Latest version of PowerTech’s privileged user management solution adds screen capture feature as well as enhanced audit visibility of “black holes” like SQL and SST.

PowerTech, a Help/Systems company and the world’s leader in security solutions for Power Systems™ servers running IBM i, today announced the release of Authority Broker version 4.0, which includes a new screen capture feature. The “screen cam” software enhances IBM i auditing with new visibility of privileged user activity—including their activity in “black holes,” which previously eluded audit controls.

While the IBM i security infrastructure includes auditing capabilities for green screen commands, Authority Broker extends IBM i auditing into non-command-based environments, including SQL, DFU, QSHELL, and System Service Tools (SST).

“Authority Broker brings visibility into non-traditional environments that the OS can’t easily audit such as SQL or QSHELL” explains Robin Tatam, Director of Security Technologies for PowerTech. “In the past, IBM i auditing became less effective once a user navigated into system applications. Fortunately, screen capture creates a visual log of a user’s activity in all of these environments, in addition to the comprehensive command reporting that auditors require.”

Authority Broker 4.0 captures each screen that a swapped user encounters during a role swap, which temporarily grants greater security privileges to users. Administrators can monitor the user’s activity in near real-time, play back screens on the system, or automatically receive an indexed PDF of screen captures via email.

In addition to providing new visibility of privileged users, Authority Broker also audits who views the recorded screens. Any time a screen is viewed or emailed, an audit entry is recorded to the audit journal. The entry documents both that the swap activity was reviewed and who reviewed it. This provides a more complete audit trail and makes it easier for organizations to meet compliance rules and regulations.

“Being able to audit who is looking at these screens is critical for our customers with formal regulatory compliance,” says Tatam.

As the leading expert in security and compliance solutions for Power Systems™ running IBM i, PowerTech provides security and compliance resources to organizations worldwide. A free download of the PowerTechwhite paper on privileged user management is available at http://www.ibmiuser.com/.

PowerTech is your security expert in managing evolving compliance and data privacy threats with automated security solutions for IBM Midrange Servers. Our ServerProven security solutions are straightforward and save your valuable IT resources, giving you ongoing protection and peace of mind.   Because IBM Power System (iSeries and AS/400) servers are used to host particularly sensitive corporate data, it is imperative that you practice proactive compliance security. As an IBM Advanced Business Partner with over 1,000 customers worldwide, PowerTech understands corporate vulnerability and the risks associated with data privacy and access control.   Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based PowerTech Group was founded by security experts in 1996. In 2004, PowerTech was awarded the prestigious Industry Driver APEX Award from iSeries NEWS. That same year, PowerTech also won the APEX award as the Editor’s Choice in the Security category. PowerTech is also the only iSeries security company to have been recognized as a finalist in the IBM Beacon awards.

The PowerTech security solutions provide definitive security coverage for iSeries and AS/400 systems.