Don’t Let this Be You!
As you’ve probably already heard, a hacker was able to break into the database of RockYou, which provides applications and services for social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. This hacker obtained 32 million clear-text passwords! For whatever reason, the passwords of RockYou’s customers were not encrypted and were an easy target. RockYou is now encrypting all passwords and reviewing their current data security features to ensure that they meet industry standards and best practices. Of course, they’re undoubtedly wishing they would have taken this approach 32 million passwords sooner.
Protect Passwords with Encryption PRO
XYGATE Encryption PRO provides encryption for just about any type of communications between computer systems. These components enable you to encrypt interactive sessions, transaction sessions, file transfer sessions and databases or fields. Using software-based mechanisms, XYGATE provides encryption for not only HP NonStop servers and PC workstations, but also Unix, IBM OS390 and Z/OS, and many more....
XYGATE Encryption is the ideal solution set for protecting data in transit. A variety of components provide privacy for many types of sessions:
• Between your HP NonStop servers,
• Between HP NonStop servers and your PC workstations
• Many other platforms.
Protecting the privacy of data at rest is achieved via encrypting files and databases. XYGATE makes it practical to encrypt files for online storage, entire databases, or just selected fields that contain sensitive information. Learn more at www.xypro.com
Monday, March 29, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
XYPRO Recognized for Outstanding Support with Two Awards
Thank you to everyone we visited at the recent SATUG. It was a pleasure to meet with all of you and we look forward to our future partnerships. We are honored to announce that XYPRO received two awards at the event. The first was for Outstanding Support of SATUG and the second was presented to our regional representative, Morne Conradie. Morne received an individual recognition award for his Outstanding Contributions over the years. Thank you to everyone involved, as we continually strive to exceed your NonStop security, compliance and encryption needs.
See you in the SUN!
Please visit us at the Sunshine Summit in Tampa, Florida.
SUNTUG Conference- Friday, 19 March 2010 at Embassy Suites
Tampa - Airport/Westshore - 555 N. Westshore Blvd. - Tampa Florida 33609 - 813-875-1555
See you in the SUN!
Please visit us at the Sunshine Summit in Tampa, Florida.
SUNTUG Conference- Friday, 19 March 2010 at Embassy Suites
Tampa - Airport/Westshore - 555 N. Westshore Blvd. - Tampa Florida 33609 - 813-875-1555
Monday, March 8, 2010
SATUG and DUST 2010
XYPRO is Gearing Up for SATUG!
The SATUG 2010 Summit & AGM will take place on the 9th and 10th March 2010, followed by a training session on the 11th. SATUG will take place at the Emerald Casino and Hotel Resort in Vanderbijlpark, South Africa, and XYPRO is gearing up for this wonderful event. Along with gaining and sharing critical user group knowledge, attendees will have the opportunity to discover the newest solutions on the market!
Also, join XYPRO at the next DUST meeting - Tuesday 16 March!
The next DUST Meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 16th, at CVS Caremark in Scottsdale, AZ. The continental breakfast sponsored by XYPRO will start at 8:30 am with the meeting starting at 9:00 am. Lunch is sponsored by ACI Worldwide and will be brought in after the meeting. NTI will be giving an HP Mini again and there will be other door prizes.
The presentations are:
User Presentation from Wells Fargo on security. Chris Draper will be showing some of the things WFB does on the Tandem: user/HR processing, personnel info in the SAFEGUARD profile, separation of duties, etc. Mark Hammett is a contractor at Wells and will be discussing an alternative implementation of XYGATE Merged Audit and how it could be used to full advantage to achieve PCI compliance.
Jim Bowers of ACI Worldwide will present ACI and HP - 35 Years of NonStop.
Network Technologies International will do a short presentation on the latest with NTI and DRNet and their customer trends for 2010.
Please RSVP to Cathy (480-766-5440 or cathy.meurer@usfood.com) for both the meeting and lunch.
The SATUG 2010 Summit & AGM will take place on the 9th and 10th March 2010, followed by a training session on the 11th. SATUG will take place at the Emerald Casino and Hotel Resort in Vanderbijlpark, South Africa, and XYPRO is gearing up for this wonderful event. Along with gaining and sharing critical user group knowledge, attendees will have the opportunity to discover the newest solutions on the market!
Also, join XYPRO at the next DUST meeting - Tuesday 16 March!
The next DUST Meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 16th, at CVS Caremark in Scottsdale, AZ. The continental breakfast sponsored by XYPRO will start at 8:30 am with the meeting starting at 9:00 am. Lunch is sponsored by ACI Worldwide and will be brought in after the meeting. NTI will be giving an HP Mini again and there will be other door prizes.
The presentations are:
User Presentation from Wells Fargo on security. Chris Draper will be showing some of the things WFB does on the Tandem: user/HR processing, personnel info in the SAFEGUARD profile, separation of duties, etc. Mark Hammett is a contractor at Wells and will be discussing an alternative implementation of XYGATE Merged Audit and how it could be used to full advantage to achieve PCI compliance.
Jim Bowers of ACI Worldwide will present ACI and HP - 35 Years of NonStop.
Network Technologies International will do a short presentation on the latest with NTI and DRNet and their customer trends for 2010.
Please RSVP to Cathy (480-766-5440 or cathy.meurer@usfood.com) for both the meeting and lunch.
Friday, February 19, 2010
From the CEO's Desk
I hope everyone is getting a good start on 2010. We have received a large amount of positive customer feedback on our reseller relationship with Merlon and we thank you for that.
Traditionally at XYPRO, we begin each February with a week of Kick-Off sessions. All of us gather at our California headquarters to assess the previous year and set plans for the future. It’s a time of concentrated information exchange and collaborative brainstorming, with all teams participating ‘across all the aisles’. It’s an opportunity to discuss changes in the market and our customers’ needs. We go over feedback from customers and partners regarding current requirements and anticipate what security functions will be needed, both to meet future compliance regulations and to thwart security threats. A high priority includes looking at our products and evaluating how to improve and repackage them so that customers can easily purchase the modules that they need and use them to their best advantage.
There are a number of exciting activities afoot with us, some of which we can share, and some of which we need to keep secret for just a bit longer. What I can tell you is that we cut our first deal with a Neoview customer, so we’re now protecting a high profile decision support system built from the ground up on the most scalable and available data warehouse platforms.
After my last column, an HP press release announced enhancements to our favorite system, the NonStop Server. It quoted Diederick de Buck, technical architect for NonStop systems at Rabobank, who said that, “Rabobank looks to HP NonStop technology to handle our mission-critical financial services applications and help mitigate risks associated with virtual banking.”
As you might imagine, the best way to mitigate the risks associated with any online application is through the implementation of secure systems, secure networks, and secure applications. With NonStop as the foundation, all that remains is to protect your application and network communications – and we’re here to help you do that with products and consulting services.
The release also mentioned the new NonStop BladeCluster Express 1.2, which allows the creation of complex enterprise data center systems spanning a large geographic area and thousands of processors. Other enhancements include the capability for improved business decision-making by aggregating “islands” of information across an enterprise. Can you say, “cloud computing?”
While other companies are just starting to talk about the cloud, XYPRO customers, like a large travel booking site, have been building clouds out of NonStop servers for many years. And not just any cloud, but a scalable, available, and secure cloud. So when a C-level exec drops by and asks what you are doing about cloud computing, just point to your NonStop Servers and let him or her know that everything is under control.
In other news, a hacker was able to break into the database of RockYou, which provides applications and services for social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, and obtained 32 million clear-text passwords. For whatever reason, the passwords of RockYou’s customers were not encrypted and were an easy target. Now that the horse has left the barn, RockYou has found religion and is encrypting all passwords and reviewing their current data security features to ensure that they meet industry standards and best practices. Do you have ENCRYPTPASSWORD set for your UserID file? Have you upgraded from DES to HMAC256 encryption? Call our tech support line if you want assistance with either of these.
And speaking of encryption, watch for our own Scott Uroff’s article in the next issue of Connection magazine. This article will describe the various types of encryption algorithms and how they work, point out the limitations when using specific encryption methods, and address how important it is for companies to use approved and certified encryption modules within their infrastructure.
To close, I want to mention that just like XYPRO, the US government also is working on advancements in data protection. The FIPS 140-2 Level 2 standard to which we certify our encryption products dates back to May 2001. This is one year after the Zero Latency Enterprise (ZLE) was first introduced and the same year that HP announced the merger with Compaq. This is pre-NonStop SQL/MX and well before Integrity NonStop. As you can imagine, we could not agree more that the standard needs to be updated and our cryptographers are already evaluating any changes needed to comply with this new standard when it is published next year.
Sheila Johnson
Traditionally at XYPRO, we begin each February with a week of Kick-Off sessions. All of us gather at our California headquarters to assess the previous year and set plans for the future. It’s a time of concentrated information exchange and collaborative brainstorming, with all teams participating ‘across all the aisles’. It’s an opportunity to discuss changes in the market and our customers’ needs. We go over feedback from customers and partners regarding current requirements and anticipate what security functions will be needed, both to meet future compliance regulations and to thwart security threats. A high priority includes looking at our products and evaluating how to improve and repackage them so that customers can easily purchase the modules that they need and use them to their best advantage.
There are a number of exciting activities afoot with us, some of which we can share, and some of which we need to keep secret for just a bit longer. What I can tell you is that we cut our first deal with a Neoview customer, so we’re now protecting a high profile decision support system built from the ground up on the most scalable and available data warehouse platforms.
After my last column, an HP press release announced enhancements to our favorite system, the NonStop Server. It quoted Diederick de Buck, technical architect for NonStop systems at Rabobank, who said that, “Rabobank looks to HP NonStop technology to handle our mission-critical financial services applications and help mitigate risks associated with virtual banking.”
As you might imagine, the best way to mitigate the risks associated with any online application is through the implementation of secure systems, secure networks, and secure applications. With NonStop as the foundation, all that remains is to protect your application and network communications – and we’re here to help you do that with products and consulting services.
The release also mentioned the new NonStop BladeCluster Express 1.2, which allows the creation of complex enterprise data center systems spanning a large geographic area and thousands of processors. Other enhancements include the capability for improved business decision-making by aggregating “islands” of information across an enterprise. Can you say, “cloud computing?”
While other companies are just starting to talk about the cloud, XYPRO customers, like a large travel booking site, have been building clouds out of NonStop servers for many years. And not just any cloud, but a scalable, available, and secure cloud. So when a C-level exec drops by and asks what you are doing about cloud computing, just point to your NonStop Servers and let him or her know that everything is under control.
In other news, a hacker was able to break into the database of RockYou, which provides applications and services for social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, and obtained 32 million clear-text passwords. For whatever reason, the passwords of RockYou’s customers were not encrypted and were an easy target. Now that the horse has left the barn, RockYou has found religion and is encrypting all passwords and reviewing their current data security features to ensure that they meet industry standards and best practices. Do you have ENCRYPTPASSWORD set for your UserID file? Have you upgraded from DES to HMAC256 encryption? Call our tech support line if you want assistance with either of these.
And speaking of encryption, watch for our own Scott Uroff’s article in the next issue of Connection magazine. This article will describe the various types of encryption algorithms and how they work, point out the limitations when using specific encryption methods, and address how important it is for companies to use approved and certified encryption modules within their infrastructure.
To close, I want to mention that just like XYPRO, the US government also is working on advancements in data protection. The FIPS 140-2 Level 2 standard to which we certify our encryption products dates back to May 2001. This is one year after the Zero Latency Enterprise (ZLE) was first introduced and the same year that HP announced the merger with Compaq. This is pre-NonStop SQL/MX and well before Integrity NonStop. As you can imagine, we could not agree more that the standard needs to be updated and our cryptographers are already evaluating any changes needed to comply with this new standard when it is published next year.
Sheila Johnson
Thursday, February 4, 2010
XYPRO to Sponsor & Present at MEXTUG
XYPRO is muy entusiasmados to be sponsoring and presenting at the upcoming MEXTUG. The one-day event is scheduled for 24, February and will be held at the HP offices in Mexico City, Mexico.
MEXTUG is packed with informative, timely presentations, not only from product experts, but also users themselves. See Agenda
Here’s a sneak peak
An educational presentation on the Native NonStopSecurity provided by Guardian, Safeguard and Atalla.
A representative from Raymond James will explain how they currently comply with HP NonStop security requirements, and future plans going forward.
A representative from Banorte will give a presentation on their successful experience monitoring & controlling of their operational environment as well as their ATM & POS network.
Attendees will also have the chance to participate in an interactive survey about future MEXTUG content.
Last but not least, XYPRO is sponsoring the raffle. Attendees have the chance to win an HP NetBook (must be present to win)—so be sure to register! View Agenda.
Lisa Partridge
MEXTUG is packed with informative, timely presentations, not only from product experts, but also users themselves. See Agenda
Here’s a sneak peak
An educational presentation on the Native NonStopSecurity provided by Guardian, Safeguard and Atalla.
A representative from Raymond James will explain how they currently comply with HP NonStop security requirements, and future plans going forward.
A representative from Banorte will give a presentation on their successful experience monitoring & controlling of their operational environment as well as their ATM & POS network.
Attendees will also have the chance to participate in an interactive survey about future MEXTUG content.
Last but not least, XYPRO is sponsoring the raffle. Attendees have the chance to win an HP NetBook (must be present to win)—so be sure to register! View Agenda.
Lisa Partridge
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Product Spotlight: Access PRO
Software that Addresses Your Auditing Concerns
How happy would you be to be able to solve NonStop PCI Requirements 7, 7.1, 7.2, 8, 8.1, 8.2, 8.5, 8.5.6, 8.5.8, 8.5.15, 8.5.16, 10, 12.3.8, and 12.3.9,with a single package from XYPRO?
XYGATE Access PRO software was designed with the fundamental HP NonStop security requirements in mind and addresses those issues most likely to concern an experienced security analyst or auditor as well as being required by compliance regulations.
Why Access PRO?
XYGATE Access PRO provides you with the following:
- Individual accountability, restricting each user to authorized actions based on that user's job function, all without the use of any shared user ids.
- Auditing as detailed as you need it to be (down to the keystroke)
- Logon to logoff session controls and load-balancing
- A convenient single spooler and peruse utility with advanced security and archiving functions.
Passing your audits will become a routine experience. Users will have the access and privileges they need to do their jobs, increasing resources available to focus on other areas that also affect profitability.
Detailed benefits of XYGATE Access PRO and the entire suite of XYGATE Security and Access Control software are highlighted in the free solutions papers available on our website: “PCI Compliance”, "SOX Compliance " and "HIPAA Compliance ". Visit www.xypro.com
Monday, January 25, 2010
Overwhelmed with PCI reporting requirements? XSW (part 3 of 3)
PCI compliance requires a diverse set of specific checks and reports on many different parts of an HP NonStop system; databases, security access, application models, networks, encryption, users, and so on. Manual HP tools each have unique export formats; some in a report-type format, but most as unstructured text, which is usually helpful at all. In fact, trying to create manual PCI reports for an HP NonStop system is a recipe for losing your hair!
Using XYPRO’s Security Compliance Wizard (XSW) you can load this diverse data into a consistent and query-able format, cutting PCI reporting down to size. XSW can then be used to create PCI reports in a standard printable format, regardless of whether the data concerns Users, Safeguard, disk files, PATHWAY, OSS files and directories, SQL/MX or Network information.
To start off, XSW provides you with over a hundred standard PCI reports and cross-references the PCI naming conventions to HP NonStop terminology, making it easier for you to complete the PCI reporting task. For cycles of compliance, as required for PCI, XSW automatically provides this service and gives consistency to the reporting and checking. So save your hair and time and get XSW!
-Ellen Alvarado
NonStop Security Specialist
Using XYPRO’s Security Compliance Wizard (XSW) you can load this diverse data into a consistent and query-able format, cutting PCI reporting down to size. XSW can then be used to create PCI reports in a standard printable format, regardless of whether the data concerns Users, Safeguard, disk files, PATHWAY, OSS files and directories, SQL/MX or Network information.
To start off, XSW provides you with over a hundred standard PCI reports and cross-references the PCI naming conventions to HP NonStop terminology, making it easier for you to complete the PCI reporting task. For cycles of compliance, as required for PCI, XSW automatically provides this service and gives consistency to the reporting and checking. So save your hair and time and get XSW!
-Ellen Alvarado
NonStop Security Specialist
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