Mark Nelson
Senior Technical Staff Member, z/OS Security Server (RACF) Design and Development, IBM Poughkeepsie
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Mark Nelson, CISSP, CSSLP, Senior Software Engineer, joined IBM in Poughkeepsie, NY, in 1982 and moved to the RACF team in 1987 for a six-month temporary assignment. His RACF career featured working on auditing and data analysis tools (IRRDBU00, IRRADU00, RACFICE), RACF's Health Checks, RACF/Db2, support for encrypting access methods, RACF's support for digital certificates, and RACF’s encrypted data base support, among other projects.
Mark started as student of electrical engineering at the Polytechnic Institute of New York (now the ‘NYU Tandon School of Engineering’) where he discovered the joy of programming on a System/360 Model 65 and quickly switched to computer science.
Mark is an active speaker on RACF and has received several SHARE “Best Session” awards, six and a half “Top Gun” (best session) awards from the Vanguard Enterprise Security Expo, five “Best Vendor Session” awards at GSE, and was the 1999 recipient of the Vanguard “Chairman’s Award.” Mark is a co-author of the book “Mainframe Security for Security Experts: An Introduction to RACF”. Mark was inducted into the zExchange Superheros in 2017 and is an adjunct instructor at Marist College on z/OS security.
Mark is the director of the MHV IBM Club Chorus and a private pilot.
The Path to an Encrypted RACF Database - The Theory
With z/OS V2R5, RACF introduced the option to have a VSAM data set as your RACF data base in specific environments. The intent, as stated in a z/OS statement of direction is to “to enhance pervasive encryption through RACF support for the use of an encrypted VSAM data set as its data base in specific configurations.”
This session describes the use of a VSAM linear data set as a RACF data base, the considerations for having an encrypted RACF VSAM data set, and how to move to an encrypted RACF VSAM data set.
This session is part one, with the second part being "The Path to an Encrypted RACF Database - The Reality", presented by Lenny Demoke-Bradshaw.
The IBM System/360: The ‘Bet your Business Gamble’ that Shaped the Information Technology Industry
Tuesday, 7 April, 1964, was an inflection point for the information technology industry. With a consistent architecture across a line of new computers, the IBM System/360 enabled the unprecedented growth of both the computer hardware and software industries. This session explores the history and effects of this announcement.
RACF Update: z/OS 3.1 and More!
What’s new in RACF? In this session we’ll cover the top new new features in RACF, including those introduced in z/OS 3.1 (APPLAUDIT enhancements, Custom Field information in the ACEE), and those which were made available on earlier releases (Identity token enhancements, passphrase interval separate from password interval, CIS Benchmarks, disabling additional logon attempts for SPECIAL users, validated boot) and more!
RACF and the Parallel Sysplex
The 1994 introduction of the Coupling Facility (CF) introduced a new era in mainframe processing. From day one, RACF has allowed clients to utilize the CF as a high-performance cache for information in the RACF database.
This session explores RACF’s use of sysplex services, from ENF signals to help manage cache purging to the RACF’s DATASHARING mode, which allows the use of the CF as a high-speed cache for the RACF data base.
Session was done back at GSE 2020 and is similar to this session: https://public.dhe.ibm.com/eserver/zseries/zos/racf/pdf/rugone_2021_10_14_racf_and_the_parallel_sysplex.pdf
Introduction to Pervasive Encryption
Security has always been a major focus on IBM Z. The Pervasive Encryption initiative has as its goal the encryption of every byte of data that exits an IBM Z box.
In this session, we examine the hardware features that are the foundation of Pervasive Encryption: The Crypto Express card and the CPACF cryptographic processor and explain how they are used to implement key features like z/OS data set encryption and z/OS Coupling Facility encryption.
Mark Nelson
Senior Technical Staff Member, z/OS Security Server (RACF) Design and Development, IBM Poughkeepsie
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