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Featured in SAPinsider: How to Build Security using SAP Solution Manager

Data breaches occur all too often and organizations are frequently left blindsided. As a result, cybersecurity has become a board-level issue across all industries. According to a recent survey of global business leaders, cyber risk is regarded as one of the most significant threats faced by corporations today, and is consistently rated higher than legislation, regulation, and other risks.

Even SAP systems are not immune from the anxiety surrounding cybersecurity. The architecture and complexity of SAP landscapes, as well as the form and volume of data typically managed within SAP systems, makes them targets for attackers. This was illustrated by the discovery of a modified Trojan that was targeting SAP clients in 2013. The malware targeted SAP GUI configuration files and was capable of malicious activities such as logging keystrokes; capturing logon credentials; and identifying, copying, and exporting files.

Responding to such threats is a daunting challenge. However, SAP customers do not have to look far for the tools to secure their systems from cyber threats. In fact, SAP offers a variety of tools with standard license agreements that can be leveraged immediately at zero cost.

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How to Secure SAP Systems from Password Attacks

Exploiting weak password hashes is one of the most common and successful attack scenarios used against SAP systems. The availability of open-source programs such as Hashcat and John the Ripper enables even novice hackers to perform attacks against SAP passwords. In fact, Hashcat is capable of breaking any SAP password encoded using the BCODE hash algorithm in a maximum of 20 hours, regardless of the length and complexity of the password.

SAP systems support a variety of cryptographic algorithms to convert passwords into hash values. These values are stored in table URS02. This is designed to prevent the storage of passwords in clear-text. During the logon procedure, passwords entered by users are converted to a hash value and compared to the value stored for the user in table USR02. The logon is successful if there is match between the two values.

Since hash algorithms are one-way, it is not possible to calculate passwords from hash values. However, it is possible to compare values generated by tools such as Hashcat to the values stored in SAP tables to break passwords providing both are encoded using the identical algorithm.

Therefore, it is critical to restrict the ability to read and extract password hash values in table USR02. This can be achieved by controlling direct access to database tables through SQL statements using firewall rules. The ability to read tables using generic table browsing tools accessible through transactions SE16, SE17 and SE11 should also be restricted and monitored.

Note that USR02 is not the only table containing password hash values. In some releases, hashes can also be found in tables USH02, USH02_ARC_TMP, VUSER001 and VUSR02_PWD. Such tables should be assigned to the authorization group SPWD (refer to Note 1484692). Access to table USRPWDHISTORY should also be restricted since attackers are often able to guess current passwords based on former passwords if users employ variations of the same password.

There should be similar restrictions on debugging and transport authorizations since these can also be used to access or export SAP tables containing password hashes.

Users with access to multiple systems or systems in different environments should be required to use different passwords for each system and environment. Passwords for productive systems should not be identical to those used to access development or test systems.

SAP password code versions A-E are based on the MD5 hashing algorithm. The hash values generated through this mechanism are stored in the table column BCODE. All MD5 hashes are susceptible to brute force and other password attacks. Code versions F and G use the SHA1 algorithm. SHA1 hashes are stored in the PASSCODE column. They are less vulnerable than MD5 hashes but can be broken if passwords are short and relatively non-complex. The most secure hashing algorithm supported by SAP systems is iterated salted SHA-1 in code version H. This mechanism uses random salts and a higher number of iterations to mitigate password attacks. Iterated salted SHA-1 hash values are stored in PWDSALTEDHASH.

SAP kernels should be upgraded to 7.02 or higher to support PWDSALTEDHASH hash values. For added security, default iterations and salt sizes can be increased using the login/password_hash_algorithm parameter.

Once this is performed, the profile parameter login/password_downwards_compatibility should be set to 0 to ensure only the strongest possible hash values are generated. CUA systems can be excluded from this requirement if they are connected to systems that do not support PWDSALTEDHASH.

The report CLEANUP_PASSWORD_HASH_VALUES should then be run to discover and remove redundant password hashes. There is a clear security risk if this is not performed. Attackers may be able to use passwords encoded in BCODE and PASSCODE hashes if users employ identical or similar passwords encoded in PWDSALTEDHASH.

Enforcing single sign-on (SSO) for all dialog users provides the optimal level of protection against password attacks by removing the need to store hashes altogether. However, once SSO is enabled, direct logons should be blocked through the parameter snc/accept_insecure_gui=U and by ensuring users are not exempted from SSO through settings in user records maintained in the SNC tab of SU01.

Taken together, these countermeasures should safeguard systems from dangerous password attacks aided by well-known and easily accessible tools that can be leveraged to take full control of SAP systems.

Update: A new version of Hashcat capable of cracking SAP code version H password hashes encoded using SHA-1 is currently in beta testing. You can learn more at http://hashcat.net/forum/thread-3804.html

FBI Director James Comey Speaks out on the Threat of Cybercrime

During a candid discussion with host Scott Pelley of 60 Minutes at FBI headquarters in Washington DC, James Comey speaks out about the threat of cybercrime confronted by American citizens and corporations. Comey declares that cybercrime perpetrated by nation states, criminal syndicates and terrorist organizations has reached epidemic proportions and is directly costing the US economy billions of dollars a year.

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The following is a transcript of the excerpt:

James Comey: Cybercrime is becoming everything in crime. Again, because people have connected their entire lives to the Internet, that’s where those who want to steal money or hurt kids or defraud go. So it’s an epidemic for reasons that make sense.

Scott Pelley: How many attacks are there on American computer systems and on people’s credit card numbers and the whole mass of it? What does a day look like if you’re concerned with crime in cyberspace?

James Comey: It would be too many to count. I mean, I think of it as kind of an evil layer cake. At the top you have nation state actors, who are trying to break into our systems. Terrorists, organized cyber syndicates, very sophisticated, harvesting people’s personal computers, down to hacktivists, down to criminals and pedophiles.

Scott Pelley: What countries are attacking the United States as we sit here in cyberspace?

James Comey: Well, I don’t want to give you a complete list. But I can tell you the top of the list is the Chinese. As we have demonstrated with the charges we brought earlier this year against five members of the People’s Liberation Army. They are extremely aggressive and widespread in their efforts to break into American systems to steal information that would benefit their industry.

Scott Pelley: What are they trying to get?

James Comey: Information that’s useful to them so they don’t have to invent. They can copy or steal so learn about how a company might approach negotiation with a Chinese company, all manner of things.

Scott Pelley: How many hits from China do we take in a day?

James Comey: Many, many, many. I mean, there are two kinds of big companies in the United States. There are those who’ve been hacked by the Chinese and those who don’t know they’ve been hacked by the Chinese.

Scott Pelley: The Chinese are that good?

James Comey: Actually, not that good. I liken them a bit to a drunk burglar. They’re kicking in the front door, knocking over the vase, while they’re walking out with your television set. They’re just prolific. Their strategy seems to be: We’ll just be everywhere all the time. And there’s no way they can stop us.

Scott Pelley: How much does that cost the U.S. economy every year?

James Comey: Impossible to count. Billions.

Scott Pelley: Sounds like cybercrime is a long way from Bonnie and Clyde for the FBI.

James Comey: Bonnie and Clyde could not do a thousand robberies in the same day, in all 50 states, from their pajamas, halfway around the world.

Scott Pelley: The FBI’s had legendary problems upgrading its computer systems. Are you now to a place where you’re satisfied that you’re meeting the cybersecurity threat?

James Comey: We’ve made great progress coordinating better as a government. When I last left government, my sense of us was kind of like four-year-old soccer. So like a clump of four year olds chasing the ball, we were chasing it in a pack. We’re about high school soccer now. We’re spread out. We pass well. But the bad guys are moving at World Cup speed. So we have to get better.

Scott Pelley: Do people understand, in your estimation, the dangers posed by cybercrime and cyber espionage?

James Comey: I don’t think so. I think there’s something about sitting in front of your own computer working on your own banking, your own health care, your own social life that makes it hard to understand the danger. I mean, the Internet is the most dangerous parking lot imaginable. But if you were crossing a mall parking lot late at night, your entire sense of danger would be heightened. You would stand straight. You’d walk quickly. You’d know where you were going. You would look for light. Folks are wandering around that proverbial parking lot of the Internet all day long, without giving it a thought to whose attachments they’re opening, what sites they’re visiting. And that makes it easy for the bad guys.

Scott Pelley: So tell folks at home what they need to know.

James Comey: When someone sends you an email, they are knocking on your door. And when you open the attachment, without looking through the peephole to see who it is, you just opened the door and let a stranger into your life, where everything you care about is.

Scott Pelley: And what might that attachment do?

James Comey: Well, take over the computer, lock the computer, and then demand a ransom payment before it would unlock. Steal images from your system of your children or your, you know, or steal your banking information, take your entire life.

Scott Pelley: We have talked about a lot of menacing things in this interview. Do you think Americans should sleep well?

James Comey: I think they should. I mean, the money they have invested in this government since 9/11 has been well spent. And we are better organized, better systems, better equipment, smarter deployment. We are better in every way that you’d want us to be since 9/11. We’re not perfect. My philosophy as a leader is we are never good enough. But we are in a much better place than we were 13 years ago.

A Five Step Guide to Securing SAP Systems from Cyber Attack Without Breaking the Bank

With SAP solutions deployed by 85 percent of Forbes 500 companies, they are a prized target for cyber attackers. Watch our Webinar playback to discover how to secure your SAP systems against targeted cyber attacks that could lead to denial of service, financial fraud or intellectual property theft. The Webinar is hosted by John Corvin, a Senior SAP Security Architect at Layer Seven Security. The insights delivered during the Webinar are based on lessons learned from hundreds of front-line engagements, aligned with leading practices and SAP recommendations and delivered by experienced SAP security consultants. Learn how to:

Secure SAP networks and communications
Protect remote function calls
Control critical user authorizations
Build log forensics
Configure security-relevant parameters

The Webinar will also enable you to identify opportunities for your organization to continuously monitor the security of SAP systems using standard tools and components available in SAP Solution Manager without licensing costly third party software. This will empower your organization to unlock the potential of SAP software and maximize the ROI of SAP licensing, while minimizing software-related capex and opex.

 

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Three More Reasons for using Solution Manager to Secure SAP Systems from Cyber Attack

Our recent article outlining the advantages of using SAP-delivered components versus third party software resonated strongly with customers seeking an effective and cost-efficient solution to address cyber threats impacting their SAP systems. The article examined the five key benefits of a Solution Manager-based strategy that included lower costs through the avoidance of licensing and maintenance fees for third-party software, the ability to configure custom security checks to address system, company or industry-specific risks, alerting for critical security events, detailed reporting driven by SAP Business Warehouse, and the availability of SAP support. The article presented a compelling argument for selecting SAP Solution Manager over the host of competing solutions offered by independent vendors.

The benefits delivered by Solution Manager stem from the depth and volume of security-related data that is continuously pulled from managed systems into the platform. Solution Manager lays at the core of SAP system landscapes and therefore occupies a central vantage point to oversee the security of connected systems. In contrast, third party software solutions are not embedded within SAP landscapes to the same extent and therefore lack the connectivity and range of Solution Manager.

Aside from the advantages mentioned above, there are three other benefits delivered by Solution Manager for security monitoring. The first is the availability of security dashboards. SAP delivers three security apps through the standard WebDynpro dashboard application in Solution Manager, located in the Cross-Application section for dashboard apps. This includes the Security Overview app, which summarizes security policy compliance by system across landscapes, the Security Details app, which displays compliance levels for software, configuration and user categories, and finally, the Security List app, which conveys security compliance levels for every SAP System ID. Dashboards apps can be automatically refreshed as often as every 5 minutes to provide security information in near real-time.

The second is Solution Manager’s ability to deliver detailed metrics for analyzing changes. Like third party solutions, components such as Configuration Validation in Solution Manager are able to pinpoint differences between actual and recommended security settings. However, Solution Manager goes a step further by enabling users to drill-down into the underlying changes that created risks identified by security scans. This is performed through Change Analysis which provides timestamps for changes in managed systems and the original values for instance, profile or other parameters before the changes were implemented.

The third is Solution Manager’s flexibility to support security policies aligned to any compliance framework. This includes not only familiar frameworks such as SOX and PCI DSS but requirements that are unique to specific industries or sectors. The transparent security checks performed by Configuration Validation can be customized for all regulatory, statutory and other forms of compliance standards.

Organizations do not have to look far for the solution to remove security vulnerabilities in their SAP systems. Most are delivered with standard license agreements by SAP and can be leveraged immediately at zero cost. Tools such as Configuration Validation provide a powerful and cost-effective alternative to third party solutions. They are also fully supported by SAP. You can learn more about SAP Configuration Validation here or contact Layer Seven Security to unlock the value of your Solution Manager systems.

Cybersecurity Insurance: Is it Worth the Cost?

According to the most recent annual Cost of Cyber Crime Study by the Ponemon Institute, the average cost of detecting and recovering from cyber crime for organizations in the United States is $5.4 million. Median costs have risen by almost 50 percent since the inaugural study in 2010. The finding masks the enormous variation of data breach costs which can range from several hundred thousand to several hundred million dollars, depending on the severity of the breach. A growing number of insurance companies are offering cyber protection to enable organizations to manage such costs. This includes traditional carriers in centers such as London, New York, Zurich and elsewhere, as well as new entrants targeting the cybersecurity insurance market. Carriers in the latter category should be carefully veted since some new entrants have been known to offer fraudulent policies in order to exploit the growth in demand for cyber insurance.

Cybersecurity insurance has been commercially available since the late 1970s but was limited to banking and other financial services until 1999-2001.  It became more widespread after Y2K and 9/11. Premiums also increased after these events and carriers began to exclude cyber risks from general policies. More recently, the dramatic rise in the threat and incidence of data breaches has propelled cybersecurity into a boardroom issue and led to a growing interest in cyber policies from organizations looking to limit their exposure.

A 2011 study performed by PriceWaterhouseCoopers revealed that approximately 46% of companies possess insurance policies to protect against the theft or misuse of electronic data, consumer records, etc. However, this is contradicted by the findings of 2012 survey by Chubb Group of Insurance Companies which revealed that 65 percent of public companies forego cyber insurance. The confusion may be due to a general lack of awareness among survey responders of the exact nature of insurance coverage. Many responders appear to be under the impression that cyber risks are covered by general insurance policies even though this is no longer the norm.

The cybersecurity insurance industry is highly diverse with carriers employing a plurality of approaches. Some offer standardized insurance products with typically low coverage limits. Others provide customized policies tailored for the specific needs of each client. Furthermore, the industry is evolving rapidly to keep pace with evolving threats and trends in cybersecurity.

Policy premiums are driven primarily by industry factors. E-commerce companies performing online transactions while storing sensitive information such as credit card data are generally considered high risk and are therefore subject to higher premiums. Health institutions hosting data such as social security numbers and medical records are also deemed high risk.

Premiums typically range between $10,000 to $40,000 per $1 million and provide up to $50 million in coverage. However, most standard policies only provide coverage for specific third-party costs to cover losses incurred by a company’s customers or partners. This includes risks related to unauthorized access and the disclosure of private information, as well as so-called conduit injuries that cause harm to third party systems.

Polices that provide coverage for first-party areas such as crisis management, business interruption, intellectual property theft, extortion and e-vandalism carry far higher premiums and are therefore relatively rare. This limits the appeal of cybersecurity insurance and ensures organizations need to self-insure for such risks for the foreseeable future. The situation is unlikely to improve until actuarial data is more widely available and shared between carriers for cybersecurity risks. This may require the establishment of a federal reinsurance agency and legislative standards for cybersecurity.

Carriers are unlikely to offer full cover for all first and third party costs arising from security breaches. This is due to the moral hazard associated with such coverage. Organizations that completely transfer cyber risk have no incentive to invest in preventative and monitoring controls to manage security risks. However, most carriers have exclusions for breaches caused by negligence. Other exclusions include coverage for fines and penalties, often due to regulatory reasons.

Aside from industry considerations, other factors that drive premiums for cybersecurity insurance are risk management cultures and practices in organizations. Carriers often assess cybersecurity policies and procedures before deciding premiums. Organizations that adopt best practices or industry standards for system security are generally offered lower premiums than those that do not. Therefore, insurers work closely with clients during the underwriting process to measure the likelihood and impact of relevant cyber risks. This includes consideration for management controls. Carriers that decide not to assess the cybersecurity practices of prospective clients tend to compensate by including requirements for minimal acceptable standards within policies. These clauses ensure that carriers do not reimburse organizations that failed to follow generally-accepted standards for cybersecurity before a security breach. Cybersecurity standards for SAP systems are embodied in benchmarks that are aligned to security recommendations issued by SAP. This includes the SAP Cybersecurity Framework outlined in the white paper, Protecting SAP Systems from Cyber Attack.

Cybersecurity insurance is most valuable for organizations with mature cyber risk cultures including effective standards and procedures for preventing, detecting and responding to cyber attacks. It enables such organizations to transfer the risk of specific costs arising from security breaches that are more cost-effectively covered by third-party coverage rather than self-insurance. Cybersecurity insurance is not a viable option for companies with weak risk management practices. Even if carriers were willing to insure such high-risk organizations, the premiums are likely to outweigh the cost of self-insurance. Furthermore, the likelihood that organizations would be able to collect upon such policies is low.

M-Trends, Verizon DBIR & Symantec ISTR: Detecting and responding to cyber attacks has never been more important

The release of three of the most important annual threat intelligence reports earlier this month confirmed that 2013 was an explosive year for cybersecurity. All three reports point to rising incidences of cyber attack, increasing sophistication of attack vectors and a growing diversity of threat actors and targets.

The first of the reports is entitled M-Trends, compiled by the security forensics company Mandiant, now owned by FireEye. M-Trends is based on the analysis of incidence response data from organisations across 30 industries. While the analysis detected a slight improvement in the average number of days taken by organisations to detect a network breach, there was no discernable improvement in the ability of organisations to detect breaches without outside assistance. Only 33 percent of breaches are discovered by internal resources.

The analysis also revealed that cybercriminals are deploying a wider variety of attack methodologies against targets. Traditional approaches involve the detection and exploitation of vulnerabilities in Web applications which enable attackers to move laterally through connected systems after a successful compromise. According to M-Trends, attackers are shifting focus from Web applications to exploiting workstations and other systems infected with botnets and Trojans. These tools are designed to create backdoors for the installation and propagation of more powerful  forms of malware designed to seek out and extract sensitive data.

The report notes that sensitive data goes beyond proprietary intellectual property. State-sponsored attackers target a wide variety of information sources to understand how businesses work including emails, procedural and workflow documents, plans, budgets, organisational charts, and meeting agendas and minutes.

M-Trends concludes that the list of potential targets has increased, and the playing field has grown. Threat actors are not only interested in seizing the corporate crown jewels, but are also looking for ways to publicize their views, cause physical destruction, and influence decision makers.

The second report is also the most long-standing and well-known. The Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) is now in its eighth year and includes contributions from organisations such as the U.S Secret Service, US-CERT, Europol and the Council on Cyber Security. The 2014 DBIR analyzed over 1300 confirmed data breaches and 63,000 security incidents in 95 countries.

The highest number of security incidents analyzed by the DBIR affected organizations in the financial, retail and public sector. This is unsurprising since such organizations tend to store or process financial and other sensitive information. However, the DBIR did not observe any industry that was not impacted by security incidents that led to confirmed data losses. This underscore the DBIR finding that “everyone is vulnerable to some type of event. Even if you think your organization is at low risk for external attacks, there remains the possibility of insider misuse and errors that harm systems and expose data. To illustrate, 30% percent of security incidents impacting manufacturing companies can be classified as acts of cyber espionage. In comparison, less than 1 percent of incidents in public sector organisations are caused by cyber espionage. However, public sector organisations experience three times as many incidents of insider abuse as manufacturing companies.

The third and final threat intelligence report released in April was Symantec’s Internet Security Threat Report which revealed a 62 percent year-on-year increase in data breaches with 8 breaches exposing more than 10 million identities each. According to the report, the industries most at risk of a targeted attack are mining, government and manufacturing. The likelihood that organisations in such industries will experience an attack are 1 in 2.7, 1 in 3.1 and 1 in 3.2 respectively.

The report also revealed that there were more zero-day vulnerabilities in 2013 than other year on record. The number of zero-day vulnerabilities discovered last year were 61 percent higher than the year before and more than the previous two years combined.

The report recommends multiple and mutually-supportive defense-in-depth strategies to guard against single-point failures. It also recommends continuous monitoring and automatic alerting for intrusion attempts, as well as aggressive updating and patching. These recommendations are echoed by both M-Trends and the DBIR. According to the former, organisations require “visibility into their networks, endpoints and logs. Organisations also need actionable threat intelligence that identifies malicious activity faster.

Layer Seven Security enable SAP customers to meet this challenge by hardening every component of the SAP technology stack for defense in depth including underlying networks, databases and operating systems. We also configure comprehensive network, system, table and user logs to enable organisations to track, identify and respond to cyber attacks. Finally, we unlock standard, powerful security monitoring mechanisms in SAP Solution Manager to automatically detect and alert of potential malicious activity.

Trustwave Survey Reveals that IT Professionals are Feeling the Pressure of Board Level Scrutiny over Cyber Security

The rise in the rate and sophistication of cyber attacks has predictably fuelled the pressure on security resources. However, the precise complexion and source of the pressure was largely unknown until the recent release of the Trustwave Security Pressures study. The study examines the threats most concerning to security professionals and the preferred responses.

The results of the study are based on survey responses from over 800 decision makers in the US, UK, Canada, and Germany including CIOs, CISOs, and IT Directors / Managers. Almost 60 percent of respondents were IT/ Security Directors or higher and 75 percent represented organisations in North America.

Over 50 percent of IT professionals experienced more security-related pressures in 2013 than the year before and almost 60 percent expect the pressure to grow in 2014. The source of the greatest pressure is the threat of external attack through targeted malware. The threat of data loss arising from a successful network and system breach also ranked highly as a stressor. Only 5 percent of respondents believe their organisations are not susceptible to attack.

The study revealed that owners, boards of directors and C-level executives exert the most pressure on IT professionals. This reflects the high visibility and growing board-level presence of security concerns. Cyber risk is a common and recurring subject on board agendas. According to Trustwave, executives and board members are increasingly demanding a deeper explanation from IT professionals on security postures and often display a lack of confidence in IT risk management strategies. This wariness stems partly from the seeming inability of conventional security products and solutions to stem the tide of cyber attack and data loss.

The study also revealed that respondents struggle with the complexity of security solutions, shortages in dedicated resources and controlling capital and operational budgets.

The study recommends a number of specific actions to relieve the pressure. The first involves accepting the growing level of scrutiny from boards and other sources over security practices and managing security programs as strategic business initiatives with regular reporting to executive management. Other recommendations include augmenting in-house security expertise by partnering with outside security consultants, performing periodic risk assessments and penetration tests, focusing upon securing external-facing systems, controlling third party access and avoiding over-reliance upon security tools that provide a false sense of security.

Layer Seven’s Cybersecurity Framework delivers a comprehensive strategy to protect SAP systems from cyber attack and data breach. The framework provides a series of actionable recommendations to alleviate the growing pressure on IT professionals while avoiding the need for capital expenditure in security software. The framework equips security professionals with the insight and expertise required to safeguard mission-critical SAP resources from cyber risks. Learn more.

A First Look at the U.S Data Security and Breach Notification Act

On January 30, members of the U.S Senate and House of Representatives introduced a new bill intended to enforce federal standards for securing personal information and notifying consumers in the event of a data breach. Sponsored by leaders of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, the Security and Breach Notification Act of 2014 would require the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to develop and enforce nationwide security standards for companies that store the personal and financial information of consumers. According to Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, “The recent string of massive data breaches proves companies need to do more to protect their customers. They should be fighting back against hackers who will do whatever it takes to exploit consumer information.”

If enacted, the measures introduced by the Bill would direct the FTC to develop robust information security measures to protect sensitive data from unauthorised access and exfiltration. The FTC would also be empowered to standardize breach notification requirements across all states to ensure that companies need only comply with a single law. The law would be enforced jointly by the FTC and state attorneys. Civil penalties for corporations and criminal penalties for corporate personnel would be imposed for violations of the law. The latter would include imprisonment for up to five years. Unlike HIPAA and SEC Disclosure Guidelines, the requirements of the Act are not limited to health organisations or publically listed companies. They are applicable equally to both private and public organisations that store customer information across all industries and sectors. They are also applicable to data entrusted to third party entities.

The proposed Federal data security and breach notification standards are firmly supported by the FTC. During a speech delivered to a privacy forum on December 12 2013, FTC Chairperson Edith Ramirez supported the role of the FTC as an enforcer of consumer data protection standards. The organisation has aggressively pursued companies that have suffered data breaches for alleged unfair and deceptive trade practices and imposed fines of up to $10 million. However, FTC rulings are often challenged on the grounds that the organisation lacks a clear legal mandate. The Data Security and Breach Notification Act would provide the mandate required by the FTC against clearly-defined standards for data protection.

This includes standards for identifying and removing vulnerabilities in systems that contain customer information and monitoring for breaches to such systems as required by sections 2 (C) and (D) of the Act. To learn about vulnerabilities effecting SAP systems and implementing logging and monitoring to detect potential breaches in SAP applications and components, download our white paper Protecting SAP Systems from Cyber Attack. The paper presents a framework of 20 controls across 5 objectives to safeguard information in SAP systems from internal and external threats.

Measuring the Risks of Cyber Attack

Most studies that examine the impact of cyber attack tend to focus on a combination of direct and indirect costs. Directs costs include forensic investigations, financial penalties, legal fees, hardware and software upgrades, etc. The approach is typified by the annual Cost of Data Breach Study performed by the Ponemon Institute, now in its eighth year. The most recent study examines the costs incurred by 277 companies in 16 industry sectors from 9 countries. According to the study, average data breach costs per organisation range between $1.1M – $5.4M for the selected countries. Estimates include losses related to reputational harm, lower sales, the loss of intellectual property, and other forms of indirect costs, which can account for as much as 68 percent of the total cost of a data breach.

Since indirect costs are far harder to accurately measure than direct costs and yet are proportionally more significant than direct costs, estimates for the average cost of a data breach have a high margin of error. Therefore, the actual costs incurred by organisations that suffer a data breach may be far higher or lower than the estimates provided by official studies.

A recent joint study performed by McKinsey and Company and the World Economic Forum presents a very different perspective on the risks of cyber attack. The results of the study are published in the report Risk and Responsibility in a Hyperconnected World, released earlier this week. It examines the global impact of cyber attacks and highlights risks often overlooked by conventional studies that focus on narrow definitions of direct and indirect costs. This includes opportunity risks, especially in the areas of cloud computing, data analytics and mobility. According to the study, such technological trends could create $10 trillion – $20 trillion in value for the global economy by 2020. Cyber risks lead to lower levels of trust and slower rates of adoption for cloud, big data and mobile technologies. The net result is that the risk of cyber attacks could lead to as much as $3 trillion in lost productivity and growth if it is not effectively managed before the end of the decade.

The study surveyed over 250 industry leaders across 7 sectors and 3 regions. 65 percent of respondents rated malicious external and internal attacks as the most likely risk to have a negative strategic impact upon their business. 69 percent believe that the sophistication or pace of attacks will continue to outperform the ability of institutions to defend such attacks, in spite of the fact that global spending on cyber security is expected to rise from $69 billion in 2013 to over $123 billion in 2020.

The study presents a proactive roadmap to build public and private sector capabilities designed to address cyber risks and accelerate innovation and growth. The roadmap includes prioritizing information assets based on business risks, scaling security efforts based on the importance of assets, integrating security into every area of technology from development to decommissioning, as well as business operations, deploying active defences to uncover attacks, continuous testing and security awareness training.