• Focusing On People: Strengthening Cybersecurity In IBM Power Systems

  March 4, 2024 Tom Horan

  In the digital realm, cybersecurity is crucial, particularly for essential infrastructures like IBM Power Systems. These machines support various business functions and are prime targets for cyberattacks. Even the most fortified tech defenses can crumble due to one human error. This concise guide highlights the critical importance of the human element in safeguarding IBM Power Systems from cyber threats and outlines key strategies for implementing a people-centric security framework.

  Understanding The Threat Scene

  The cyber threat landscape is constantly evolving and becoming increasingly complex, with hackers continuously devising new, innovative tactics to exploit vulnerabilities. Among the emerging trends are ransomware …

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• More Critical Security Vulns Reported In IBM i Components

  March 4, 2024 Alex Woodie

  The run of serious security vulnerabilities in IBM i components continues in early 2024, as IBM reported 10 new flaws exist across OpenSSH, the Apache Web Server, ISC, and Facsimile Support for IBM i in February and early March. All of the flaws impact IBM i 7.2 through 7.5 and all have been patched by IBM via PTFs.

  The most critical of the recent batch of security flaws exists in OpenSSH, the open source security utility for establishing encrypted communications between hosts and clients. As described by IBM in this February 23 security bulletin, the vulnerability (CVE-2023-51385) is caused …

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• Some Clarity – Well Actually Less – On IBM i Subscriptions

  March 4, 2024 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  As we pointed out a few weeks ago, it looks like at least some aspects of Big Blue’s subscription model for pricing hardware and systems software is a work in progress. We accidentally saw an IBM document dated February 15 that had updated some aspects of the subscription pricing for machines in the IBM i P05 and P10 software tiers and said that others would be updated on May 7.

  In the time that it took us to write that story, which wasn’t long, IBM took the PDF down and said that it needed to make edits to that …

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• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 26, Number 9

  March 4, 2024 Doug Bidwell

  IBM i 7.2 has been superseded a long time ago, but there is still a lot of it in the Power Systems installed base and Big Blue is still making updates to it for those customers who are stuck on the 7.2 release and who are stuck paying for extended support, which is very expensive. To that end, there is a new 720 Group HIPER, level 242, rolled up in PTF patch SF99719, which you can read about here.

  There are also two new security vulnerabilities for the IBM i stack.

  First, we have Security Bulletin: IBM WebSphere Application …

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• The Cloud Is Part Of The IBM i Present, And A Bigger Part Of Its Future

  February 26, 2024 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  As obvious as this might sound in hindsight, if you want to get the right answers, you have to ask the right questions in the first place. And as inquisitive communicators, we will be the first ones to admit that this is not always as easy as it sounds.

  It is hard to draw the line in the timeline sands for when the first true cloudy instance of a Power Systems machine running a rentable license to the IBM i operating system was announced, but it is safe to say that various hosting providers have been renting out parts of …

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• No Matter Where You Are Going, Migrate Live Helps You Get There

  February 26, 2024 Ash Giddings

  Businesses are now faced with more choices than ever before when it comes to their IBM i environments. Should they keep them on-premise on Power10 following a well-trodden path, migrate them to a partner’s Power cloud, or embrace the public cloud? Or maybe some combination of the three?

  Whatever the decision, probably the largest hurdle is the actual migration, with downtime invariably not an option coupled with the challenge of moving terabytes of critical data without impacting the business. Traditional migration methods are time-consuming, prone to error and come with integrity risks. In addition, system administrators and those responsible for …

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• The Power Of Community At LISUG

  February 26, 2024 Steven Wolk

  Running an IBM i user group is hard work these days, but the team at the Long Island Systems User Group makes it look easy. Despite having seen their sister groups in New York and Connecticut fold and cease operations since COVID, LISUG not only stands as the last remaining group in the tri-state area – that is New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut – but has been growing and there’s no shortage of exciting initiatives underway.

  What’s their secret? It’s the same basic formula, with a few twists – but it all starts with showcasing top quality speakers. In …

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• As I See It: Doctor AI

  February 26, 2024 Victor Rozek

  AI has been getting a lot of press and chatter lately, its vast potential for good and ill spawning prodigious debate. It’s not surprising that a technology predicted to impact 40 million jobs engenders a wide range of possible outcomes. But whether the future tilts toward transformational or apocalyptic depends, in part, on which profession is doing the assessment.

  One of the more ardent transformationalists is Eric Topol. To say Topol is over-accomplished would be an understatement. He is a cardiologist, a scientist, and an author. In his spare time he became the founder and director of the Scripps Research …

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• IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 26, Number 8

  February 26, 2024 Doug Bidwell

  It is a rare week when there is not some sort of security bulletin that affects all of the major operating systems, and this week is not one of those rare weeks. There are three security vulnerabilities affecting the current IBM i releases as well as a group of security patches for the vintage IBM i 7.2 release. Let’s get started with the security vulnerabilities, as is our common practice.

  First, we have Security Bulletin: Multiple Vulnerabilities in IBM Java SDK affect IBM WebSphere Application Server and IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty due to January 2024 CPU, which you can …

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• Lots Of Unanswered Questions On IBM i Subscriptions

  February 19, 2024 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  Like all of you, we have been watching with great interest as Big Blue transitions the IBM i software stack and Power10 hardware to cloud-like, utility-style subscription pricing. We have watched how each part of the IBM i stack has been transformed from the perpetual (and sometimes user) license pricing scheme with Software Maintenance to a subscription.

  As far as we know, and as we reported back in September 2023 when the subscription pricing for the IBM i P05 and P10 software tiers was revealed, March 26, 2024, is supposed to be the last day you will be able to …

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