Top Secret and IBM Resource Access Control Facility are competing in mainframe security. Top Secret's user-friendly setup gives it an edge, though IBM's robust features justify its higher cost.
Features: Top Secret offers simplified access management, compliance tracking, and ease of use. IBM Resource Access Control Facility provides comprehensive resource protections, auditing capabilities, and extensive security options.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Top Secret features a streamlined deployment and strong customer support, making rapid integration possible. IBM Resource Access Control Facility has a more complex deployment, supported by thorough documentation and expert guidance, aligning with enterprises needing customization.
Pricing and ROI: Top Secret generally offers lower setup costs and a faster ROI, attracting budget-sensitive organizations. IBM Resource Access Control Facility may have higher initial costs, but its long-term benefits and scalability support organizations emphasizing a comprehensive security infrastructure.
In 1976, IBM set the standard for security products when RACF was introduced!
From the beginning, the RACF Development Team has proudly brought you RACF, the premier product for securing your most valuable corporate data. Working closely with your operating system's existing features, IBM's award-winning Resource Access Control Facility (RACF) licensed program provides improved security for an installation's data. RACF protects your vital system resources and controls what users can do on the operating system.
You decide which resources you want to protect and which users need access to them. RACF provides the functions that let you:
Resource Access Control Facility offers the following features:
Access Control: RACF allows administrators to define access controls for various system resources, including datasets, programs, transactions, and system commands. It enables granular control over who can access specific resources and what actions they can perform.
User Authentication: The solution supports multiple authentication methods, such as passwords, digital certificates, smart cards, and biometrics. It ensures that only authorized users with valid credentials can access the system.
Authorization: Users are provided with fine-grained authorization capabilities, allowing administrators to assign and manage permissions for individual users or groups. It enables the definition of resource-level and data-level access controls based on user roles and responsibilities.
Auditing and Logging: RACF generates detailed audit logs that capture security events, including successful and failed access attempts, resource modifications, and policy violations. These logs are essential for compliance auditing, security analysis, and incident investigation.
Secure Password Management: The product includes features for enforcing password policies, such as minimum length, complexity requirements, and password expiration. It supports password encryption and hashing to protect sensitive credentials.
Encryption and Data Protection: The solution provides encryption capabilities to protect sensitive data stored on mainframe systems. It supports encryption algorithms and cryptographic protocols for safeguarding data confidentiality and integrity.
Integration with External Authentication Systems: Users can integrate it with external authentication systems, such as Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) or Active Directory, allowing them to leverage existing directories for authentication purposes.
Resource Monitoring and Control: It enables real-time monitoring and control of resource accesses, as well as providing alerts and notifications for suspicious activities, allowing administrators to respond promptly to potential security threats.
Compliance and Regulatory Support: RACF helps organizations meet regulatory compliance requirements by providing the necessary controls, audit trails, and reporting capabilities. It supports compliance frameworks such as Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Administration and Management: The solution offers a comprehensive set of administration and management tools for configuring, maintaining, and monitoring the security environment. It provides utilities for managing user accounts, defining security policies, and performing system-wide security administration tasks.
Some of the benefits that IBM RACF can offer its users are:
Enhanced security
Access control management
Authorization and authentication capabilities
Centralized control over resource access
Fine-grained access control policies
Audit trail and monitoring features
Compliance with regulatory requirements
Protection against unauthorized access
Segregation of duties
Efficient resource allocation and utilization
CA Top Secret for z/OS provides innovative, comprehensive security for your business transaction environments— including z/OS, UNIX and Linux on System z—helping you realize the reliability, scalability and cost-effectiveness of the mainframe. CA Top Secret provides an Advanced Authentication Mainframe feature, system entry validation, resource control, auditability, accountability, administrative control, and SAF compatibility. In conjunction with distributed security solutions from CA Technologies, CA Top Secret provides mobile-to-mainframe enterprise class security and compliance management.
Top secret provides the following features:
Access Control: Top Secret provides fine-grained control over user access to mainframe resources, allowing administrators to specify precisely which users can access specific datasets, programs, or system functions.
Auditing and Logging: The solution generates comprehensive audit trails, capturing security-related events and activities, enabling organizations to monitor and analyze user actions for compliance purposes and security incident investigations.
Secure Remote Administration: Administrators can also securely manage and administer Top Secret from remote locations, allowing for efficient administration without compromising security.
Encryption: Top Secret supports encryption of sensitive data, ensuring that information stored on the mainframe remains protected from unauthorized access or disclosure.
Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): By implementing RBAC, Top Secret simplifies access management by assigning privileges and permissions based on predefined roles or job functions, reducing administrative overhead.
Integration with External Authentication Systems: Top Secret integrates with external systems, such as LDAP or Active Directory, enabling centralized user authentication and leveraging existing identity management infrastructure.
Secure Communication Channels: TS ensures secure communication channels between the mainframe and external systems, protecting data transmitted across networks from interception or tampering.
Compliance and Regulatory Support: Organizations can meet regulatory requirements and industry standards by providing security controls, auditing capabilities, and access management features.
Secure Key Management: Top Secret facilitates the secure management of encryption keys and digital signatures, ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of sensitive information.
Resource Protection: Mainframe resources are safeguarded from unauthorized access or modification, providing an additional layer of protection to critical assets and data.
Security Monitoring: The solution provides real-time monitoring of security events and alerts, enabling proactive threat detection and response to potential security incidents.
User Provisioning: Top Secret streamlines user provisioning processes, simplifying the onboarding and offboarding of users and ensuring that access is granted or revoked in a timely manner.
Session Management: The product offers session management capabilities, including session timeouts and session termination, ensuring that user sessions are properly managed and secure.
Some of the benefits that Top Secret offers are:
Robust access control
Strong authentication mechanisms
Comprehensive auditing and logging
Protection of mainframe resources
Compliance with regulatory requirements
Secure remote administration
Encryption of sensitive data
Integration with external authentication systems
Secure communication channels
Support for encryption keys and digital signatures
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