Security configuration hardening for Planon Live
Securing your Planon Live environment is essential to protect sensitive data, prevent unauthorized access, and comply with your organization’s security policies.
Introduction
Planon provides a range of configurable security settings across different areas of the application that, when properly configured, significantly strengthen the overall security posture of your environment.
This article describes the recommended security settings for a Planon Live instance. It covers authorization, system settings, Cloud gadget configuration, mobile device considerations, and general best practices. Some of these settings may affect specific functionality — where applicable, this is noted.
 | The settings described in this article represent the optimal security configuration. Depending on your organization’s requirements, you may choose to deviate from certain recommendations. Always evaluate the impact on your business processes before making changes. |
Authorization
Authorization controls determine which users can access specific data and functionality within Planon. Proper authorization configuration is the foundation of a secure environment.
Enable authorization — Ensure that authorization is enabled for your Planon Live environment. When authorization is active, user or data access is governed by the permissions defined in the security model. Without authorization enabled, access control is not enforced, which poses a significant security risk.
More information
• Auhorization (in general)
System Settings
Setting | Recommended value | Description |
|---|---|---|
HTML Encoding | Yes | Encodes HTML characters in report output, preventing malicious scripts from being rendered in the browser. See: HTML encoding |
HTML expression sanitizing | Yes | Sanitizes HTML expressions used in reports, removing potentially dangerous content before it is processed. |
Security
Password and input validation settings protect against weak credentials and SQL injection attacks.
Setting | Recommended value | Description |
|---|---|---|
Password strength | Level 4 (Strong) | Enforces strong password requirements for user accounts. This is the highest level available in Planon and requires passwords to meet strict complexity criteria. Alternatively, you can create an even stronger Password strength manually! See: Password settings |
Planon app — Automatic access keys | Off (default) | When disabled, the Planon mobile app does not automatically generate access keys. This prevents unintended persistent access from mobile devices. |
SQL validation | On | Planon uses prepared statements where possible. When this is technically impossible, the input will be validated to protect against SQL injection attacks. This setting should always be enabled in production environments. See: SQL validation |
| | In addition to password strength, consider configuring password expiry, maximum failed login attempts, and account lockout duration to further strengthen credential security. These settings work in combination with the password strength level to provide layered protection. |
File locations
File location settings control which file types can be uploaded and how file storage is managed. Restricting file types reduces the risk of malicious file uploads.
Setting | Recommended value | Description |
|---|---|---|
Allowed file types | .pdf, .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, .pptx, .txt, .csv, .xml, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .gif, .msg, .eml | Limits the file extensions that users can upload as secure documents. Only allow file types that are required for your business processes. Executable file types (e.g. .exe, .bat, .js) should never be permitted. See: File types in File locations fields |
Allowed deviating path | No (default; read-only in Planon Live) | Prevents users from specifying custom file storage paths. In Planon Live, this setting is read-only and always set to No. See: Allow deviating path |
Planon managed | Yes | Ensures that file storage is managed by Planon. When enabled, Planon controls the file storage structure, which is the recommended and most secure configuration. See: Planon managed |
Web application
Setting | Recommended value | Description |
|---|---|---|
Enable web service console | No | The web service console provides direct access to web service endpoints and should be disabled in production environments. Leaving it enabled may expose service interfaces to unauthorized users. |
Environment management gadget
Environment management gadget settings control how users authenticate to Planon Live and how external identity providers are integrated.
Single Sign-On (SSO)
Single Sign-On simplifies the authentication process for users while improving security by centralizing credential management in an identity provider.
• Enable SSO (Keycloak) — Configure Keycloak as the identity provider for your Planon Live environment. SSO eliminates the need for users to manage separate Planon credentials and allows your organization to enforce its own authentication policies (e.g. multi-factor authentication) at the identity provider level.
See: SSO (Authentication methods)
• Set privacy sandbox compatibility — Ensure that the privacy sandbox compatibility setting is configured. This setting ensures that authentication flows work correctly in browsers that enforce privacy sandbox restrictions (e.g. third-party cookie limitations).
Note that currently this setting is enabled by default.
See: Privacy sandbox compatibility (Authentication methods)
• Use OpenID Connect where possible — OpenID Connect (OIDC) is the recommended authentication protocol for all integrations and connections that support it. OIDC provides a modern, standards-based authentication mechanism with built-in token management and session control.
See: OpenID Connect (Authentication methods)
| | Best practice: Review the lifespan settings for access tokens and refresh tokens in your Keycloak configuration. Shorter token lifespans reduce the window of opportunity for token misuse. Be aware that very short lifespans may affect user experience — find a balance that suits your organization’s security requirements. |
Environment
Mobile devices
The Planon mobile app may be used on shared tablets or company phones. While device-level security is outside the scope of Planon configuration, it is a critical part of the overall security chain.
Ensure strong device PIN or access control — All mobile devices running the Planon app should be protected by a strong PIN, biometric authentication, or other access control mechanism enforced by your organization’s mobile device management (MDM) policy. This is especially important for shared devices, where multiple users may have physical access.
Best practices
Beyond specific configuration settings, the following general best practices help maintain a secure Planon Live environment over time.
Keep Planon up to date
Security updates and fixes are included in every Planon release. To ensure your environment benefits from the latest security improvements, plan and execute updates regularly. Running outdated versions may leave your environment exposed to known vulnerabilities that have already been addressed.
Use named accounts
Avoid using shared supervisor accounts for system administration. Instead:
• Create individual named accounts for each person who administers the system.
• Add the supervisor group to these individual accounts to grant the necessary administrative permissions.
• Use an identity provider (e.g. Keycloak) to manage user accounts centrally. This provides better audit trails, simplifies account lifecycle management, and allows you to enforce organization-wide authentication policies.
Why this matters: Named accounts ensure that all actions in the system can be traced back to a specific individual. Shared accounts make it impossible to determine who performed a particular action, which is a significant security and compliance risk.
User groups
Make sure to link user groups to product definitions, thus limiting access (if you omit this, you implicitly grant access to all products).