RACF - Audit and Compliance Roadmap

Course: RACFAUD

Duration: 4 Days

Level: II

Course Summary

This course is designed for auditors, compliance monitors, and RACF administrators seeking to identify vulnerabilities in RACF-protected z/OS mainframe systems and bring the systems into compliance with legally mandated security requirements. Much more than just a simple "how to audit" class, this technically-rich course will show you how to find and address serious security exposures of the kinds commonly found during RSH's RACF audits. By the end of class, you will have gained a solid understanding of RACF, an awareness of implementation "best practices", and a comprehensive knowledge of the tools and techniques for evaluating the status of RACF protection. Better still, you will be reviewing RACF reports from your own system during class and immediately identifying control concerns. You are likely to return with a lengthy list of findings.

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Topics Covered In This Course

RACF Concepts

Introduction to RACF
Profiles & relationships

Users

Identification & authentication
Password composition & options
User profile contents & segments
RACF commands and reports for users

Groups

Concepts, hierarchy, & functions
Group profile contents & segments
RACF commands and reports for groups

Resource Protection

Concepts
Resource profiles - generic & discrete
OPERATIONS & privileged access authorities
Access permissions & authorization process
Datasets
Dataset basics & protection
Dataset profiles & contents
PROTECTALL & TAPEDSN control options
RACF commands and reports for datasets

General Resources

Resource types, names & protection
General Resource profiles & contents
RACF commands and reports for resources

JES-related Controls

Started Task identification
Batch job controls (e.g., SURROGAT)

DASD Storage Administration

STGADMIN FACILITY profiles
DASDVOL profiles

System Product Controls

z/OS Unix BPX & UNIXPRIV profiles
TSO authorities and logon resource protection
CICS transaction & command protection

Logging & Reporting

System Management Facilities (SMF)
SETROPTS & profile monitoring options
Reporting tools

Administrative Authorities

System & Group level SPECIAL & AUDITOR
Group connect authorities
Class authorization and FIELD profiles
Policies, standards, and staffing

RACF Configuration

Exits & customization
Database backup and maintenance

RACF Audit Plan, Process, & Tools

What You Can Expect

On completing this course, students will have learned:

RACF's components, primary functions, and access authorization logic
RACF configuration SETROPTS options
Use of RACF commands for gathering information
How to limit powerful authorities like OPERATIONS
Protection of high-value, security-sensitive resources
Options governing event logging and reporting
Security administration tasks and authorities
How to generate and interpret RACF DSMON reports

Who Should Take This Course

IT Auditors seeking to perform more effective audits
Compliance Monitors who want to ensure the security staff or outsource service provider has properly implemented RACF
RACF Managers & Administrators who want to find and fix control concerns before the auditors arrive

Recommended Prerequisites

Familiarity with the mainframe, RACF, and using TSO

Training Style

Instructor-led, including hands-on lab sessions.

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Related Courses

Code	Course Title	Duration	Level
AUDITE	Essential Audit Skills	5 Days	I	Details
MFAUDIT	The IBM Mainframe Environment for IT Auditors	3 Days	I	Details
ZOSJS	z/OS JUMP START FOR TECHNICAL SUPPORT STAFF	5 Days	I	Details
RACFAD01	RACF Administration	4 Days	II	Details

Every student attending a Verhoef Training class will receive a certificate good for $100 toward their next public class taken within a year.

You can also buy "Verhoef Vouchers" to get a discounted rate for a single student in any of our public or web-based classes. Contact your account manager or our sales office for details.

Schedule For This Course
There are currently no public sessions scheduled for this course. We can schedule a private class for your organization just a couple of weeks from now. Or we can let you know the next time we do schedule a public session.

Notify me the next time this course is confirmed!

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