In today’s interconnected enterprise environments, ensuring secure communication between systems is critical to protect sensitive data and maintain compliance with security standards. SAP Cloud Platform Integration (CPI) leverages SSL/TLS protocols to establish encrypted channels for data transmission, preventing unauthorized access and tampering.
This article explores how SSL/TLS is implemented in SAP CPI, why it matters, and best practices to configure secure communication for your integration scenarios.
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and its successor TLS (Transport Layer Security) are cryptographic protocols that provide:
- Encryption: Secures data in transit to prevent eavesdropping.
- Authentication: Verifies the identity of communication parties.
- Data Integrity: Ensures data is not altered during transmission.
TLS is the industry standard used in SAP CPI to secure HTTP-based and other protocol communications between CPI tenants, external systems, and users.
SAP CPI often exchanges sensitive business data such as customer information, financial transactions, and system credentials. Without encryption, this data could be intercepted or altered by malicious actors.
Using SSL/TLS:
- Protects against man-in-the-middle attacks.
- Enables compliance with data protection regulations like GDPR.
- Builds trust by verifying endpoint identities using certificates.
- Ensures reliable and secure message exchange across heterogeneous landscapes.
¶ 1. Certificates and Keystores
- CPI tenants maintain keystores and truststores that store private keys and trusted certificates.
- Certificates issued by trusted Certificate Authorities (CAs) authenticate CPI endpoints and external systems.
- Private keys and certificates enable CPI to establish secure channels.
- CPI supports one-way SSL/TLS (server authentication) and mutual SSL/TLS (both server and client authentication).
- Mutual TLS enhances security by requiring both parties to present valid certificates.
- All HTTP-based communication, such as REST or SOAP over HTTPS, uses TLS to encrypt data.
- Other adapters (e.g., AMQP, SFTP) can also be configured to use SSL/TLS.
- Upload server certificates or CA certificates into the CPI tenant’s Trust Store via the SAP BTP cockpit.
- Upload your private key and certificate into the Key Store when CPI acts as a server.
- In sender or receiver adapters, specify the HTTPS protocol and enable SSL.
- Select the relevant certificate from the keystore or truststore.
- For mutual authentication, configure client certificates as required.
¶ Step 3: Validate and Test
- Test connectivity using tools like SAP CPI’s test feature or external tools (e.g., Postman, curl).
- Ensure that the certificate chain is valid and no warnings appear during handshake.
- Use Certificates from Trusted CAs: Avoid self-signed certificates in production.
- Regularly Rotate Certificates: Replace certificates before expiry to maintain trust.
- Enable Mutual TLS Where Possible: Adds an extra layer of authentication.
- Monitor Certificate Validity: Set reminders to renew expiring certificates.
- Secure Keystores: Protect keystores with strong passwords and limit access.
- Certificate Mismatch: Ensure the hostname matches the certificate CN or SAN entries.
- Expired Certificates: Replace expired certificates promptly.
- Incomplete Certificate Chain: Upload intermediate CA certificates as needed.
- Unsupported Protocols: Use updated TLS versions (TLS 1.2 or above).
- Firewall or Proxy Blocking Ports: Verify network configurations allow secure traffic.
Implementing SSL/TLS for secure communication is fundamental to protecting data and maintaining trust in SAP Cloud Platform Integration. By understanding how SSL/TLS works and following best practices for certificate management and configuration, SAP professionals can ensure their integration scenarios are both secure and compliant with industry standards.