In The Spotlight
A potential hole in cloud-based application security is the ability of attackers to gain access and then move laterally between workloads the network handles. While network segmentation has long been a useful dodge, effective security needs a more granular approach.
By John Ghrist
As cloud applications and networks handle larger and larger volumes of data, particularly in hybrid environments, concern about security has grown. Traditional network segmentation strategies such as encryption and firewalls have provided a major roadblock to network disruption and data theft, but as has been true in the history of all warfare, the most effective weapons of the last battle rapidly become less adequate. Instead, moving to the forefront are concepts such as promoting a "microsegmentation" architecture to support strategies like the Zero Trust security model.
The main reason for installing a PAM system is to provide greater security to the granting of access to systems at a specialist functionality level.
by Graham Williamson
Editor’s note: This chapter is excerpted from chapter 4 of Identity Management: A Business Perspective.
Benefits
There are some added side benefits:
- Logging and monitoring of access to systems at a privileged level can be enabled. If a user remains online for extended periods of time, an alert can be raised and action taken. While this might not indicate nefarious activity, limiting access and returning users to a lower privileged account can minimize the opportunity for mistakes that might inadvertently cause business disruption.
- PAMs can be configured to automatically notify a manager whenever a privileged account has been accessed. This provides an extra level of monitoring that lessens the likelihood of privileged account abuse.
- PAMs can also be used to provide additional protection to relying systems. For instance, if system administration work is undertaken only in business hours, the PAM system can restrict access to elevated privilege accounts outside business hours.
In addition to named constants and standalone variables, you can define data structures, which are simply a means of organizing multiple variables within a single section of contiguous portions of memory. Miss the previous excerpts regarding using declarations? Read each here: Part 1 & Part 2 & Part 3
By Brian Meyers and Jim Buck
Editor's Note: This article is excerpted from chapter 4 of Programming in ILE RPG, Fifth Edition.
Data structures can provide flexibility in your handling of data by letting you group variables into a logical structure, subdivide variables into subfields, and redefine variables with different data types or names. An RPG program can process the entire data structure as a unit or its subfields individually.
Database tables contain your core business data, so it’s very important to protect them from accidental deletion. The RESTRICT ON DROP clause can be used to add an extra layer of protection to prevent this problem.
By Sarah Mackenzie
Generally, authorities are used to prevent the malicious or accidental deletion of database objects; however, if a trusted user has been granted the correct authorities or if a user has *ALLOBJ special authority, they still could accidentally delete important database tables, procedures, and functions. If this happens, you can try to recover your lost object by using a saved version or by replaying journal entries, but this can be very difficult and time-consuming. It is much easier to just prevent that deletion from occurring in the first place by using RESTRICT ON DROP.
Current Events All Events
Start marking your calendars for next year's conferences from COMMON:
POWERUp 2025 - May 19-22, 2025 in Anaheim, California
- 19 May 2025 - 22 May 2025
- Anaheim, CA
December 17, 2024
12:00 p.m. – 12:45 p.m. CST
The IBM i is not on an impenetrable island all by itself – it’s commonly connected to many different facets of the business such as ERP applications, trading partners, and enterprise business intelligence systems. This increasing connectiveness, combined with the severity of today’s threats, makes preventing and detecting suspicious activity more important than ever.
But what does that mean for a platform like the IBM i? And how would you go about doing that?
Join our live webinar on December 17th on how to find and block intrusion attempts on the IBM i. We’ll discuss:
- The importance of a multi-layered approach and what this looks like on IBM i
- How ransomware has raised the stakes
- Flaws in existing intrusion detection systems
You’ll also learn how to control connections that threat actors typically use as well as manage event notifications and security alerts.
- 17 December 2024 - 17 December 2024
- World Wide Web
The Richard C. Loeber Fellowship Program is built on the belief that IBM i is a great platform on which to build a career, and that great careers happen when companies invest in people. RCL is a partnership between Kisco Systems and IBM i shops who want to launch careers by developing high potential employees.
By 1984, Richard Loeber had built a career starting with card punch at a railroad and working up to data processing manager at a global consumer goods company. But he was stuck. Without a college degree he could progress no further on the traditional career path. So he started a company called Kisco Information Systems. Known today simply as Kisco Systems, the company Rich founded continues to thrive in IBM i security software and services.
To honor this achievement and to help launch modern IBM i careers for people from all backgrounds, Kisco Systems is proud to offer the Richard C Loeber Fellowship program.
The program partners with IBM i customers to develop high potential employees who are smart, curious and highly motivated but do not yet have all the experience or skills to build a career on the IBM i platform.
Meet our Fellows
January 2024: Cameron Stewart
July 2024: Daniel Adams and Blake Rouzee
The next selection will be announced by January 2025.
Fellowship Benefits
- IBM i and RPG training provided by imPower
- COMMON membership for one year including registration for two conferences
- Recognition throughout the IBM i community
Program Requirements
- Applicant must be sponsored by an active IBM i customer (end user only, no vendors) with a limit of one fellow per employer every three years
- Age 35 years or younger
- Reside in USA or Canada
- Highly motivated and hard-working with innate curiosity and thirst for knowledge
- At least two years of work experience
- Non-employer letter of recommendation
- All career backgrounds welcome
- Neither the applicant nor the sponsoring company have received training from imPower within the last three years
Timeline
Three fellowships will be granted every calendar year.
January 2025 application deadline: Dec 31.
- 19 November 2024 - 31 December 2024
- World Wide Web
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