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Mitigate Your IBMi Potential Security Risks With AS400 Technical Support

Are you one of those IBMi system administrators who are struggling to customize, integrate, and upgrade their traditional AS400 Systems or IBMi ecosystem? Do you feel the urge to re-evaluate the security of your IBMi or modernize your legacy AS400 Systems since you are unable to make the most of your iSeries Servers and infrastructure? If so, you are not alone. Today, many enterprise-level organizations across the globe are struggling to manage their AS400 Systems and unlock the potential of the IBMi ecosystem to achieve desired objectives and business goals. This is where the role of IBM AS400 maintenance comes in.

To keep up with the current market dynamics, the legacy IBMi system requires AS400 technical support since this aging OS easily outgrows its intended and original requirements when used by enterprises for an extended period. Not to mention, AS400 Systems have been around for several decades, yet a large number of IBMi system administrators have a perception that this legacy software is inherently protected by the industry titan IBM. Though IBMi is still reliable, it does require additional security measures taken care of by system administrators. As an IBMi system administrator, it is imperative to take a meticulous look at the current health status of your AS400 Systems and determine what additional security measures need to be taken to ensure the safety and security of the IBM i ecosystem. By doing so, you can not only thwart away potential security risks but also avoid malicious behavior and infiltration in your business operations. Now, let’s quickly dig deeper into key security concerns associated with AS400 Systems and how an IBMi system administrator can tackle them effectively.

Running Software and Applications on an Unsupported Version of IBMi

This is one of the common issues linked with almost every operating system (OS) – not running your computing heavy mission-critical applications on the updated OS version can cause a host of serious issues, particularly, if you are running your enterprise-grade solutions on a version that is no longer supported by the vendor. Having an obsolete version of AS400 Systems simply indicates that you are vulnerable to potential security attacks since you don’t have access to the advanced security tools that come with the recent upgrades. In other words, the lack of security patches makes your system clunky & outdated and you may also not receive help from your vendor in case of disaster.

Using Only a Single Layer of Security

It is not considered wise to rely on a single layer of security when it comes to protecting AS400 Systems from potential security attacks. Many IBMi system administrators believe that PC virus protection or a firewall is enough to safeguard AS400 Systems against a security attack. However, that’s not true at all. A multi-layered security solution is required to safeguard the IBMi system including stringent user profiles, firewalls, virus protection, exit point management, etc. It is strongly recommended that IBMi system administrators should carefully evaluate the security position of AS400 Systems from different aspects. When evaluating the security, you should always make sure that you don’t overlook any security aspect through which prowlers or people with malicious intent could obtain access to the system.

Not Having a Robust Cyber Attack Plan in Place

An IBMi system administrator needs to understand that a cyber attack plan is not similar to a traditional disaster recovery plan. A cyber attack requires a completely different approach to deal with. In case of a cyber-attack, you need to determine where the security attack is coming from, how you can stop it, and what actions you need to take to evaluate data loss or restore the damages done. Always remember that dealing with a virus is completely different from dealing with malicious prowlers impersonating users to steal data. For instance, if a hacker steals your confidential business data, the security risks are not as similar as your in-house server getting damaged.

The best possible way to overcome this challenge is to have two countermeasures in place to deal with both scenarios aforementioned backed by the necessary solutions and actions that need to be taken.

Operating Below the Standard Security Level

IBM strongly recommends IBMi system administrators set the security of OS to the minimum level of 40. However, many times, system administrators back-level the configuration during AS400 maintenance to add legacy software and applications and then forget to revert it to the original level. Operating below the security level of 40 makes your system vulnerable to potential security attacks. Therefore, it’s wise to set the OS at the standard security level. Also, you should plan for maintenance and do the required testing to make your system foolproof.

Summing Up

It can’t be denied that IBMi is still a robust and reliable technology, however, there are potential security threats that make your AS400 Systems vulnerable, particularly, if you are using an outdated OS, database, or application. If you want to add a layer of security to your IBMi ecosystem, you should refer to this informative piece. Besides this, you may also seek help from an iSeries maintenance and support service provider.

 

Written By

Devansh Bansal, Vice President – Presales, with a stint of over 23 years has steered fast growth and has played a key role in evolving Damco’s technology business to respond to the changes across multiple industry sectors. He is responsible for thoroughly understanding complex end-to-end customer solutions and make recommendations, estimations, and proposals. He has a proven track record of creating differentiated business-driven solutions to help our clients gain a competitive advantage. Being a go-getter and hands-on leader, Devansh’s contribution to the growth and success of Damco is immeasurable.

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