02
Sat, Nov
2 New Articles

Help! My Audit Journal Is Flooding My System!

IBM i (OS/400, i5/OS)
Typography
  • Smaller Small Medium Big Bigger
  • Default Helvetica Segoe Georgia Times

While auditing every possible action and object access is great from a security perspective, reality says that's not going to happen. Carol discusses how to lessen the impact of auditing on your system.

Don't get me wrong. Speaking from a security professional's perspective, the more you audit, the better. Information in the audit journal is invaluable when performing forensics and extremely helpful to the system and security administrators to debug daily issues. But here's where the ideal must meet the practical. The fact of the matter is, the storage capacity on most systems doesn't allow you to turn on every auditing feature and log every object access. So what do you do when you find that your system is filling up with audit journal receivers? This article discusses some options.

What's Your Audit Journal Receiver Retention Period?

One of your first considerations is how long you're keeping audit journal receivers on your system. While regulations such as PCI require that you retain one year of audit information, that doesn't mean your audit journal receivers have to be resident on the system. So how many days' worth do you keep? The answer is, as many as is practical. We have some clients whose systems are so busy that the activity generates 20 - 30 receivers a day. In their case, they can keep only 24 hours' worth of receivers on their systems. We have other clients with two years' worth of audit journal receivers! The average is 1 - 2 weeks. If storage permits, we encourage our clients to retain - at a minimum - four days of audit journal receivers. The idea is that, if something happens on Friday and there's a three-day weekend, you have a chance of having the audit journal receivers on the system, thereby avoiding the need to restore them from backup to research the issue. (While restoring audit journal receivers is possible, it's not what you call a pleasant experience.)

When determining your retention period for audit journal receivers, consider how far back you typically have to go to investigate an issue. I'm not talking about performing a full-on forensic investigation. In this case, I'm referring to a system or security administrator looking through the audit journal for problem determination, such as determining when a profile was created, authority was changed, or a file was deleted. Take that average and add a few days. If you have the space, then that's probably a reasonable retention period. Regardless of your retention period, the key is to ensure you save the receivers using a method that ensures you have a full year's worth of audit journal information (as in 365 days of audit journal receivers) saved.

What Actions Are Being Audited?

Again, from my perspective, I'd prefer that all actions be audited. But again, for many organizations, that's not practical. If you're running out of space due to the proliferation of audit journal receivers, check the actions being audited by running DSPSYSVAL QAUDLVL. If this list includes the value *AUDLVL2, you'll also need to look in the QAUDLVL2 system value. The absolute minimum set of values we recommend for this system value is *AUTFAIL, *CREATE, *DELETE, *SAVRST, *SECCFG, *SECRUN, *SERVICE, and *PTFOPR (new in V7R2.) If that's your current set and you're running out of room, I'd look at saving your journal receivers more often and reducing your retention period.

If either of these system values includes the values of *PRTDTA or *SPLFDTA, which are very useful in debugging issues with printing and spooled files (such as determining who deleted a spooled file), weigh how valuable this type of information is to you. These two values tend to generate a lot of entries.

Another entry that is very helpful but generates tons of entries is the value of *JOBDTA or *JOBBAS (which generates a subset of the entries generated by *JOBDTA). This logs the start/stop/release/hold of every job on the system. On busy systems, this value alone can flood the audit journal. That said, it is important to log the activity of some profiles - QSECOFR, for example. If you're flooding your audit journal, one option you have is to remove *JOBDTA (or *JOBBAS) and, instead, configure this audit action for individual profiles. Use the Change User Auditing (CHGUSRAUD) command to configure actions to audit above and beyond what is specified in the QAUDLVL system value.

Finally, if you're running an application that uses adopted authority to allow users to access application data, adding *PGMADP is generating a lot of entries that are for "normal" activity. Typically, when adding this value, you're trying to detect the abnormal use of adopted authority. If you're depending on adopted authority, detecting what's abnormal is going to be difficult. You may, instead, want to include this value at the user level rather than the system level, adding it to profiles that shouldn't normally be running programs that adopt (developers' profiles, for example).

For a more detailed explanation of the entries each value of QAUDLVL generates, see Chapter 9 of the IBM i Security Reference manual. (Be sure to use the version of the manual that corresponds to your system's OS level.)

What Object Auditing Is Enabled?

The next area to investigate is object auditing. You can configure, on an individual object, that either updates are audited or both reads and updates are audited. Configuring object auditing on selected objects is not usually what's going to flood your audit journal. Some of the High Availability (HA) vendors require that changes to objects be audited. To ensure changes are audited on all objects - even objects that are created after the initial configuration - the QCRTOBJAUD system value is set to *CHANGE. (The default is *NONE.)

Note: This system value sets the object auditing value of newly created objects. While the value of *CHANGE generates a lot of entries, if that's a requirement of your vendor, don't change QCRTOBJAUD unless you consult with them first!

But typically, even setting QCRTOBJAUD to *CHANGE doesn't put systems over the top. What does is setting QCRTOBJAUD to *ALL, which means that all objects - and I do mean all objects - are audited whenever they are updated or read. This means all *USRSPC, *USRIDX, and *DTAARA objects as well as *FILE objects are audited whenever they're read or written to! Auditing the reads of all objects on the system often causes massive numbers of audit journal entries. If your system is running out of room, check the value of QCRTOBJAUD. You may be able to reduce this value to *CHANGE or perhaps *NONE, depending on your vendor or compliance requirements. If you only need to audit a subset of objects, such as objects in a specific library, consider setting the Create Object Auditing value at the library level so that objects created into that specific library inherit its object auditing value. This allows you to set the system value to either *CHANGE or *NONE.

Summary

If your system is nearly out of storage, you need to quickly save your audit journal receivers and then delete some. But once the crisis is averted and before you make any changes, I encourage you to examine your security policy, the laws and regulations with which your organization must comply, reports and processes that use information in the audit journal, and any other influences on what needs to be audited as well as how long audit journal receivers need to remain resident on the system.

Carol Woodbury

 

Carol Woodbury is IBM i Security SME and Senior Advisor to Kisco Systems, a firm focused on providing IBM i security solutions. Carol has over 30 years’ experience with IBM i security, starting her career as Security Team Leader and Chief Engineering Manager for iSeries Security at IBM in Rochester, MN. Since leaving IBM, she has co-founded two companies: SkyView Partners and DXR Security. Her practical experience and her intimate knowledge of the system combine for a unique viewpoint and experience level that cannot be matched.

Carol is known worldwide as an author and award-winning speaker on security technology, specializing in IBM i security topics. She has written seven books on IBM i security, including her two current books, IBM i Security Administration and Compliance, 3rd Edition and Mastering IBM i Security, A Modern, Step-by-Step Approach. Carol has been named an IBM Champion since 2018 and holds her CISSP and CRISC security certifications.


MC Press books written by Carol Woodbury available now on the MC Press Bookstore.

IBM i Security Administration and Compliance: Third Edition
Don't miss the newest edition by the industry’s #1 IBM i security expert.
List Price $71.95

Now On Sale

Mastering IBM i Security Mastering IBM i Security
Get the must-have guide by the industry’s #1 security authority.
List Price $49.95

Now On Sale

BLOG COMMENTS POWERED BY DISQUS

LATEST COMMENTS

Support MC Press Online

$

Book Reviews

Resource Center

  • SB Profound WC 5536 Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application. You can find Part 1 here. In Part 2 of our free Node.js Webinar Series, Brian May teaches you the different tooling options available for writing code, debugging, and using Git for version control. Brian will briefly discuss the different tools available, and demonstrate his preferred setup for Node development on IBM i or any platform. Attend this webinar to learn:

  • SB Profound WP 5539More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT Generic IBM announced the E1080 servers using the latest Power10 processor in September 2021. The most powerful processor from IBM to date, Power10 is designed to handle the demands of doing business in today’s high-tech atmosphere, including running cloud applications, supporting big data, and managing AI workloads. But what does Power10 mean for your data center? In this recorded webinar, IBMers Dan Sundt and Dylan Boday join IBM Power Champion Tom Huntington for a discussion on why Power10 technology is the right strategic investment if you run IBM i, AIX, or Linux. In this action-packed hour, Tom will share trends from the IBM i and AIX user communities while Dan and Dylan dive into the tech specs for key hardware, including:

  • Magic MarkTRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now!  Request Now.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericForms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericIT security is a top priority for businesses around the world, but most IBM i pros don’t know where to begin—and most cybersecurity experts don’t know IBM i. In this session, Robin Tatam explores the business impact of lax IBM i security, the top vulnerabilities putting IBM i at risk, and the steps you can take to protect your organization. If you’re looking to avoid unexpected downtime or corrupted data, you don’t want to miss this session.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericCan you trust all of your users all of the time? A typical end user receives 16 malicious emails each month, but only 17 percent of these phishing campaigns are reported to IT. Once an attack is underway, most organizations won’t discover the breach until six months later. A staggering amount of damage can occur in that time. Despite these risks, 93 percent of organizations are leaving their IBM i systems vulnerable to cybercrime. In this on-demand webinar, IBM i security experts Robin Tatam and Sandi Moore will reveal:

  • FORTRA Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAManaging messages on your IBM i can be more than a full-time job if you have to do it manually. Messages need a response and resources must be monitored—often over multiple systems and across platforms. How can you be sure you won’t miss important system events? Automate your message center with the Robot Message Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAThe thought of printing, distributing, and storing iSeries reports manually may reduce you to tears. Paper and labor costs associated with report generation can spiral out of control. Mountains of paper threaten to swamp your files. Robot automates report bursting, distribution, bundling, and archiving, and offers secure, selective online report viewing. Manage your reports with the Robot Report Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAFor over 30 years, Robot has been a leader in systems management for IBM i. With batch job creation and scheduling at its core, the Robot Job Scheduling Solution reduces the opportunity for human error and helps you maintain service levels, automating even the biggest, most complex runbooks. Manage your job schedule with the Robot Job Scheduling Solution. Key features include:

  • LANSA Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.

  • LANSAWhen it comes to creating your business applications, there are hundreds of coding platforms and programming languages to choose from. These options range from very complex traditional programming languages to Low-Code platforms where sometimes no traditional coding experience is needed. Download our whitepaper, The Power of Writing Code in a Low-Code Solution, and:

  • LANSASupply Chain is becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable. From raw materials for manufacturing to food supply chains, the journey from source to production to delivery to consumers is marred with inefficiencies, manual processes, shortages, recalls, counterfeits, and scandals. In this webinar, we discuss how:

  • The MC Resource Centers bring you the widest selection of white papers, trial software, and on-demand webcasts for you to choose from. >> Review the list of White Papers, Trial Software or On-Demand Webcast at the MC Press Resource Center. >> Add the items to yru Cart and complet he checkout process and submit

  • Profound Logic Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application.

  • SB Profound WC 5536Join us for this hour-long webcast that will explore:

  • Fortra IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn: