Display roles - are they really display only?

Sometimes I come across roles within the SAP system that are setup and assigned as a display role. However, when further analyzing the roles it seems that the roles are not really display roles (any more). The first focus while setting up display roles is probably removing the non display ACTVT values for the corresponding authorization objects. The list of ACTVT values and meaning of the values can be found in table TACT.

No * value  and no non-display values should be given to the ACTVT value in a display. This seems logical, but sometimes only the 01 and 02 values are removed and the other critical (*) values are forgotten.

ACTVT is used by many authorizations object. The list of these objects can be found in table TACTZ.

ACTVT however is not the only authorization field that should be changed to display values, there are others as well like PPFCODE, AUTHC in HR and JOBACTION in Basis. Make sure the values that are assigned to the object fields are really only display. And while testing the role, make sure you perform both positive and negative testing.

And last, if you assign multiple  roles to one user, make sure the combination of the display role and non display roles gives not broad access rights.

(C) Meta Hoetjes 2014 
CSI Authorization Auditor and CSI Role Build and Manage are registered trademarks by CSI Tools bvba
www.csi-tools.com

User type reference not always taken into account

We are all aware that different type of user types exists in the SAP system (http://help.sap.com/saphelp_nw04/helpdata/en/3d/3272396ace5534e10000000a11405a/content.htm).

I find the use of reference users a bit "tricky" and my experience is that this user type is not always investigated properly during an authorization analysis.

What are reference users:

Reference user type 'L'

Authorization enhancement

No logon possible.

Reference users are used for authorization assignment to other users.

Usage: Internet users with identical authorizations

Using reference users has it benefits, if a user is assigned to a reference user, it inherits the authorizations from this reference user. This can be  helpful with Employee Self Service users for example.

However,  the link to the reference user isnot always in your SAP report (via SUIM or table agr_users).

There are some reports in SUIM that will give you the link between a user ID and the reference user (like users by complex selection criteria (S_BCE_68001400)

Please be aware that  not all SUIM reports will make the link to the reference user

Also bare in mind that the table AGR_USERS will not show the user with the authorizations from a reference user will (therefore you won't see what roles are assigned to the user via this reference user).

How to search for the usage of reference users (this action can be part of your periodic authorization review)

1. Check if reference users are existing in your system (like SE16->URS02 usertpe L)

2. If they do exist.

2a.Check the assignment of authorizations to this reference user

2b.Check the assignment of users to this reference users (via S_BCE_68001400)

(C) Meta Hoetjes 2014 
CSI Authorization Auditor and CSI Role Build and Manage are registered trademarks by CSI Tools bvba
www.csi-tools.com

SAP Special users

SAP NetWeaver AS ABAP creates the standard users SAP*, DDIC, EARLYWATCH, TMSADM, and SAPCPIC during the installation process. The standard users are protected by defaults passwords. Nowadays, most companies are aware of this and will change this default password(s) and implement security procedures for these users.
SAP recommends to take the following action securing the users:

• Maintain an overview of the clients that you have and make sure that no unknown clients exist.
• Make sure that SAP* exists and has been deactivated in all clients.
• Make sure that the default passwords for SAP*, DDIC, and EARLYWATCH have been changed.
• Make sure that these users belong to the group SUPER in all clients.
• Lock the users SAP*, DDIC, and EARLYWATCH. Unlock them only when necessary.
•  Delete SAPCPIC if you do not need it. At least make sure that you have changed the default password for SAPCPIC.
•  Change the default password of TMSADM. 
  for more information, see Changing the Password of User TMSADM.

I agree these actions need to be taken to provide a minimum level of security for these users. But is this really enough?

I would recommend to spend some time analyzing the usage of these users. This can be done via additional security audit software and/or combined with the security audit log.
You might be surprised with the results. In many cases we could see that a SAP standard user was being used for logging on to the system via interfaces or running background jobs that nobody knew of.

Then the fun part starts: answering the "what" and "why" questions and clean up/document everything......
Be warned, this might take some time!
Good Luck!

(C) Meta Hoetjes 2014 
CSI Authorization Auditor and CSI Role Build and Manage are registered trademarks by CSI Tools bvba
www.csi-tools.com

Holiday season!

Holiday season is coming! That means business will have to continue as usual, but hopefully you will be able to leave for some days/weeks/months/....
Not all positions need to be replaced during holiday absence probably, but I can imagine there are some activities that needs to be done, like authorization maintenance and the company will hire a replacement employee.

I don't know if you know the statistics of authorization requests within your company? Often you can see there is a increase of authorization requests if the  authorization/security manager is on Holiday. Why is this the case you might wonder? Is there a new project with new functionality being implemented? Possible..... but maybe people are just testing the knowledge/experience of the replacement employee and are trying to get the authorizations that where rejected in the past.

If the knowledge and experience of the replacement employee is ok and the internal procedures (like  Segregation Of Duties checking, change management procedures with approvals, analysis tools, etc.) are set up and working correctly there might be no issues at all. But please keep in mind... when the cat is away, the mice play!


(C) Meta Hoetjes 2014 
CSI Authorization Auditor and CSI Role Build and Manage are registered trademarks by CSI Tools bvba
www.csi-tools.com