• The Four Hundred
  • Subscribe
  • Media Kit
  • Contributors
  • About Us
  • Contact
Menu
  • The Four Hundred
  • Subscribe
  • Media Kit
  • Contributors
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Raz-Lee Asks ‘What If’ With Firewall

    October 9, 2019 Alex Woodie

    Security administrators who feel challenged to keep up with the volume and variety of log data emanating from the IBM i server may be interested in the new “What If” features that Raz-Lee Security recently added to Firewall, its exit-point management solution for IBM i.

    Firewall helps to guard network access points to IBM i servers, including TCP/IP, FTP, Telnet, DHCP, and other protocols. The software lets administrators set global and specific access rules for groups of IBM i servers and users, as well as controlling access to IBM i objects and providing the ability to set exceptions for specific users. It’s a powerful and established IBM i security tool, used for years, featuring both GUI and 5250 greenscreen interfaces.

    Firewall also generates its share of logs to track what has taken place. These logs have the potential to be quite voluminous, just like the other log-generating interfaces on the IBM i server (the audit journal comes to mind). Raz-Lee develops owner tools to manage some of these other logs, such as its AP-Journal software. Now it’s providing more BI-like functionality for the log data generated by Firewall.

    With Firewall version 18.08, Raz-Lee has expanded the “what if” capability in the software. According to the company, this feature delivers better insight into the configurations of the exit points themselves, including the capability to “re-calculate logged events.”

    The company explains how the new feature works:

    “Now you can check your previous activity logs against rules that you have modified and see how these changes would influence the results. Results that would change are highlighted. This requires no previous preparation and can be used for any set of past events.”

    In other words, security administrators can tweak the exit point settings and see how those changes would have impacted their real-world traffic. That can help an administrator see in advance how an attempt to tighten security rules might cause unexpected impacts, and take further steps to refine how those changes should be implemented.

    The new release, version 18.8, can also let admins simulate firewall Events. That means that the admin can determine “the behavior of the firewall for any possible event,” the company says. “Enter any set of event parameters and see how Firewall would react to them. With this capability, you no longer have to create real events to test your rules.”

    This release also brings enhanced support for socket exit points, including the capability to accept, connect, and listen to sockets. Raz-Lee says socket exit points can help the administrator control activities like email, TCP, UDP, ports, and IP. They now appear as standard exit points, the company says.

    Raz-Lee is also giving customers the capability to go “freestyle” with their socket exit point rules. The company says that, while the traditional “layered” rule system works for most situation, some situations may require administrators to proceed without any predefined hierarchy of checks.

    Raz-Lee says that, with freestyle rules, every attribute of the event can be compared to a value. The company gives users various ways to check attributes of known events, using “and” and “or” logic, and also check it’s part of an externally defined group.

    Lastly, this release opens Firewall up to work with SQL jobs in the database, in particular OZDASOINT jobs that are server data to ODBC and JDBC connections. The new release also lets users skip server subcommands, which the company says helps to reduce the number of places to look for potential problems.

    Shmuel Zailer, CEO, Raz-Lee Security, says the new release of Firewall will help customers keep on top of the changing security landscape.

    “Technological advances over the years have compelled IBM to open IBM i systems to networks,” he stated in a press release. “This variety of interfaces and protocols results in new threats. Raz-Lee Security is committed to providing security solutions for the IBM i that will protect it from the ever-changing threats it encounters. We are seriously enhancing our product to provide new dimensions of convenience and agility.”

    For more information, see www.razlee.com.

    RELATED STORIES

    Raz-Lee Reels In The File Editors

    Raz-Lee Debuts Anti-Ransomware For IBM i

    Share this:

    • Reddit
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Email

    Tags: Tags: 5250, DHCP, FTP, GUI, IBM i, SQL, TCP/IP, Telnet

    Sponsored by
    PERFSCAN

    Revolutionary Performance Management Software

    At Greymine, we recognize there is a void in the IT world for a dedicated performance management company and also for a performance management tool that’s modern, easy to use, and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. That’s why we created PERFSCAN.

    PERFSCAN is designed to make your job easier. With revolutionary technology, an easy-to-read report and graphics engine, and real time monitoring, tasks that used to take days can now take minutes. This means you will know your system better and will be able to provide better service to your customers.

    OUR FEATURES

    PERFSCAN is full of robust features that don’t require you to take a three-day class in order to use the product effectively.

    Customizable Performance Reporting

    Whether you are troubleshooting a major system problem or simply creating a monthly report, PERFSCAN lets you select any combination of desired performance metrics (CPU, Disk, and Memory).

    User Defined Performance Guidelines

    No matter if you are a managed service provider managing complex systems in the cloud or a customer analyzing your on-premises solution, PERFSCAN gives you the flexibility to define all mission critical guidelines how they need to be.

    Understanding The Impact Of Change

    Tired of all the finger pointing when performance is suffering? PERFSCAN’s innovative What’s Changed and Period vs. Period analysis creates a culture of proof by correlating known environmental changes with system performance metrics.

    Comprehensive Executive Summary

    Creating performance graphs is easy. Understanding what they mean is another thing. With one mouse click, PERFSCAN includes an easy-to-understand executive summary for each core metric analyzed.

    Combined Real-Time Monitor And Performance Analysis Tool

    With PERFSCAN’s combined built in enterprise real-time monitor and historical performance analysis capability, you will always know how your mission-critical systems are performing.

    Cloud Performance Reporting Is Easy

    Managing performance for production systems in the cloud can be a black hole to many system administrators. The good news is PERFSCAN analyzes all core metrics regardless of the location. That’s why MSPs and customers love PERFSCAN.

    Detailed Job Analysis

    PERFSCAN shows detailed top job analysis for any desired period. All metrics are displayed in two ways: Traditional Report and Percentage Breakdown Pie Chart. This toggle capability instantly shows the jobs using the most system resources.

    Save Report Capability

    Your boss lost the report you gave to him on Friday. Now what do you do? With PERFSCAN’s save report capability, any report can be retrieved in a matter of seconds.

    Professional PDF Reporting With Branding

    Creating professional looking reports for your customers has never been easier with PERFSCAN. Branding for our partners and service provider customers is easy with PERFSCAN.

    Check it out at perfscan.com

    Share this:

    • Reddit
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Email

    IBM i On Google Cloud Not GA Yet IBM i 7.3 And 7.4 Get Their Autumn Tech Refreshes

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

TFH Volume: 29 Issue: 58

This Issue Sponsored By

  • iTech Solutions
  • Profound Logic Software
  • WorksRight Software
  • Fresche Solutions
  • Manta Technologies

Table of Contents

  • IBM i 7.3 And 7.4 Get Their Autumn Tech Refreshes
  • Raz-Lee Asks ‘What If’ With Firewall
  • IBM i On Google Cloud Not GA Yet
  • Four Hundred Monitor, October 9
  • IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 21, Number 40

Content archive

  • The Four Hundred
  • Four Hundred Stuff
  • Four Hundred Guru

Recent Posts

  • Power10 Boosts NVM-Express Flash Performance
  • Fortra Completes Postmortem Of GoAnywhere Vulnerability
  • Guru: Binding Directory Entries
  • How Does Your Infrastructure Spending Stack Up To The World?
  • IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 25, Number 22
  • Fortra Issues 20th State of IBM i Security Report
  • FNTS Launches Managed Services for Power Servers in IBM Cloud
  • Total LTO Shipped Capacity Up Slightly in 2022
  • Four Hundred Monitor, May 24
  • Update On Critical Security Vulnerability In PowerVM

Subscribe

To get news from IT Jungle sent to your inbox every week, subscribe to our newsletter.

Pages

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Contributors
  • Four Hundred Monitor
  • IBM i PTF Guide
  • Media Kit
  • Subscribe

Search

Copyright © 2023 IT Jungle