RACF User News

The RACF User News is a free, postal mail newsletter published two times per year for users of RACF, IBM's strategic software for mainframe computer security. You can subscribe by sending your request with your name and postal address (United States only please) to us by phone, fax or email.
(If you are outside the United States, send an email to stu@stuhenderson.com with the word RUGALERT as the subject. We will then send you an email for every new issue, reminding you to check our website for the online version of the newsletter.)

For back issues, Click below to select the Issue Number you want:

• Issue 80, February, 2012 covers: Encryption Backgrounder, Control Structures, Hard Password Info, Access Creep and Wikileaks
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• Issue 79, October, 2011, covers: Identity Propagation, New Stuff, Expedited Dealing with Auditors, BPX.UNIQUE.USER, Connections to Secure
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• Issue 78, February, 2011, covers: Is SNA Really Dead?, TCP/IP Security Check-up, Is the New z/196 Computer a "Cloud in the Box"
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• Issue 77, September, 2010, covers: Self Assessment for Control of System Access, CICS Tricks, USS Security Surprise, RACF and Audit Training
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• Issue 76, April, 2010, covers: Data Protection Self Assessment, Site Certificates, Which Started Tasks Should be TRUSTED?
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• Issue 75, Sept. 2009, covers: Neat Stuff with the APPL class, the REAL Skinny on EOS, parmlib stuff, ways to simplify life
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• Issue 74, March, 2009, covers: RACF 1.11 Options, Better Wasy to Secure Tapes, Debugging RACF Performance Problems
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• Issue 73, Sept., 2008, covers: What To Do With New Password Options, Securing Your Networks, RACF 1.10 New Options,
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• Issue 72, Jan., 2008, covers: NY RACF User Group Joint Meeting with Tampa RUG Feb. 12, Share Your APPN Security Stories, Resource Class Rules of Thumb, Password Rules and Auditors, Making Sense of Digitial Certificates
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• Issue 71, Sept., 2007, covers: NY RACF User Group Meets Oct.9, User Group Survey, Securing FTP, Why Kerberos or SSL, New Contest: "America's Funniest RACF Set-Ups"
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• Issue 70, March, 2007, covers: NY RACF User Group Meets May 3, User Group Survey, Seminar "UNIX (USS) for RACF Administrators May 15, How to Minimize the Number of Users with OPERATIONS, More on IMS Security, Why it Matters Where Decisions Get Made
  
  
  
• Issue 69, Sept., 2006, covers: RACF User Group Meets Oct. 26, Answers and Winners to Exciting Quiz, HCD Protection, DB2 RACF Protection
  
  
  
• Issue 68, March., 2006, covers: RACF User Group Meets April 4, PROPCNTL Resource Class, More on the Health Checker software from IBM, Exciting Quiz, How Options Should Be Set br/>
  
  
  
• Issue 67, Sept., 2005, covers: RACF User Group Meets Oct. 27, Password Options and Opinion, RACF Commands for New Release, the Health Checker software from IBM
  
  
  
  
• Issue 66, March, 2005, covers: the find command in USS, free training at NYRUG, From the RACF-L List Server
  
  
  
  
• Issue 65, Sept., 2004, covers: RACF for z/OS 1.6, APPCLU Resource Class, Make Your Own Report Writer
  
  
  
  
• Issue 64, March, 2004, covers: RACF for z/OS 1.5, Survey Results, BWRUG Meets, Group Tree Explained
  
  
  
  
• Issue 63, Dec., 2003, covers: SPECIAL YEAR-END SURVER, RACF Best Practices
  
  
  
  
• Issue 62, Sept., 2003, covers: New Release Emphasizes Security Labels; How SECLABELs Work with DB2; What's a Security Label?
  
  
  
  
  
• Issue 61, April, 2003, covers: How to Tighten Up Your RACF; How to Think About RACF and TCP/IP; How to Tell What Release of RACF You Are On
  
  
  
  
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• Issue 60, Sept., 2002, covers: RACF Automatically Maintains Unique UIDs and GIDs; Release 1.4 Features; Why You Want to Re-Structure Your RACF Database
  
  
  
• Issue 59, Mar., 2002, covers: Release 1.3 Features; How ACLs Work; Extra Session of Class: "UNIX (USS) for RACF Administrators"
  
  
  
• Issue 58, Dec., 2001, covers: New Release Features; Universal Groups
  
  
  
• Issue 57, Sept., 2001, covers: How to Secure a Port; New "How to Audit ... Seminar Series; Defining System Symbols to RACF
  
  
  
• Issue 56, March, 2001, covers: About z/OS, How to Hard-Revoke a Userid, What Comes After Kilobyte and Megabyte
  
  
  
  
• Issue 55, Dec., 2000, covers: How RACF Links the Different Ways We name Users, A Tip From Walt Farrell' Follow-up on OMVS and SPECIAL, z/OS
  
  
  
• Issue 54, Sept., 2000, covers: RACF 2.10 Features, 2001 Seminar schedule, How to Deal with E-Mail Viruses, Phil Emrich to Speak at NYRUG and BWRUG in October
  
  
  
• Issue 53, June, 2000, covers: RESTRICTED User Attribute, "I Love You" Virus Comments, Distinguished names, How to Think About Internet Users Connecting to the Mainframe
  
  
  
• Issue 52, March, 2000, covers: New Source for Password Cracker Program, A Big Hole You Can Plug, FACILITY Class Rules for UNIX and the Internet, How to Evaluate Your Dataset Naming Standard
  
  
  
• Issue 51, Dec., 1999, covers: Critical RACF Performance Tips, Security Seminar Dates in 2000, More on UNIXPRIV Resource Class
  
  
  
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• Issue 50, Sept., 1999, covers: New IMS Release Security, RACF 2.8 Features, RACF Performance Analysis (Fifteen Minute Project), Open Crypt Enhanced Plug-In (OCEP) with OS/390 Security Server
  
  
• Issue 49, June, 1999, covers: New Rugs Forming, RACF 2.8 Features in the Fall, Easy Intro to OPERCMDS Resource Class, First Draft of Our RACF Rules of Thumb, UNIXMAP Resource Class
  
  
• Issue 48, Mar., 1999, covers: Accessing OMVS Files from TSO; Problem with 8 Character Userids; a Diatribe on the Design of VTAM; and Comments on having a default UACC of NONE; and a Warning that the OPERCMDS Class Will Shortly be Required
  
  
• Issue 47, Dec., 1998, covers RACFVARS warning, Policy Sharing Library, How to Let Helpdesk Reset Passwords Without Group Special, Lower Case Characters for OMVS Segment, New Features for Password Cracker Program
  
  
  
• Issue 46, Sept., 1998, covers LDAP, RACF Software Industry Update Re-Structuring, Free Tools for RACF Administration
  
  
• Issue 45, Jun., 1998, covers More on Hackers, Tape Security, More on TSOPROC
  
  
• Issue 44, Mar., 1998, covers Hackers and JESINPUT, Trusted STCs, Rel 4 Info
  
  
• Issue 43, Dec., 1997, covers DB2 exit, Advanced CICS/RACF