How to Secure Your Data in SAP BW/4HANA with Data Encryption

Data encryption is a technique that transforms data into an unreadable form, using a secret key or algorithm, to prevent unauthorized access or tampering. Data encryption can provide an additional layer of data protection and security for SAP BW/4HANA, especially when dealing with sensitive or confidential data.

In this blog post, we will explain what data encryption is, why it is important, and how to implement it in SAP BW/4HANA with examples.

What is Data Encryption?

Data encryption is a process of converting data into a cipher text, which can only be decrypted by using the correct key or algorithm. Data encryption can be applied to different types of data, such as data at rest, data in transit, or data in use.

Data at rest refers to data that is stored on a disk or a device, such as data volumes, log volumes, or backup files. Data in transit refers to data that is transferred over a network or a communication channel, such as SSL/TLS connections or HTTPS requests. Data in use refers to data that is processed or accessed by an application or a user, such as queries, reports, or calculations.

Data encryption can be performed using different methods, such as symmetric encryption or asymmetric encryption. Symmetric encryption uses the same key for both encryption and decryption, while asymmetric encryption uses a pair of keys: a public key for encryption and a private key for decryption.

Why is Data Encryption Important?

Data encryption is important for several reasons:

It helps to comply with data protection laws and regulations, such as GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, etc., that require organizations to protect the privacy and security of personal or sensitive data.
It helps to prevent data breaches and unauthorized access to data, by making the data unreadable and unusable for anyone who does not have the proper key or algorithm.
It helps to preserve the integrity and authenticity of data, by ensuring that the data has not been modified or tampered with during storage or transmission.
It helps to support various business scenarios and use cases, such as cloud migration, disaster recovery, auditing, etc., that require secure and reliable data storage and transfer.

How to Implement Data Encryption in SAP BW/4HANA?

SAP BW/4HANA is a packaged data warehouse solution that delivers real-time analytics in a single, logical view. It offers both cloud and on-premise deployment and integration with both SAP and non-SAP applications. You can easily integrate new types and sources of data, from social and customer behavior to sensor and machine learning insights.

SAP BW/4HANA supports data encryption through its comprehensive encryption capabilities. It uses SAP’s standard cryptographic library (CommonCryptoLib) to perform encryption and decryption operations. It also provides various tools and features to manage encryption settings and keys.

Here are some of the features that enable data encryption in SAP BW/4HANA:

Data Volume Encryption: This feature allows you to encrypt the data area on the disk, i.e., all the data that resides under /hana/data/<SID>. This feature protects the data at rest from unauthorized access or theft. Data volume encryption uses AES-256-CBC algorithm and 256-bit page encryption keys to encrypt and decrypt the data. Data volume encryption is available from SAP HANA 1.0 SP12.
Log Volume Encryption: This feature allows you to encrypt the log area on the disk, i.e., all the logs that are created under /hana/log/SID. This feature protects the log files from unauthorized access or tampering. Log volume encryption uses AES-256-CBC algorithm and 256-bit page encryption keys to encrypt and decrypt the logs. Log volume encryption is available from SAP HANA 2.0 SP00.
Backup Encryption: This feature allows you to encrypt the backup files on the disk or on the cloud, i.e., all the backups that are created for data backup, log backup, delta/differential backup, etc. This feature protects the backup files from unauthorized access or theft. Backup encryption uses AES-256-CBC algorithm and 256-bit page encryption keys to encrypt and decrypt the backups. Backup encryption can be enabled for both backups written to the file system or backups written to the third-party backup tool through backint for SAP HANA interface. Backup encryption is available from SAP HANA 2.0 SP01.
Secure Store in File System (SSFS): This feature allows you to protect the encryption root keys that are used for all data-at-rest encryption services and the internal application encryption service. The root keys are stored in a secure store in the file system (SSFS), which is located under /hana/shared/<SID>/global/hdb/security/ssfs. The SSFS is protected by two keys: an instance SSFS master key and a PKI SSFS key. The instance SSFS master key is used to encrypt and decrypt the root keys, while the PKI SSFS key is used to encrypt and decrypt the system-internal root certificates required for secure internal communication. The SSFS keys are provided with the installation of SAP HANA and can be changed later.
Client-Side Data Encryption: This feature allows you to encrypt the data on the client side, i.e., before sending it to SAP BW/4HANA or after receiving it from SAP BW/4HANA. This feature protects the data in transit from eavesdropping or interception. Client-side data encryption uses AES-256-GCM algorithm and 256-bit session keys to encrypt and decrypt the data. Client-side data encryption can be enabled for various client applications, such as SAP HANA Studio, SAP HANA Database Explorer, SAP HANA Cockpit, etc.

To implement data encryption in SAP BW/4HANA, you need to perform the following steps:

Enable data encryption: You need to enable data encryption for the data volumes, log volumes, and backup files that you want to protect. You can use SAP HANA Studio, SAP HANA Cockpit, or SQL statements to enable data encryption. You can also choose to encrypt existing or new data only, or both.
Manage encryption keys: You need to manage the encryption keys that are used for data encryption and decryption. You can use SAP HANA Studio, SAP HANA Cockpit, or SQL statements to create, change, delete, backup, or restore encryption keys. You can also choose to use internal or external key management systems, such as SAP HANA Secure Key Store or AWS Key Management Service.
Test and validate data encryption: You need to test and validate data encryption to ensure that it is working correctly. You can use SAP HANA Studio, SAP HANA Cockpit, or SQL statements to check and monitor the encryption status and performance. You can also use SAP HANA Database Explorer or other BI tools to access and query the encrypted data.

Examples of Data Encryption in SAP BW/4HANA

Here are some examples of how you can use data encryption in SAP BW/4HANA:

Financial Data Encryption: You can use data encryption to protect the financial data in SAP BW/4HANA, such as revenue, profit, cost, etc. You can enable data volume encryption and log volume encryption for the InfoProviders that store financial data, such as DataStore Objects (advanced), CompositeProviders, Open ODS Views, etc. You can also enable backup encryption for the backup files that contain financial data. You can use SSFS to protect the root keys that are used for data encryption and decryption. You can use client-side data encryption to protect the financial data when transferring it between SAP BW/4HANA and client applications.
Health Data Encryption: You can use data encryption to protect the health data in SAP BW/4HANA, such as patient records, medical reports, diagnosis results, etc. You can enable data volume encryption and log volume encryption for the InfoProviders that store health data, such as DataStore Objects (advanced), CompositeProviders, Open ODS Views, etc. You can also enable backup encryption for the backup files that contain health data. You can use SSFS to protect the root keys that are used for data encryption and decryption. You can use client-side data encryption to protect the health data when transferring it between SAP BW/4HANA and client applications.
Text Data Encryption: You can use data encryption to protect the text data in SAP BW/4HANA, such as documents, emails, web pages, etc. You can enable data volume encryption and log volume encryption for the InfoProviders that store text data, such as DataStore Objects (advanced), CompositeProviders, Open ODS Views, etc. You can also enable backup encryption for the backup files that contain text data. You can use SSFS to protect the root keys that are used for data encryption and decryption. You can use client-side data encryption to protect the text data when transferring it between SAP BW/4HANA and client applications.

Conclusion

Disclaimer: This content is generated by AI.