In today’s complex cybersecurity landscape, enterprises running SAP systems face increasingly sophisticated threats targeting their critical business processes. SAP Enterprise Threat Detection (ETD) is a powerful security solution designed to identify suspicious activities in real-time within SAP environments. To enhance threat hunting and incident response capabilities, mapping ETD detections to the MITRE ATT&CK Framework has emerged as a best practice. This article explores how this mapping enhances SAP security posture and provides actionable insights for security teams.
¶ Understanding SAP Enterprise Threat Detection (ETD)
SAP ETD is a real-time threat detection platform specifically tailored to monitor SAP system logs, database activities, and network flows. It enables security teams to detect malicious behaviors such as privilege escalations, unauthorized access, and data exfiltration attempts directly within SAP landscapes. By analyzing SAP system traces and correlating diverse events, ETD provides early warnings about potential cyber threats affecting mission-critical SAP applications.
The MITRE ATT&CK Framework is a globally recognized knowledge base that categorizes adversary tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) used in cyberattacks. It is widely used by cybersecurity professionals to understand attacker behavior, improve detection strategies, and strengthen defense mechanisms. ATT&CK consists of detailed descriptions of how attackers achieve their objectives, ranging from initial access to data exfiltration.
Integrating SAP ETD detections with the MITRE ATT&CK Framework offers several key benefits:
- Standardized Language for Threats: It creates a common taxonomy for describing threats that security teams, analysts, and stakeholders can understand and communicate effectively.
- Improved Detection Coverage: Mapping helps identify gaps in detection rules by linking ETD alerts to known adversary techniques.
- Enhanced Threat Hunting: Security analysts can proactively search for adversary behaviors linked to ATT&CK techniques within SAP logs.
- Better Incident Response: Understanding the attacker’s tactics helps responders prioritize actions based on the attacker’s goals and methods.
- Continuous Improvement: Feedback loops enable refining ETD detection rules and tuning security controls based on MITRE ATT&CK insights.
Mapping requires translating SAP-specific detection scenarios into the ATT&CK tactics and techniques framework. Some relevant mappings include:
- Technique: Valid Accounts (T1078)
ETD Detection: Alerts on suspicious SAP user logins with abnormal patterns or elevated privileges.
- Technique: Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059)
ETD Detection: Monitoring for unauthorized execution of SAP background jobs or script-based transactions.
- Technique: Create or Modify System Process (T1543)
ETD Detection: Detection of modifications in SAP user roles or authorizations indicating persistent access attempts.
- Technique: Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism (T1548)
ETD Detection: Alerts on unusual privilege escalations or role assignments within SAP systems.
- Technique: Indicator Removal on Host (T1070)
ETD Detection: Suspicious deletion or modification of SAP audit logs or traces.
- Technique: Credential Dumping (T1003)
ETD Detection: Unusual activity around SAP user password changes or access to credential stores.
- Technique: Account Discovery (T1087)
ETD Detection: Excessive querying or enumeration of SAP users, roles, or system components.
- Technique: Remote Services (T1021)
ETD Detection: Unauthorized remote access or login attempts across SAP instances.
- Technique: Data from Information Repositories (T1213)
ETD Detection: Abnormal export of SAP business data or large-scale data queries.
- Technique: Exfiltration Over Network (T1041)
ETD Detection: Suspicious outbound network traffic related to SAP data transfers.
To operationalize this mapping:
- Extend ETD Use Cases: Develop or customize detection scenarios in ETD that explicitly reference ATT&CK techniques.
- Leverage ATT&CK Navigator: Visualize the mapping to prioritize detection development and coverage.
- Integrate with SIEM and SOAR: Correlate ETD alerts tagged with ATT&CK techniques within broader enterprise detection and response workflows.
- Continuous Training: Educate security analysts on both SAP threat patterns and MITRE ATT&CK methodology.
Mapping SAP Enterprise Threat Detection alerts to the MITRE ATT&CK Framework empowers security teams to decode attacker behaviors with greater clarity and precision. This strategic alignment not only enhances the detection and response of SAP-specific cyber threats but also integrates SAP security into the broader enterprise cybersecurity ecosystem. As cyber adversaries evolve, leveraging frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK in conjunction with SAP ETD will be crucial to defending the backbone of enterprise business processes.