"I find your lack of faith disturbing"

In this edition

Mainframerz Next Event update ?? Happy birthday to Kubernetes turning 10 ?? IBM Rising Champions Advocacy badge ?? IBM SkillsBuild Showcase ?? Is the Mainframe the new 'Must Have' Toy - 'Star Wars' ?? IBM are hiring & more jobs ?? Readers question ?? HOT 2024 - Europes largest WLA Event ?? GSE UK Call for Papers announces the winners shortly ?? Share in Kansas Agenda announced ?? IBM z Day ?? SSH exploits ?? Digital Markets Act ?? Potpourri - of other interesting stories ??Intro

The Mainframerz meetup events & newsletters are designed to share the latest news and training to 'help you grow your skills and network'.

At our events and through the newsletter you can network with like minded friendly folks keen to help and engage in discussion around the mainframe.

To get the most from our community we invite you to jump in with questions, ideas, or helping with one of our events.

Grow you skills & networking: Mainframerz Event

Containers on z

Latest update for our next event 'Containers on z'.

Sign-up to our event via Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/mainframerz-london/

• Presentation 1 - Intro to Containers & Kubernetes - (TBC)
• Presentation 2 - Intro to z/OS Container Platform (Dipesh Rawat, IBM)
• Presentation 3 - Containerised z/OS Connect (Andrew Smithson, IBM)
• Presentation 4 - Simple containerised Python app running in zCX (Sujit Neb - BMC)
• Q&A (as usual)

Just over two weeks to go - don't miss out!

You can attend our event and explore the topic discussed many of our speakers are available for up to 2 weeks to ask/answer follow-on questions, you can also ask the community through me or our slack channel after the 2 weeks has elapsed.

Happy birthday to Kubernetes who turns 10

Originally an Open Source project at Google

It is now 10 years since an open source project [Kubernetes or K8s] at Google for Developers announced itself to the world; what started as an Open Source project from a small team at Google became a global phenomenon.

You can read much more about this on the thenewstack on their post ?? here: ??

Grow your network & skills: Applications for the IBM Rising Champions Advocacy badge

Nominations for the 2024 IBM Champions class are now closed.

Use this form to request an IBM Rising Champions Advocacy badge. Badge applications are accepted year-round – and are an excellent path to the next round of nominations for IBM Champions.

The IBM Rising Champions Advocacy program also recognizes the contributions of IBM technology advocates. We offer three levels of badges, each progressively earned through advocacy acts: IBM Contributor, IBM Advocate, IBM Influencer.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and badges are issued monthly. Visit https://lnkd.in/deGP9pEm and click on "Pathway to IBM Champion" for more details.

Like the IBM Champions program, members of the IBM Rising Champions Advocacy badge are not IBMers selected based on their demonstrated advocacy of IBM technologies.

If you'd like to refer a friend, use the IBM Rising Champions Advocacy Badge app ?? here: ??

Grow your skills: Students Enhance your Skills this Summer

IBM SkillsBuild Showcase - 02 July 2024

Are you a student? Did you know that you can access 1,000s of free IBM courses?

? Learn about our free education program that offers a range of subjects, certifications, and career opportunities.

? You'll also be provided with a personalised learning pathway!

Read the full post and find the registration details in the post by IBM ?? here: ??

Did you know: Students can attend GSE UK for free ?

Is the Mainframe the new 'Must Have' Toy

"I find your lack of faith disturbing"

A fellow Mainframerz volunteer who gives up his time to help give back to the mainframe community and a big part of the success of Mainframerz is Stuart Ashby who has posted a picture I have shamelessly stolen for the newsletter.

In the post Stuart says that this is a statue, I really hope its being used as a sun dial, or if not I should say "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope".

Is anyone else getting a #StarWars vibe here, If we add action figures & models in the background can you see Star Wars?

It made me think could we have mainframe components made into Star Wars art, could we have mainframe inspired Star Wars next after all the mainframe did help get us to Space:-

? Lego

? Barbie

& now

? Star Wars

Am I the only hope?

Visit the original post and give it a like, or comment if you too can also see Star Wars or older readers may remember K-9 from Doctor Who, Stuarts post can be found ?? here: ??

Employment & Recruitment: IBM are hiring

Currently Hiring Globally

In the words of Christian Jacobi

"The next generation #cpu #development is in full swing. We put a major focus on enhancing the processor core, with both microarchitectural and architectural innovation, and a shift to the next Silicon technology node. In parallel, we're driving an aggressive innovation cadence for AI acceleration. It's an incredibly exciting time to develop IBM Z processors and AI accelerators".

"We're currently hiring globally to support this innovative roadmap. We're looking for early-tenure and experienced architects, logic designers, verification engineers, physical design engineers, performance engineers, and firmware and software developers, including #Linux Kernel, #KVM and #QEMU development.

If you are interested in working on the premiere data serving and transaction processing platform, have a background or interest in processor design or cross-stack optimization, experience with other instruction set architectures like x86, ARM, or RISC-V, then these job postings might be very interesting to you".

Read more from Christian in his post including the jobs chosen by him in his post ?? here: ??

You can find all IBM jobs available ?? here: ??

Also check out the links at the bottom of the newsletter where you will find a link to more jobs in the Mainframerz Slack, job channel.

Readers Questions

Learning COBOL [IBM z Mainframe Depot Training]

1?? Moving into a COBOL role

Follow up to a question sent to me:-

"Hi Again Andy,

I’d been thinking about learning cobol but I wasn’t sure if technical hiring managers recognise the IBM mainframe depot training.

Are you aware of anyone who has been able to move into a cobol role after completing a path on that platform?"

.....

"So, I haven’t obtained any Cobol or mainframe related certification yet. I come from a cloud environment. I thought I’d learn from those already in the Mainframe space.

??

I’d be happy to hear from your community if they have advice around it"

.....

"Okay, I’d be starting from scratch without COBOL experience.

From outside, it looks like enough hours to become an entry level mainframe administrator."

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this either in public or private: Colin Pearce Derek Britton Logan Ott Andy B. & lastly a special mention to Geoffrey Decker watch out for a separate article on this topic - coming shortly!

It's part of my living articles series - so it's not too late to add a contribution.

Grow your skills & networking: Hot 2024

The biggest Workload Automation Event in Europe: 2 weeks to go!

The HOT 2024 is coming very soon and I am unable to share a pdf in the newsletter to highlight what is happening at the Hot; as I can't do that I have instead adapted one of the PDF documents into a simple video. Underneath the video I will offer a link to register for the event which is free to attend.

? 200+ Participants: Get in touch with over 200 industry professionals and expand your network.

? 30+ Presentations: Experience a diverse program of presentations from the world market leaders for WLA, from HORIZONT and various customer presentations. A special highlight will be WLA expert Dan Twing (EMA, COO and President).

? 10+ Exhibitors: Discover the latest technologies and solutions from industry leaders such as Beta Systems, BMC, Broadcom CA, IBM and many more.

Full link to register is here: https://lnkd.in/dpeWhdqw

Grow your skills & networking: GSE UK

GSE UK in person Event: Call for Papers

For those of us who have submitted papers to GSE UK Region it's now a nervous wait to find out if we have been lucky enough to have been selected to give a presentation.

If you are non-mainframer reading this newsletter for the first time, it's the mainframe equivalent of the main stage at Glastonbury.

Last year I was lucky enough to present with Erik Weyler who is an International IDUG winner.

Grow your skills: IBM z Day virtual event

1st October 2024

Last year the event saw "70 sessions led by more than 200 industry experts and global thought leaders across five tracks over 26,000 views from 135 countries."

Topics this year to look out for:-

? Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

? Data and App Modernization

? Digital Transformation and Hybrid Cloud

? Sustainability and Innovation

? Security, Privacy, and Resiliency

? Open Source Technology

? Client and Industry Best Practices

?Skills Programs and Career Journeys

? Global Talent Showcase and Accelerated Learning Opportunities

Answer the Call for papers ?? here: ??

"Do you have an idea or topic you would like to present at one of our Mainframerz events, do you have a topic you would likes us to discuss at the Mainframerz event.....

....or would you like to suggest an article, topic or discussion for the newsletter...

...if so I want to hear from you as well as my regular contributors!".

Critical OpenSSH Flaw Enables Full System Compromise

Mainframes talking to the world

We mainframers all know the mainframe is now connected to the outside world and all of the risks which go with it and this fact has been for some considerable time now.

Nowadays there are many products and vendors that allow you to talk to the mainframe and outside world. All these solutions share is the need to communicate to the mainframe and this is often done via a secured SSH.

The remote unauthenticated code execution (RCE) vulnerability (CVE-2024-6387) could lead to full system compromise where an attacker can execute arbitrary code with the highest privileges. This could result in:-

? Complete System Takeover

? Installation of malware

? Data manipulation

? Creation of backdoors for persistent access

? Network propogation, leaving a compromised system

You can read much more about this on Infosecurity Magazine with the article ?? here: ??

Or you can stay updated via The Hacker News or The Cyber Security Hub? for lots more stories around security.

Hackers target new MOVEit Transfer critical auth bypass bug

It's time to MOVEit MOVEit again

The new security issue received the identifier CVE-2024-5806 and allows attackers to bypass the authentication process in the Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) module, which is responsible for file transfer operations over SSH.

Read the full story at BleepingComputer in their post ?? here: ??

? ?? Potpourri {mainframe & non-mainframe stories} ?

In Other news: EU investigates Meta, Alphabet and Apple for violating competition rules

?? Digital Markets Act ??

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) establishes a set of clearly defined objective criteria to identify “gatekeepers”. Gatekeepers are large digital platforms providing so called core platform services, such as for example online search engines, app stores, messenger services. Gatekeepers will have to comply with the do’s (i.e. obligations) and don’ts (i.e. prohibitions) listed in the DMA.

The DMA is one of the first regulatory tools to comprehensively regulate the gatekeeper power of the largest digital companies. The DMA complements, but does not change EU competition rules, which continue to apply fully.

Why it matters: The new law has been in force for two weeks and the EU is signaling a rapid-fire approach to antitrust enforcement, a departure from a global tendency among regulators to mount backward-looking cases that drag on for years.

Under the DMA: The burden is instead on designated large "gatekeeper" companies to demonstrate how their products are preserving open markets and competition.

EU investigating: Meta, Alphabet and Apple for violating competition rules

Read more about the impact and reach of the Digital Markets Act and what it could mean on the Axios news page ?? here: ??

Mainframerz having fun

A key requirement to work in the mainframe has always been the need for a basic understanding of math/s and I am sure there will be at least a few people who have took degrees in Mathematics or Computer Science & Mathematics before entering the workforce.

Just for a bit of fun I have a game, watch the following video [optional] & then answer the question below the video:

You have to do the calculation in your head as fast as you can, the aim is to answer the question in under 3 seconds and then post your answer in the comments.

If you want to play please answer the following question in your head and post the answer:-

"Take 1,000. Add 40 to it.

Now add another 1,000.

Now add 30. Another 1,000.

Now Add 20.

Now add another 1,000.

Now add 10.

What is the total?"

Please post your answer in the comments and if you answered in under 3 seconds!

What can the Mainframe do

The newsletter now has a few new non mainframe-members who are curious about the mainframe and what it can do and how it is used.

I had a quick look and found a recent post by Sebastian Zang which does a great job of showcasing the mainframe in its day to day role. In his post he describes the role of a typical mainframe in 'a day in the worlds largest bank processes'.

? 200 Processor units can achieve 215,089 MIPS {Million Instructions Per Second}

? 25 billion encrypted transcations per day

? 1.5 billion CICS transactions daily

? Plus more facts available

You can read the full article by Sebastian ?? here: ??

The Mainframe helped to get US [& Russia] to Space

Again for new subscribers unsure of the mainframe and its significance we played a large part in helping with the Space programs of both the US & Russia [yes Russia had mainframes as well].

Now that we can get into Space what awaits us when we get there, Dwayne Lawrence shared a great post explaining the video "Pillars of Creation" by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center "Universe of Learning", you can read a post by Dwayne which explains the video ?? here: ??

What's inside an RFID Pass

In a previous newsletter some time ago I recommend a TV program by Professor Hannah Fry who explained how bank cards and contactless technology work. I am told the television program hosted by the BBC is geo-blocked for many readers.

Good news I have now found a very similar video on YouTube from Marcus Hutchins [Cybersecurity speaker, specialist, and ex-hacker. Best known for stopping WannaCry, the world's largest ransomware attack].

He also is about to start a great newsletter, which you can sign-up to:

https://malwaretech.com/newsletter/

"Ever wondered whats inside an RFID access card 'no' well Marcus Hutchins will show you anyway in the video card, by dissolving the card using acetone.."

"You've made it this far don't forget to check out the links below or subscribe before you go"

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