{"id":142685,"date":"2021-08-16T08:40:04","date_gmt":"2021-08-16T08:40:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sap.com\/africa\/?p=142685"},"modified":"2023-09-27T18:08:52","modified_gmt":"2023-09-27T18:08:52","slug":"six-popia-tips-for-securing-your-erp-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.sap.com\/africa\/2021\/08\/six-popia-tips-for-securing-your-erp-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Six POPIA Tips for Securing Your ERP System"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TwelveThe full implementation of the Protection of Personal Information Act heralds a new era of control and privacy for South African citizens and organisations, and holds the promise of deepening trust between organisations and their customers \u2013 provided organisations remain fully compliant.<\/p>\n

According to Cameron Beveridge, Regional Director Southern Africa at SAP, trust is the key to success in the digital economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrivacy and trust are essential elements in building strong connections with customers and ensuring a positive customer experience (CX) in today\u2019s business environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact, some studies have found that up to 90% of customers believe how their data is treated is indicative of the way they will be treated as a customer, and 91% won\u2019t purchase from a company if they don\u2019t trust how their data will be used.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cyberattacks complicate compliance<\/h3>\n

Protecting customer privacy and data is complicated by a growing global cybercrime industry that has increasingly targeted the supply chains of major organisations and economic powers.<\/p>\n

Recent ransomware attacks on key US infrastructure have garnered front-page attention. In one example, cybercriminals successfully shut down the Colonial Pipeline,\u00a0effectively halting 50% of the supply of petrol and diesel to the US East Coast<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

With data breaches\u00a0costing South African companies on average R20.2-million in 2020<\/strong><\/a>, and the Protection of Personal Information Act now fully in effect, the stakes for protecting systems from data breaches have never been higher.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnterprise resource planning systems are nerve centres of modern intelligent enterprises, making them prime targets of cybercriminals,\u201d says Beveridge.<\/p>\n

\u201cAttackers know these systems run business-critical applications and house sensitive information, so any data breach could provide access to information they can later use in the service of cybercrime activities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taking \u2018all reasonable steps\u2019<\/h3>\n

One of the key requirements of POPIA is that organisations have to ensure they take \u2018all reasonable steps\u2019 to secure the data of their customers, partners, suppliers and employees.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best run organisations have integrated end-to-end processes that cover the entire breadth of their operations,\u201d explains Beveridge.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe productivity and efficiency gains resulting from this are undeniable. However, the wealth of data processed and stored by such systems creates an attractive target for cybercriminals.\u201d<\/p>\n

The amount of transactional data in typical ERP systems, for example, represent a veritable gold mine to cybercriminals, as does the information about vendors, suppliers and partners.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more cybercriminals know about the internal operations of a business, the easier they will find vulnerabilities to exploit. However, it\u2019s not only cybercriminals that pose security or compliance risks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Research conducted by IBM and the Ponemon Institute found that the three main causes of data breaches in South African businesses were malicious or criminal attack (48%), human error (26%) and system glitches (26%).<\/p>\n

\u201cPOPIA adds further pressure on organisations by both raising the bar for privacy management and by its extensive reach and applicability within modern enterprises,\u201d says Beveridge.<\/p>\n

\u201cOrganisations risk underestimating the level of effort required to implement the necessary process and technology changes to be compliant.\u201d<\/p>\n

POPIA tips for security and compliance<\/h3>\n

Beveridge believes the following tips can assist organisations as they strive for full POPIA compliance while also safeguarding their critical business IT infrastructure from malicious attack or negligence.<\/p>\n