New: MQRC2 v1.1.0

April 12, 2011 Roger Lacroix

Capitalware Inc. would like to announce the official release of MQRC2 v1.1.0.

MQRC2 is an application that can interpret an MQ reason code number (i.e. 2035), MQ reason code symbol (i.e. MQRC_OBJECT_IN_USE) or AMQ message number (i.e. AMQ4005) and display the relevant information from the WebSphere MQ Messages manual.

    Updates for this release:

  • Ported the code to IBM i and z/OS
  • Created binaries/executables (32-bit & 64-bit) for all major platforms:
    • AIX
    • HP-UX IA64
    • HP-UX RISC
    • IBM i (OS/400)
    • Linux x86
    • Linux on POWER
    • Linux on zSeries
    • Solaris SPARC
    • Solaris x86_64
    • Windows
    • z/OS

For more information on MQRC2, please go to:
https://www.capitalware.com/mqrc2_overview.html

Regards,
Roger Lacroix
Capitalware Inc.

C, Capitalware, IBM i (OS/400), IBM MQ, Linux, Open Source, Unix, Windows, z/OS Comments Off on New: MQRC2 v1.1.0

New: Message Multiplexer v1.4.0

April 12, 2011 Roger Lacroix

Capitalware Inc. would like to announce the official release of Message Multiplexer (MMX) v1.4.0.

Message Multiplexer is an application that will get a message from a queue and output it to one or more queues. The context information is maintained across the message put(s).

    Updates for this release:

  • Added GetWithConvert keyword
  • Enhanced commit/backout processing
  • Created binaries/executables (32-bit & 64-bit) for all major platforms:
    • AIX
    • HP-UX IA64
    • HP-UX RISC
    • IBM i (OS/400)
    • Linux x86
    • Linux on POWER
    • Linux on zSeries
    • Solaris SPARC
    • Solaris x86_64
    • Windows
    • z/OS

For more information on Message Multiplexer, please go to:
https://www.capitalware.com/mmx_overview.html

Regards,
Roger Lacroix
Capitalware Inc.

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New: Message Router v1.1.0

April 12, 2011 Roger Lacroix

Capitalware Inc. would like to announce the official release of Message Router (MRTR) v1.1.0.

Message Router is an application that will move a message from a central queue to a specific application queue. The destination queue that the message will be placed into will be based on a keyword in the message. Context information is maintained across the get then message put.

    Updates for this release:

  • Added GetWithConvert keyword
  • Enhanced commit/backout processing
  • Created binaries/executables (32-bit & 64-bit) for all major platforms:
    • AIX
    • HP-UX IA64
    • HP-UX RISC
    • IBM i (OS/400)
    • Linux x86
    • Linux on POWER
    • Linux on zSeries
    • Solaris SPARC
    • Solaris x86_64
    • Windows
    • z/OS

For more information on Message Router, please go to:
https://www.capitalware.com/mrtr_overview.html

Regards,
Roger Lacroix
Capitalware Inc.

C, Capitalware, IBM i (OS/400), IBM MQ, Linux, Open Source, Unix, Windows, z/OS Comments Off on New: Message Router v1.1.0

Mozilla Firefox 4.0 Released

March 23, 2011 Roger Lacroix

Mozilla Firefox has just released Mozilla Firefox v4.0.
http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/

Mozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite and managed by Mozilla Corporation. To display web pages, Firefox uses the Gecko layout engine, which implements most current web standards in addition to several features that are intended to anticipate likely additions to the standards

Regards,
Roger Lacroix
Capitalware Inc.

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Capitalware’s letter to the NHL

March 13, 2011 Roger Lacroix

Yesterday, I decided to send a letter to the NHL regarding the head shots and cheap shots going on in the NHL. Here is a scan of the letter that Capitalware sent to the NHL (in PDF format).

Here is the text of the letter:

Dear Commissioner Bettman:

We are contacting you today to add our voice to the chorus of voices from individuals and corporations regarding the unacceptable life threatening injuries that are taking place in the NHL.

We fully agree with VIA Rail’s comments regarding the incident involving Max Pacioretty and Zdeno Chara at the Bell Centre early this week:

    “quick and ineffective ruling on the Pacioretty/Chara incident of last Tuesday is totally unacceptable, as it does nothing to try to reverse the alarming trend of vicious hits that have sidelined some of the game’s greatest talents.”

Head shots, cheap shots, etc. have absolutely no place in hockey regardless if they are claimed to be unintentional or not. The NHL needs to implement a hard policy towards these types of incidents, so that these incidents will be a thing of the past.

As avid hockey fans for many decades, we respectfully request the NHL implement rules and policies, so the safety of the players is paramount. Nobody wants to see the players end up as an invalites or dead.

We look forward to the NHL making the right decisions in the future to protect the game we all love and cherish.

I would encourage everyone to let the NHL know how they feel regarding the head shots and cheap shots that are taking place during hockey games.

Regards,
Roger Lacroix
Capitalware Inc.

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A Comparison of Capitalware’s MQ Enterprise Security Suite to IBM’s WebSphere MQ Advanced Message Security

March 11, 2011 Roger Lacroix

The following is a comparison of Capitalware’s MQ Enterprise Security Suite (MQESS) to IBM’s WebSphere MQ Advanced Message Security (WMQ AMS).

  Capitalware’s
MQESS		 IBM’s
WMQ AMS
Authentication Yes NO
End-to-End Encryption Yes Yes
Supported Encryption

  • AES 128-bit
  • AES 192-bit
  • AES 256-bit
  
Yes
Yes
Yes		  
Yes
No
Yes
Digital Signature SHA-2 SHA-1/MD5
Requires the purchase of an SSL certificate for each queue manager (~$400 USD) No Yes
PCI compliant for separation of digital signature and message data in the message payload Yes No
Show encrypted message data to unauthorized users NO Yes
Support Publish/Subscribe Yes No
Channel data conversion Yes No
Support for Java MQ v6 applications Yes No
MQGet with Convert for C/COBOL applications Yes Yes
MQGet with Convert for C++ applications Yes Unknown
MQGet with Convert for Java applications Yes No
MQGet with Convert for .NET (C#) applications Yes No
Distribution lists Yes No
WebSphere MQ classes for .Net in a managed mode Yes No
Message Service client for .Net (XMS) applications Yes No
Message Service client for C/C++ (XMS) applications Yes No
Protection of SYSTEM.* queues Yes Yes
Require application code changes No No
Supported Platform: Unix (AIX, HP-UX & Solaris) Yes Yes
Supported Platform: Linux (x86, x86-64, Power & System z) Yes Yes
Supported Platform: Windows Yes Yes
Supported Platform: IBM i (OS/400) Yes NO
Supported Platform: z/OS Partial** Yes

** Partial means MQAUSX and MQCE are supported on z/OS while MQME is not currently supported on z/OS. It is hoped that IBM will soon introduce API Exit support for z/OS. When an API Exit is supported on z/OS, Capitalware will port MQME to z/OS.

Note: IBM WMQ AMS information was retrieved from WMQ AMS web site and a presentation given by Jack Carnes of IBM.

Capitalware MQESS Pricing:

  • Capitalware’s MQESS is priced at $999.00 USD per distributed queue manager (volume discounts available) plus 15% yearly maintenance and support fee.
  • Capitalware’s MQESS does NOT require the purchase of an SSL certificates.
  • Enterprise License for MQESS sells for $180,000 USD plus 15% yearly maintenance and support fee. An enterprise license will allow a company to have unlimited number of queue managers at an unlimited number of locations.

IBM WMQ AMS Pricing:

  • IBM’s WMQ AMS is priced at roughly 25% of the cost of WMQ Server plus a yearly maintenance and support fee.
  • IBM’s WMQ AMS requires the purchase of an SSL certificate for each queue manager (cost is roughly $400 USD)
  • IBM does not offer an absolute cap on the cost for purchasing WMQ AMS licenses. A company will pay for every license which can add up to millions of dollars.

I hope the above information is useful.

Regards,
Roger Lacroix
Capitalware Inc.

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New: MQ Enterprise Security Suite

March 10, 2011 Roger Lacroix

Capitalware Inc. would like to announce the official release of MQ Enterprise Security Suite.

MQ Enterprise Security Suite (MQESS) is a new solution that provides authentication and data protection (Channels and Queues) for WebSphere MQ.

MQ Enterprise Security Suite is comprised of:

  • MQ Authenticate Security Exit for Authentication
  • MQ Channel Encryption for Data Protection for Channels
  • MQ Message Encryption for Data Protection for Queues

MQESS operates with WebSphere MQ v6.0 or v7.0 in Windows, Unix, IBM i (OS/400) and Linux platforms.

For more information about MQESS, please go to:
https://www.capitalware.com/mqess_overview.html

Regards,
Roger Lacroix
Capitalware Inc.

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New: MQ Message Encryption v1.0.0

March 8, 2011 Roger Lacroix

Capitalware Inc. would like to announce the official release of MQ Message Encryption v1.0.0.

MQ Message Encryption (MQME) provides encryption for MQ message data while it resides in a queue and in the MQ logs (i.e. all data at rest). In cryptography, encryption is the process of transforming information into an unreadable form (encrypted data). Decryption is the reverse process. It makes the encrypted information readable again. Only those with the key (PassPhrase) can successfully decrypt the encrypted data. MQME uses Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) to encrypt the data. AES is a data encryption scheme, adopted by the US government, that uses three different key sizes (128-bit, 192-bit, and 256-bit).

One of the features that MQME offers is the ability to control who accesses protected queues. This control is obtained through the use of UserID grouping. The group files are implemented in a similar manner to the way they are implemented in Unix and Linux (i.e. /etc/group file). Normally, the ‘mqm’, ‘QMQM’ or ‘MUSR_MQADMIN’ MQ UserIDs or any UserID in the ‘mqm’ group get full access to all messages in all queues. For queues protected by MQME, those privileged UserIds do not get access to the messages in the protected queues unless they are explicitly added to the authorized list of users or groups.

Another feature of MQME is its ability to generate and validate the message via a digital signature. MQME uses the SHA-2 to create a cryptographic hash function (digital signature) for the message data. The digital signature provides verification that the message data has not been altered.

MQME is an MQ API Exit that operates with WebSphere MQ v5.3, v6.0 or v7.0 in Windows, Unix, IBM i (OS/400) and Linux platforms.

For more information about MQME, please go to:
https://www.capitalware.com/mqme_overview.html

Regards,
Roger Lacroix
Capitalware Inc.

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Why choose MQ Channel Encryption over SSL?

March 8, 2011 Roger Lacroix

MQ Channel Encryption (MQCE) is priced at $299 USD (volume discounts available) per queue manager plus 15% yearly maintenance and support fee. SSL costs roughly $400 per certificate per year from a 3rd party CA (Certificate Authority). Hence, MQCE’s initial cost is cheaper than SSL and the ongoing yearly cost of MQCE is substantially cheaper than the yearly SSL certificate cost (i.e. $45 vs $400).

When a user purchases MQCE licenses, they receive permanent MQCE license keys (i.e. do not expire). SSL certificates expire yearly. If the MQAdmin forgets to update a queue manager’s SSL certificate and it expires, then the channels using SSL stop working.

If the MQAdmin has 50, 100 or more queue managers, how much time is wasted each year by the MQAdmin, just to update each queue manager’s SSL certificate?

    Other Disadvantages of SSL:

  • There is no logging capability to see who accessed which queue manager (MQCE has logging capability).
  • This form of security is only as secure as the integrity of the client side certificates. Anyone who possesses a copy of the certificate will have full access.
  • SSL is dangerous on a Windows PC because a user can copy the ‘keystore’ file to another PC and use the use the ‘keystore’ to successfully connect to the queue manager from the other PC! (i.e. The user can boot the PC from floppy and copy the ‘keystore’ file to diskette.)

For more information about MQCE, please go to:
https://www.capitalware.com/mqce_overview.html

Food for thought.

Regards,
Roger Lacroix
Capitalware Inc.

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Security White Paper

March 3, 2011 Roger Lacroix

James Michael Stewart of Global Knowledge has written a white paper called: Ten Ways Hackers Breach Security

Here’s the interesting part:

All too often when hacking is discussed, it is assumed that the hacker is some unknown outsider. However, studies have shown that a majority of security violations actually are caused by internal employees.  So, one of the most effective ways for a hacker to breach security is to be an employee. This can be read in two different ways. First, the hacker can get a job at the target company and then exploit that access once they gain the trust of the organization. Second, an existing employee can become disgruntled and choose to cause harm to the company as a form of revenge or retribution.

When are companies going to secure their MQ environments, so that internal employees cannot get access to sensitive/confidential data?

Note: Please do not say we use a firewall, we use RACF (for z/OS) or the channel’s MCAUSER field has a value because that is NOT securing your MQ environment.

Regards,
Roger Lacroix
Capitalware Inc.

IBM i (OS/400), IBM MQ, Linux, macOS (Mac OS X), MQ Authenticate User Security Exit, MQ Channel Encryption, MQ Enterprise Security Suite, MQ Message Encryption, MQ Standard Security Exit, Unix, Windows, z/OS Comments Off on Security White Paper