Introduction › How Does CA Top Secret Work?

How Does CA Top Secret Work?

The purpose of CA Top Secret is to control access to resources by limiting system entry (through passwords and terminal restrictions, for example) and limiting how, when, and which resources a user can access once he enters the system.

As part of using CA Top Secret to secure your installation, the security administrator must design the security database. The following terms and their distinctions are important to understand the basics of CA Top Secret:

• Security Administrator

  The person who is primarily responsible for implementing and maintaining system security by defining users, resources, access levels, and facilities.

• Security Database

  A systemized collection of data containing information on user and resource definitions, and access permissions and system entry conditions stored for immediate use.

• Security File

  An encrypted security database consisting of the Security Records, which contain all user and resource permissions and restrictions.

• Security Record

  A part of the Security File that contains a set of user and profile records, including such information as which resources a user can access, and how he can use them.

In addition, the security administrator is also responsible for the following:

• Controlling the security environment through the use of control options and TSS commands.
• Control options provide a mechanism allowing CA Top Secret to customize the environment.
• Control options are typically set during installation, and are stored in what is called the Parameter File.
• One of the most important control options is MODE, which determines how CA Top Secret will react to a particular resource access request or violation.
• TSS commands are used primarily to define ACIDs and to establish resource access. Many control options can be temporarily modified using the TSS command.
• Monitoring resource access violations through the CA Top Secret auditing, tracking, and reporting options.

CA Top Secret also provides the means for securing subsystems and facilities (such as VM, CICS, Advantage™ CA-Roscoe^® Interactive Environment, Advantage™ CA-IDMS^®, IMS and TSO), as well as for maintaining security across multiple VTAM-connected nodes through the Command Propagation Facility.