Onapsis Buys SAP Security Partner Virtual Forge -

Onapsis, a company that specializes in enterprise resource planning (ERP) cybersecurity and compliance, has acquired SAP security solutions provider Virtual Forge for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of June.

The Virtual Forge acquisition enables Onapsis to accelerate its expansion into global markets, according to a prepared statement. It also allows Onapsis to provide organizations with incident response, management, compliance and visibility across SAP applications.

What Is Virtual Forge?

Virtual Forge offers a Security Suite that addresses SAP security vulnerabilities across system settings, custom code and transports. The company's solutions help organizations secure extensions developed on the SAP Cloud Platform for various SAP cloud business applications, including:

Ariba: Consists of procurement and supply chain solutions for spend management.

Concur: Provides travel, expense and invoice management support.

Fieldglass: Delivers a cloud-based vendor management system.

HANA: Offers in-memory computing and real-time analytics.

SuccessFactors: Serves as a cloud-based human resource management system.

Virtual Forge also provides security solutions for on-premise SAP applications developed on the SAP ABAP programming language.

Hackers Increasingly Target SAP, Oracle ERP Applications

Hacktivist groups are increasingly targeting SAP and Oracle ERP applications, according to the "ERP Applications Under Fire" report from Onapsis and digital risk protection company Digital Shadows. Key findings from the report included:

Public exploits of SAP and Oracle ERP applications have increased 100 percent over the last three years.

ERP-specific vulnerability activity and interest rose 160 percent between 2016 and 2017.

At least 10,000 servers were running incorrectly configured software that made them susceptible to SAP or Oracle exploits.

Expect the demand for SAP and Oracle ERP application security solutions to increase in the years to come, too.

Eighty-nine percent of security experts are predicting more attacks against ERP systems, a recent report from industry analyst Crowd Research Partners revealed. Also, the report showed that 30 percent of security experts anticipate a "significant increase" in the number of ERP system attacks.

ERP Maestro, Spinnaker Support Offer ERP Application Security Solutions

In addition to Onapsis, both ERP Maestro and Spinnaker Support help organizations address SAP and Oracle ERP application security threats.

ERP Maestro offers SAP security solutions, along with reporting for auditors, IT security teams and business executives. Furthermore, ERP Maestro in May raised $12 million in venture funding and appointed Brad Noe as its CTO and Theresa Lawrence as its CMO to help drive its market growth.

Spinnaker serves as an MSSP for SAP and Oracle ERP customers. The company in 2017 partnered with information security company Alert Logic to deliver SAP and Oracle ERP application support, and today, has more than 1,000 customers.