How to Verify Data Masking in SAP BW/4HANA

How to Verify Data Masking in SAP BW/4HANA

How to Verify Data Masking in SAP BW/4HANA

Data masking is a technique that transforms sensitive or confidential data in such a way that it is only visible partially or rendered completely meaningless for unauthorized users, while still appearing real and consistent. Data masking can provide an additional layer of access control and data protection for SAP BW/4HANA, especially when dealing with strict data protection regulations or highly sensitive data.

In this blog post, we will explain how to verify data masking in SAP BW/4HANA with examples.

What is Data Masking?

Data masking is a process of replacing original data values with fictitious or modified ones, without changing the data type or format. For example, a social security number can be masked as ###-##-####, a name can be masked as John Doe, or a date can be masked as 01/01/1900.

Data masking can be applied to different types of data, such as personal data, financial data, health data, or business data. Data masking can also be applied to different levels of granularity, such as columns, rows, tables, views, or applications.

Data masking can be performed statically or dynamically. Static data masking is done before the data is loaded into the target system, such as during data migration or testing. Dynamic data masking is done on the fly, when the data is accessed by users or applications, such as during reporting or analysis.

Why is Data Masking Important?

Data masking 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 sensitive data, by reducing the exposure and risk of data leakage or theft.
  • It helps to preserve the functionality and integrity of the data and the system, by maintaining the data type, format, and consistency.
  • It helps to support various business scenarios and use cases, such as testing, development, training, analytics, reporting, etc., that require access to realistic but non-sensitive data.

How to Verify Data Masking in SAP BW/4HANA?

SAP BW/4HANA is a next-generation data warehouse solution that provides high-performance and scalable analytics capabilities on SAP HANA. SAP BW/4HANA supports various types of data sources and models, such as Advanced DataStore Objects (aDSOs), CompositeProviders (CPs), Open ODS Views (ODVs), Calculation Views (CVs), etc.

SAP BW/4HANA does not offer a native solution for data masking yet, but there are some possible ways to implement it using existing features or custom solutions. Here are some examples:

  • Use SAP HANA Data Masking: SAP HANA Data Masking is a feature that allows you to define column masks for tables and views in SAP HANA. A column mask protects sensitive data by transforming it according to a masking pattern configured (such as asterisks (*) or empty values). Only users who have the UNMASKED object privilege for the table or view can see the original data. You can use SAP HANA Data Masking for rowstore and columnstore tables, as well as SQL and calculation views in SAP HANA. You can also use it for tables and views that are used as sources or targets for SAP BW/4HANA objects.
  • Use UI Data Protection Masking for SAP S/4HANA: UI Data Protection Masking for SAP S/4HANA is a solution that allows you to protect sensitive data at field level by masking, clearing, hiding or disabling fields for unauthorized users. It supports various UI channels and technologies, such as SAP GUI, WebClient UI, Web Dynpro ABAP, SAPUI5 and SAP Fiori applications. You can use UI Data Protection Masking for SAP S/4HANA for applications that access SAP BW/4HANA objects directly or indirectly via OData services or CDS views.
  • Use Custom ABAP Coding: You can also use custom ABAP coding to implement your own logic for data masking in SAP BW/4HANA. For example, you can use ABAP transformations to apply masking rules to source fields before loading them into target objects. You can also use ABAP classes and methods to apply masking rules to fields during runtime when accessing them via queries or APIs. You can use authorization checks or user attributes to determine which users are allowed to see the original or masked data.

To verify if your data masking works correctly in SAP BW/4HANA,

you can follow these steps:

  • Identify the sensitive data that you want to mask in SAP BW/4HANA, such as personal data, financial data, health data, or business data. You can use tools such as SAP Information Steward or SAP Data Services to discover and classify sensitive data in your system.
  • Choose the data masking technique that suits your needs, such as SAP HANA Data Masking, UI Data Protection Masking for SAP S/4HANA, or custom ABAP coding. You can also combine different techniques for different scenarios or use cases.
  • Configure the data masking settings and rules according to your requirements, such as masking patterns, masking actions, masking conditions, user roles, user attributes, etc. You can use tools such as SAP HANA Studio, SAP HANA Cockpit, SAP Fiori Launchpad, or ABAP Development Tools to configure the data masking settings and rules.
  • Test and validate the data masking results to ensure that it is working correctly. Verify that sensitive data is being masked as expected and that authorized users can access the data without issues. You can use tools such as SAP HANA Database Explorer, SAP GUI, WebClient UI, Web Dynpro ABAP, SAPUI5 and SAP Fiori applications to test and validate the data masking results.

Conclusion

Data masking is a useful technique to protect sensitive data in SAP BW/4HANA. It can help you to comply with data protection regulations, prevent data breaches, preserve data functionality and integrity, and support various business scenarios and use cases. You can verify data masking in SAP BW/4HANA by following the steps mentioned above.

We hope this blog post has given you some insights and ideas on how to verify data masking in SAP BW/4HANA with examples. If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to leave a comment below.

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