RE: Speaking of ( real ) Databases

Ah booshnazz.

You only have ODBC access if you have ODBC turned on.  As I've said
repeatedly, unfettered ODBC access is sheer lunacy.  However, there are
people out there who think the phrase "my users need access to the data" is
a valid reason to circumvent data security.

Unfortunately, IBM has thrown in the towel on ODBC.  Their most recent
manuals jibber-jabber about how ODBC exit points may not be enough because
"OEM ODBC products may install their own servers".  Well, if your normal
procedure is to install software on your iSeries without knowing what it
connects to (nor how to control it), then you deserve exactly the level of
security that you end up with.

For those who manage to not install OEM Trojan Horses on their machines,
ODBC security is relatively simple: if you shut down DDM access and slap an
exit program on QIBM_QZDA_INIT, you're golden.

By the way, that doesn't mean you don't need to secure your data for other
reasons!  Heck you don't need ANY downloads with an unsecured machine: just
fire up FTP and you can get anything you want.  Or if you can sign on, you
just copy a file to print, or to a mapped drive, or any of a dozen different
ways to get data off the machine.  Securing the actual files is still
crucial.

But I just wanted to point out that ODBC access is not a given; it can be
controlled.

Joe

> From: Walden H. Leverich
> 
> >SQuirreL!  Cool little open source SQL utility.  You can even edit
> files with it.
> 
> And if there's _anyone_ out there that still believes menu-level
> database security is sufficient they should take a good look at this
> tool! Two free downloads from sourceforge (Squirrel and jt400) and
> you've got edit capabilities on your data.