-----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:ibm-m...@bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of Kline, Martin Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2009 3:07 PM To: IBM-MAIN@bama.ua.edu Subject: Re: Could DSNAME length restriction be bypassed if catalog allowed longer ALIAS names?
<SNIPPAGE> I'm glad you pointed that out, but I'm not sure why there's an assumption that this is the only possible implementation. Of course security is a consideration. How it could be managed is entirely open. <SNIP> It isn't. That's what I came up with in under 2 minutes. I normally don't think like a cracker, but part of my job includes foiling them. <SNIP> >Without a tape system, this is a back door into reading tape data that >is not yours, if the tape label is 17 characters long. Is this different from the same issue today? <SNIP> Only used as an example of why I came up with the idea that I did. <SNIPPAGE> I suppose if I were to assume that the SYSDSN enqueue could never be coded to handle greater than 44 character dsnames, then I see what you mean. On the other hand, maybe the enqueue could be coded to use exact length of dsname or a higher fixed length. Also, if someone wants 'to cause a problem,' they should be willing to go job hunting and let a more qualified person take their position. <SNIP> When you are a developer, you get to experience what Robert Heinlein said: "It is impossible to make anything foolproof, because fools are so ingenious." And then you get to throw in the crackers that enjoy breaking systems to prove they are smarter than you, or to actually cause problems by some type of theft. Regards, Steve Thompson -- Opinions expressed by this poster may not reflect those held by poster's employer -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
