Encrypting enterprise messages on a database level with SAP

In early 2020, a pandemic drove entire global workforces to their homes. Each of us jumped on the ‘the show must go on’ and ‘full-steam-ahead’ train, transforming our drawing rooms or beds into work stations. IT across industries had to turn to a unified communications (UC) strategy for all voice and video conferencing chats and other content tools.
This is where communication encryption strategies took a whole new turn and meaning – where real-time communications across business leaders’, partners’, and employees’ devices needed to be not only secure but also fast and reliable on a database level. Of course, the trend was not new, as leading lights of enterprise technology like SAP S/4HANA have been continuously innovating towards UC tools that can be quickly rolled out for enterprise-wide usage.
Utilizing integration tools like SAP Cloud Platform Integrator and Message Digest let us understand how S/4HANA gives businesses the ultimate governance and control over sensitive business communications within documents.
The critical role of Message-Digest and SAP Cloud Platform Integration
Message Digests are ways to ensure that the integrity of messages transmitted over insecure channels and ones received over the cloud are authentic.
The encryption step
The messages here pass through the ‘Cryptographic’ hash function – a mathematical algorithm that condenses data into a fixed size. Wherein the compressed form of the message is called a ‘digest.’ These digests are encrypted with private keys that create a digital signature. This is to ensure validation of the fact that the appropriate user is accessing any protected data or document. As mentioned above, Message Digests protect one-way hash algorithms (e.g., SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-384, SHA-512, MD5, etc.) using random data and transmitting a fixed ‘hashed’ value for your system.

The integration step
Say  you want to ensure that all your enterprise messages can be decrypted and encrypted while it was being transmitted in real-time, you would definitely need the integration flow step. SAP’s Cloud Platform Integrator helps you connect all your cloud and on-premise applications while migrating to S/4, and thus how you integrate processes, data, and people in your system by configuring integration flows will determine the direct /indirect impact on your operations. You can also learn how to regularly or monitor, maintain, automate, and secure integration flows. For Message Digest, CPI offers standard integrations ready to use in securing messages, implement protocols of converting them, adhering corporate compliance, and more.

Essentially, Message Digests are designed to not only protect the integrity of any piece of media or data but also detect changes or alterations to any parts of the message and assist in loading duplicated files for efficient data management. Encryption enabled UC in SAP S/4HANA Cloud is one of the biggest underlying enablers for businesses to improved operational agility, boost team productivity, and lower communication costs by consolidating overlapping services – reducing your overall IT overhead.
A clear UC roadmap
YASH Technologies is an SAP partner for 25+ years and had dedicated 15+ SAP Centres of Excellence just for the very reason of maximizing the impact of data transformation (DX) with revolutionary technologies. A key tenet of any successful DX and UC strategy is their combination – one that results in the highest quality experiences for your employees and customers – at the lowest cost.
Learn more about our SAP S/4HANA services and solutions across sectors here.

• Integrator and Message Digest
• S/4HANA
• SAP
• SAP Cloud Platform