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PT27237
Training Summary
The Advanced RACF course will include topics that will:
- Review at a high level parts of the mainframe hardware configuration so as to identify key areas which could affect the security of the environment
- Review parts of the z/OS operating system to attain an understanding such that the student will be better able to understand what is being reported within RACF listings and the RACF DSMON auditor reports
- A basic overview of RACF so that students can view security from a ‘big-picture’ standpoint, followed by more in-depth discussions about best practices for RACF implementation as well as a discussion of how RACF security can be bypassed
- An in-depth review of RACF global settings, Group, User and Resource profile options
Prerequisites
Students should have basic knowledge of the mainframe environment, RACF, TSO, and ISPF/PDF.
Duration
4 Days/Lecture & Lab
Audience
- RACF administrators, managers, security architects
- Systems programmers, database and online systems programmers, application programmers
- IT auditors, compliance and governance personnel
- Any person responsible for securing, reviewing, and understanding RACF in a mainframe environment
Course Topics
- Components of the mainframe environment
- Hardware configurations important for understanding access points and potential vulnerabilities
- z/OS operating system virtualization and terminology such as LPARs and DASD
- z/OS components including started tasks, JES, batch jobs, APF authorized libraries, and authorized programs
- RACF security loggings, violation messages and reports, how SMF manages loggings, SMF record types, and how SMF data sets are typically managed and backed up
- How JES supports the execution of batch jobs; examples of JCL will be explained
- Detailed review of User, Group and Resource profiles
- Review of user groups and different scenarios for managing them
- SPECIAL, AUDITOR, ROAUDIT, OPERATIONS user attributes and controlling their use
- User profile group authorities, join, connect, create and use
- Understanding the often overlooked or misunderstood fields within the User, Group and Resource profiles
- User profile segments of TSO, OMVS, DFP, and CICS
- Review of Restricted and Protected user attributes
- Understanding what POSIT is and how that impacts global setting and refresh commands
- Review of Trusted and Privileged user attributes
- Protecting data sets on disk and tape, generic profiles vs discrete profiles, WARNING setting, standard vs conditional access lists
- Various general resource classes to be covered including SURROGAT, GCICSTRN and TCICSTRN, STARTED, PROGRAM, APPL, TSOPROC, GLOBAL, and member vs grouping classes
- Review RACF Global options, use of the RACF SETROPTS command, impact of changes, and a review of settings which are typically on security reviews/audits
- RACF Authorization checking
- Students will execute RACF commands on the training mainframe using TSO, ISPF/PDF, command lists and JCL
- Review of various RACF listing and auditor reports called DSMON
- Throughout the class security best practices will be emphasized