SAP Security Note Service

Problem

SAP Security Notes are published monthly, but there is often a lack of time or expertise to analyze them. This results in unidentified risks, delayed patches, and potential vulnerabilities. At the same time, internal expertise is often concentrated among a small number of employees, which creates dependencies and hinders knowledge transfer. Although timely implementation of SAP Security Notes is strongly recommended, many SAP customers find it difficult to comply with this recommendation. This is mainly due to the following problems:

SAP Security Note Service from smarterSec

The monthly SAP Security Notes contain important security updates, but evaluating and implementing them requires both technical SAP Basis know-how and security expertise. However, many companies lack precisely this specialized expertise or the capacity to efficiently analyze, prioritize, and implement the SAP Security Notes.

Our SAP Security Note Service takes care of the monthly analysis, classification, and prioritization of SAP Security Notes for our customers. Thanks to our experience from numerous customer projects and our in-depth understanding of SAP security, we ensure that relevant security risks are identified early on, explained in an understandable way, and addressed in a targeted manner. The result is a clearly plannable, risk-oriented SAP security patch process that reduces the workload on your internal teams while increasing your level of protection.

Target audience

• SAP Basis and security teams with a high operational workload who are tied up with daily operational tasks and therefore do not have the time to continuously analyze and prioritize security notes in depth.
• IT security teams that lack specific SAP security knowledge to properly assess risks from SAP-specific vulnerabilities and coordinate them with other security measures.
• Companies with resource bottlenecks in the SAP security environment that are dependent on sustainable relief and structured risk assessment without having to expand internal capacities in the short term.
• Organizations that must meet audit and compliance requirements (e.g., KRITIS & NIS2) and therefore need to demonstrate traceable, documented, and regularly reviewed security processes.

Scope of Services

The SAP Security Note Service ensures that security-related changes in the SAP environment are not only identified, but also correctly evaluated and efficiently integrated into the operational process. We take care of the entire analysis and preparation process, structure the results in a comprehensible manner, and support your teams in making well-founded and traceable decisions. The service is designed to reduce technical complexity and strengthen operational capabilities. The scope of services includes the following activities:

Monthly analysis of published SAP Security Notes
We review all new SAP Security Notes from SAP Security Patch Day and check which systems, modules, or interfaces are affected, including an assessment of possible attack scenarios.

Assessment of technical and business impact
Each note is classified according to its significance for operational security, performance, business processes, and potential compliance risks. This gives you a perspective that encompasses both SAP Basis and IT security.

Prioritization according to risk, criticality, and system relevance
Based on CVSS values, threat intelligence, architectural context, and known exploit patterns, we define a clear sequence of actions, from immediate measures to planned updates, in Excel format.

Monthly 1-hour review meeting
In a structured meeting, we explain the SAP Security Notes in an understandable way, answer questions, put the implications into the context of your system, and derive concrete measures. This ensures transparency and promotes knowledge transfer.

Optional: Importing the monthly SAP security notes into the defined SAP target systems
On request, smarterSec not only analyzes and prioritizes the SAP security notes, but also implements them technically in your system landscape. We coordinate the import of the notes closely with your change and release processes to ensure operational stability and minimize the risk of downtime.

Added value of our SAP Security Note Service

With smarterSec, you gain a specialized partner who brings both technical depth in the SAP area and security-related understanding of modern attack scenarios. Our approach combines operational relief, knowledge transfer, and strategic prioritization so that your teams don’t just “patch,” but act in an informed, transparent, and targeted manner:

• Relief for internal SAP and IT teams
  smarterSec takes care of the time-consuming analysis of SAP security notes and the derivation and prioritization of measures. This allows your departments to focus on operational stability and business processes.
• Building internal expertise
  The structured explanation of the notes in monthly meetings promotes a sustainable understanding of security both at the technical level (SAP Basis) and in the area of risk and threat assessment (IT security).
• Faster and more informed decision-making processes
  Clear prioritization and transparent derivation make it clear which measures are necessary, critical, or can be postponed. Decisions become measurable, traceable, and auditable.
• Increased transparency in the SAP security landscape
  Companies receive a recurring and comprehensible overview of security-related changes and their impact on their SAP architecture.
• Reduction of operational and security-related risks
  Critical security vulnerabilities are identified early on and addressed promptly—before they become real targets for attack.
• Strengthening compliance and verifiability
  The monthly evaluation supports you in internal controls, external audits, and regulatory requirements (e.g., KRITIS, NIS2, ISO 27001).

Structure of the monthly review meeting

The monthly review meeting is the central element of the SAP Security Note Service. It not only serves to convey information, but also creates a common understanding of risks, priorities, and necessary measures in SAP operations. The process is clearly structured to convey both technical details and decision-making criteria in a compact and understandable way. At the beginning, a manual comparison of the necessary and installable SAP Security Notes for the customer’s SAP landscape is carried out. Optionally, the automated use of the smarterSec Security Platform can be implemented for additional license fees.

• Transparent overview of relevant SAP security notes
  We present all notes that are potentially relevant to your SAP system landscape – including context, affected components, and type of vulnerability.
• Assessment of the impact on your individual system landscape
  The notes are not assessed in general terms, but in relation to your architecture, processes, and infrastructure. This makes it clear whether and where action is needed.
• Prioritized action and patch recommendations
  Based on risk, criticality, business impact, and feasibility, you receive clear recommendations: What needs to be done immediately? What can be planned? What just needs to be monitored?
• Documentation and handover of the monthly evaluation
  The monthly evaluation of the SAP Security Notes is made available following the monthly review meeting. Below you will find an excerpt from the documentation:
  
  

Results

The SAP Security Note Service creates a clearly structured, recurring, and verifiable security process for monthly SAP security notes. Your company not only gains transparency regarding security-related changes, but also a sound basis for decision-making when prioritizing and implementing measures. The result is an efficient, risk-oriented SAP security patch process that reduces the workload on internal teams while sustainably increasing the level of protection for your SAP systems. Customers receive the following results as part of the defined scope of services:

• Monthly analysis of published SAP security notes
• Assessment & prioritization according to risk, criticality, and system relevance (as an Excel document)
• Monthly 1-hour review meeting to explain the individual SAP security notes
• Optional: Importing monthly SAP security notes into the defined SAP target systems