SAP penetration testing

Why SAP systems are becoming strategic targets – and how companies can build resilience

abat Whitepapers: SAP Penetration Test – Why SAP systems are becoming strategic targetics.

SAP systems, as the digital backbone of core enterprise processes, represent a particularly attractive yet frequently underestimated target. 

This white paper written by Tobias Stage examines the growing role of SAP landscapes as strategic attack surfaces and explains why they often remain insufficiently protected despite significant investments in traditional IT security. It explores real-world attack scenarios and common weaknesses, including unpatched systems, insecure interfaces, excessive privileges, custom code vulnerabilities, and insider risks. The paper also clarifies why conventional penetration tests typically fail to detect these threats and what differentiates SAP-specific security assessments. 

Finally, it outlines the strategic value of specialized SAP penetration testing for boards, CIOs, and CISOs – especially in the context of enterprise risk management, regulatory frameworks such as NIS2 or KRITIS, and the long-term strengthening of operational resilience.

FAQ

1. Why are traditional penetration tests insufficient for SAP landscapes?

Standard penetration tests usually focus on the network and web levels, but do not cover the complex SAP-specific protocols and authorization logic. A specialized SAP penetration test, on the other hand, thoroughly examines the application layer, such as RFC interfaces and customer-specific ABAP code, where the actual business risks lie.

2. What makes SAP systems such an attractive target for cybercriminals?

SAP systems form the digital backbone of a company and process highly sensitive data from finance, production, and human resources. Since they are often deeply networked, historically grown, and highly customized, a successful compromise gives attackers the opportunity to paralyze entire business operations or steal strategic information.

3. What role does the organizational separation of IT security and SAP teams play?

SAP teams often focus primarily on availability and performance, while IT security secures the general infrastructure, leaving SAP security in a gap. This separation means that SAP-specific risks are often only considered at the technical level or even ignored and not treated as an integral part of risk management.

4. How does an SAP pentest support compliance with regulatory requirements such as NIS2?

Modern guidelines require companies to implement technical, operational, and organizational measures for their critical processes. A specialized SAP pentest provides precisely this auditable evidence by documenting real attack scenarios and creating a fact-based foundation for necessary security investments.

5. What is the biggest risk associated with inadequately secured SAP interfaces?

Interfaces such as RFC connections are often blindly classified as trustworthy, which enables attackers to perform so-called “lateral movements.” If a less protected test or development system is compromised, attackers can use these trust relationships to work their way into the productive core systems.

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