On May 18, 2007, at 6:41 PM, Russell Witt wrote:
Oh Ed, wrong again like so often.
With encryption you MUST have an encryption key. I know you would
feel safer
having written on a piece of paper you carry with you in your
wallet. But to
most modern data centers, writing encryption keys or passwords on
pieces of
paper that are hand-carried to the vault are to be kept to a
minimum. What
happens when that sticky note gets lost? Oh yes, all the tapes are
un-usable.
Hmmm... that my point that any software that controls the encryption
fails (or to use the CA term temporarily unavailable) is unacceptable
when it comes to encryption. Also the point I was trying to make
apparently unsuccessful was that software vendors have a single point
of failure for initialization when it comes times to check against
the password and the cpu serial number. I personally have witnessed
(and was part of) a fiasco when such a occurrence happened. The
vendor was unavailable to correct the problem. The product would
*NOT* work. I also have seen a CA product fail to work (ie abend) if
a correct "password" was not supplied. If you are going to say on
record that the encryption software will work without a correct"
serial number then fine, if not you are wasting your time trying to
convince us.
And you are wrong on the case of CA-1 as well (what else is new). To
activate CA-1, all you need to reply is "U". The only time you need a
"password" for CA-1 is when you want to make it INACTIVE (remove
it). We
make it easy to activate; make it harder to remove to make sure it
is not
removed by accident.
I believe if CAS90 (or whatever you call it now days) does not "tell"
CA-1 its OK to initialize then CA-1 "burps"
I know you hate CA Ed, and that is your choice. But don't try to
pass along
"I heard from a friend that heard from someone else that heard from
someone
that someone else...." as anything but bs.
I have lived through several war stories about CA products myself. I
have also heard at GUIDE and SHARE several war stories and on here as
well. I can also tell you some good stories about CA. I can also
tell you tell you about stuff CA people have tried to pull over the
years I have had to deal with them, most of which while not dishonest
I would say less than honest or down right dirty. On the other hand
I can tell you specifics about people who have not played fair with
CA (and vice versa). In the end does it all come out even in the
wash, I would say no. The cost of CA products (amongst others) is
probably the biggest cause of the demise of the MF. Don't get me
started on upgrade costs as you will not win.
There is no use in rehashing the stories as people are tired of it (I
am one of them). Trying to be nice with CA is like trying to milk a
cobra as they will bite you in the end.
Ed
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