Are security concerns keeping you from innovating?

The world around us is changing at an unprecedented rate. As companies embrace technologies such as the Internet of Things, big data, and cloud – technologies that are transforming every aspect of business, from decision making to customer service – security needs to be much more than an afterthought.

Protecting a company’s critical data from unauthorized access and ensuring compliance is a top priority for business leaders. But while the automation of business processes and the increasing digital connectedness of the entire value chain result in greater agility, they also significantly raise cybersecurity risks and threat levels. Many of the “traditional” ways of securing IT and networks are simply no longer relevant to today’s new distributed networks.

A new approach to security

In the digital era, companies need to meet ever-increasing security challenges, keep their systems secure, and stay on top of new compliance and regulatory requirements. A company’s success – and the trust of its customers – depends on it being able to make full use of all the new opportunities available, while at the same time ensuring that neither security nor compliance are compromised in any way.

A survey of over 700 IT security professionals sponsored by SAP and conducted by IDC found that as security risks mount, organizations are shifting from a reactive, threat-oriented view of security towards a more proactive, predictive approach. For us at SAP, information security is paramount. Since 1972, we have been safeguarding businesses against evolving IT threats. Companies can rest assured that their mission-critical data is well-protected from all types of attacks – whether they store it on-premise or in the cloud.

Built-in security with SAP HANA

Let’s look at SAP HANA as an example. The business data platform for the intelligent enterprise, it has security built into its core, allowing companies to take advantage of the latest innovations, while staying in complete control of the security and compliance of their data.

• Secure data and applications: Comprehensive security model to protect a company’s digital assets and address compliance requirements, including granular authorizations to implement segregation of duties for administrators, dedicated data access for business users, as well as a comprehensive logging framework.
• Secure setup: Simplified secure setup and operations to streamline operations and stay on top of costs through default multi-tenancy mode or SAP HANA Cockpit. As integration is key in today’s complex security landscape, SAP HANA also offers seamless integration with business applications to ensure consistent end-to-end security, is extensible, and can be easily integrated into security landscapes via standard interfaces such as Kerberos or LDAP.
• Secure software: Resilient against attacks to ensure that your business is not exposed to hacking attempts and the reputation of your company is protected. As is the case with all products at SAP, SAP HANA is developed following SAP’s secure software development process, which includes the application of different security methods throughout the development process such as like security-training, threat modeling, and security testing.

However, for security to become a true business enabler in today’s data-centric world, extended capabilities in fields such as encryption as well as new approaches such as intelligent threat detection and data anonymization also play a vital role. SAP HANA already provides comprehensive encryption capabilities and is integrated with SAP Enterprise Threat Detection to help identify cyber-attacks as they are happening and analyze any threats quickly enough to neutralize them before serious damage occurs. SAP Enterprise Threat Detection is based on SAP HANA and is an example of how SAP HANA’s capabilities can be leveraged for threat analysis.

Data anonymization – be innovative, stay compliant

Data anonymization, which complements other security mechanisms such as masking, authorization, and encryption, can be a true game changer when it comes to removing roadblocks for innovation. Fully aligned with “Innovate with Confidence”, our mission statement for SAP HANA security, data anonymization helps enable previously impossible business scenarios or usage of (big) data without violating compliance regulations. It opens up a variety of new data-centric use cases, allowing companies to gain valuable insights from data sets containing personal or confidential data without violating the privacy of individuals. To get hands-on experience with the data anonymization services, sign up now for the free trial web service! For more details on SAP HANA security, check out our white paper to get a comprehensive overview of security across the software lifecycle, from secure development to security patches.

Data is at the core of today’s digitized economy, constantly increasing not only in volume, but also in value and in terms of its importance to organizations in every industry. When it comes to digitally transforming a company’s business, security must be part of that conversation from the start – and SAP HANA provides companies with the security features and tools to help them keep their systems safe and compliant, while at the same time enabling new innovative business models. As one of the top providers of business-critical applications, SAP will continue to build security into the heart of its applications – enabling our customers to define, plan, and execute measures for their secure digital transformation.