A mainframe security audit consists of checks that collectively ascertain the level of security of the computer in question. These checks are likely to be categorized into physical safeguards, risks, security procedures, mainframe security audit definitions in the operating system, security audit policy and a review of the activity that has taken place on the computer. The audit may also include penetration testing in which a controlled attempt is made to enter the system without authorization.
Reasons for Doing a Security Audit
The process of an IT risk assessment is often the reason the mainframe security audit is undertaken. The requirements for the audit will of course vary from case to case and are likely to be influenced the internal control policy of the organization and by security laws, standards or regulations which have been adopted by the organization. See regulatory compliance software.
Security Audit Software
In many cases, a security audit can be assisted by using appropriate security management tools - software that can make definitions, such as authorities granted to users and system parameters, easier to make and review and which can show logs of system and user activity in a clearer fashion. Bsafe Information Systems develops a number of such tools for MVS (z/OS), VSE 2.3 and VSE/TS.
Mainframe Security Audit in the CPA
The Bsafe/CPA (Cross Platform Audit) is a powerful tool that consolidates your mainframe audit data in one place. It can track details of user and administrator activity from a number of different mainframes on a single screen. With the aid of the global user function, the activity of a user who has used various different user IDs across different mainframe computers can be consolidated and viewed under the same user. This provides a unique audit trail of a user's activity across different machines. The main categories of MF audit events monitored by Bsafe's security tools are listed below.
SMF RACF
SAFE mainframe CICS
SMF DB2
SMF application access control (telnet and FTP)
SMF VSAM
Mainframe DB2 log records
For more information on the CPA's mainframe security audit capability and other Bsafe mainframe security software products, contact us today.
