Security of your business-critical applications cannot be left to someone else or pushed onto your standard cybersecurity tools. Onapsis Research Labs helps organizations find and fix vulnerabilities in their ERP systems. Here are six recommended steps toward securing yours.

Power your ERP Security with Threat Intelligence

To truly secure your ERP systems, you need an offensive security team fueling you with threat intelligence. Onapsis Research Labs is the world’s leading ERP security team dedicated to finding zero-day vulnerabilities in ERP applications. Decades of threat research experience helps deliver impactful security insights and threat intelligence focused on applications from SAP, Oracle, and SaaS providers. 

Onapsis Research Labs is, far and away, the most prolific and most celebrated contributor of vulnerability research by the SAP Product Security Response Team. No other research team comes close.

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