A Quantum Leap into 2024

In this edition

Arcati Mainframe Survey help ?? Broadcom Vitality Program ?? Putting in a good word for the Mainframe ?? Help with finding a Mainframe role ?? Help the Mainframerz in 2024 ?? Free Cloud Computing course ?? IBM VM history ?? Review your Kubernetes patches ?? Potpourri - various stories ??

Intro

Welcome to 2024 which is a 'Leap year' meaning we have 366 days this year, this makes me wonder will we hear much more about Quantum computing this year?

At New Year many of us made resolutions for the year ahead, many studies suggest sharing your resolutions with others increases your chances of your resolutions being successful. If you are looking for somewhere to share New Years resolutions why not tell everyone your resolutions in the comments section.

I know the Mainframerz team are already looking forward to how we can bring you so much more in 2024 at our Meetup Events.

If you have seen an interesting article or story posted that you would like me to share please message me, I aim to share as many stories from as many different sources as possible.

Mainframerz: Passionate about the mainframe (follows)

The Arcati Mainframe Survey would like to have a word

Share Your Insights in the Annual Arcati Mainframe Survey

In fact the Arcati Mainframe would like a couple of words from you as they would like your help to complete the Arcati Mainframe Yearbooks annual survey.

Amanda Hendley & Trevor Eddolls have shared a posted in Planet Mainframe about this and I wanted to make sure you don't miss it.

?? I have a link with more information on the request from Planet Mainframe for help with the Arcati Mainframe yearbook here:

"Quick reminder: the Arcati Mainframe Yearbook survey closes on Jan 5th! This annual study is your chance to impact the mainframe community with your insights. It's a short survey, taking just 15 minutes, but your input is invaluable.

They need your perspective! Plus, complete the survey and you’ll get a free copy of the results, and a chance to win Bose QuietComfort Headphones.

?? Jump straight to the survey here:

Fast-Track Your Mainframe Career With the Broadcom Mainframe Vitality Program

Partnering to Solve Mainframe Skills Shortage

In writing this newsletter I am often asked Questions about working in the mainframe industry:-

1. How do I become a Mainframer
2. What roles are available
3. What skills will I need
4. How can I move to a new role

I tried answering these questions individually sending individual replies, then I created an article previously with tips to help find a role.

I spoke with the team at Mainframerz and we created a jobs channel on slack for you.

Lots of opportunities are available Broadcom Software recently posted about how you can join their training program and work towards becoming a new mainframer.

?? Read the SHARE Headquarters blog post: Fast-Track Your Mainframe Career With the Broadcom Mainframe Vitality Program here:

Fortunately, my coding bootcamp recruiters reached out to me to discuss opportunities in the mainframe area. As I researched the field, I found out that mainframe careers are incredibly stable and have very good compensation. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that mainframes are the powerhouses in the background responsible for seamless, secure business transactions such as airline bookings, credit card transactions, and so much more.?This was a no-brainer to me: the mainframe represented high demand and a high market desire for willing and trainable talent. To me, it was, in essence, a “recession-proof” career with tremendous security. I was sold.

?? Visit the Broadcom Mainframe VitalitPhoto by Ameer Basheer on Unsplashy Program link here:

My New Years Resolution

Being helpful towards others

My New Year resolutions this year are to be as helpful as I can in helping others and look to maximise new opportunities.

I don't normally re-share my own posts & articles but I have made an exception to my own rule, I am re-sharing one article.

Re-post of article

One issue seen in 2023 arose when IT related problems were blamed on the mainframe when it was not at fault. I wrote a short article to raise awareness and address the problem.

I will re-share any article if it can be proven the mainframe is being blamed when it is not the fault of the mainframe, if we see this blaming happen again.

?? You can read my previous post correcting a media narrative about the mainframe being to blame in relation to an Airline Industry problem here:

A New Year: A new collaborative article - Mainframe careers

Carrying on with my theme of trying to be as helpful as I can. A number of people have asked me questions about employment in the mainframe. As I have mentioned above I previously wrote an article (which I have now removed from my favourite articles) that included various tips about how to increase your chances of finding a role in the mainframe with additional tips on how you could move to your next role.

Now: I want to write a new article but this time I want to tap in to the "knowledge of crowds", and I want to ask everyone who is reading this newsletter for your help in sharing tips, best practices and suggestions which I will add to a living article which I will add to the bottom of the newsletter.

?? You can read and then add your help on Mainframe recruitment here:

My plan has been to create a draft article and publish it aimed at mainframe recruitment challenges, then to invite everyone to share, repost and suggest improvements or ideas and create a living document.

We all know that we have problems in the mainframe with recruitment and I am throwing down the gauntlet to address the issues in mainframe recruitment.

Q. "Who is with me on this challenge" ?

A. I can answer this that already a number of people are behind me and ready to help, a number of you have already dived in who have seen the post and I have suggestions for job websites, CV help and training, that was all in the first few hours to add to the article !!!

Help the Mainframerz Meetup Event

Are you inspired by New Year resolutions to help others, do you see yourself as a Dr Sam Beckett (Quantum Leap) - looking to jump in and help others.

Q. Would you like to be a Speaker at our Mainframerz Meetup Event do you have a topic you would like to talk about for 15 minutes which will be of interest to our Mainframe Community?

Q. Would you like to help organise one of our Mainframerz Meetup Events, do you have around 30 minutes to an hour you could spare each week?

? If you answered yes to either of the questions above please get in touch with myself Andrew (Andy) McCandless or any of the Mainframerz Team at our next event, we want to hear from you.

Have you made any New Year Resolutions or are you looking for ideas?

Free Course: LinkedIn Learning: Cloud Computing Careers and Certifications

Are you thinking of learning a new language or qualification for the New Year? Cameron Seay a leading Professor who teaches Mainframe Programming at East Carolina University has very kindly published a course on Cloud Computing on LinkedIn which he has made available for free.

Do you want to start a career in cloud computing, but don't know where to begin? Whether you’re an IT professional or a computer science student, this course can help by providing an ideal foundational mapping of the career paths and certifications that you should consider if you're interested in transitioning to cloud computing. Instructor and cloud architect Lynn Langit covers a variety of career paths, including IT pro, developer, analyst, data scientist, and architect roles. Throughout the course, she focuses on the major cloud platforms—AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google, and more—discusses certifications available for each, and explores the future of cloud computing careers. Lynn discusses machine learning, virtualization, networking, security, scripting, and more.

?? You can access the course via the LinkedIn post here:

Review your patches - Kubernetes

If you are still looking for ideas and inspiration for a New Year resolution why not consider review your patches. By this I don't mean the patches you have earned from learning a new skill instead I mean keeping an eye on the patching level across your IT Estate to ensure that all software is kept up to date.

As you know at Mainframerz Meetup we have held talks advising you about checking for vulnerabilities and the need to ensure your patching for security reason is kept up to date.

An article that caught my eye which I was unsure whether it should go to the bottom of my newsletter or in the main body is around an exploit which involved combining two vulnerabilities in the Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) on their own either vulnerability is of very low impact but if you combine the two vulnerabilities together it created a serious business risk.

I wanted to share the story from Techzine for awareness that even when not applying a patch seems very low risk in itself it could be that poor patching practices may leave you exposed. It is possible this year we may see more vulnerabilities where combining two low impact patches or fixes together can create a serious exploit.

?? To read the full story about the GKE exploited patches click here:

Did you know that?IBM?was the first company to introduce the concept of virtual machines?

Virtulization

I read a post recently that was shared to me that may be of interest if you like to understand how the mainframe has shaped the IT landscape we see today.

Did you know that?IBM?was the first company to introduce the concept of virtual machines or we say #virtualization as part of their initiative to create a strong time-sharing solution for mainframes in 1970s?

?? You can read out why it was deployed and how it works by reading Rituraj Mahato post here:

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

A nice way to begin 2024

I would like to thank everybody who reached out me in 2023 with stories, articles, friendly comments and encouragement. It's been great to hear from everyone.

Here are two messages I received over the December - New Year period, one was in a personal message and one sent as a comment.

? Hi Andrew, Happy to be connected with an Mainframe IBM champion. looking forward on learning new developments happening across Mainframe World from your newsletter

? Thank you so much for putting these together. Particularly I enjoyed learning about IBMMQ and mainframe modernization and my girls will enjoy NORAD Santa Tracker for sure! My eldest accompanied me to the Mainframez Christmas Quiz event, that was fun. Thank you for all you do, because for the new guys like me means a lot! Happy Holidays!

?? Thank you everyone who has reached out over the past year.

IBM 1401

For everyone who has taken part in our Mainframerz Meetup Quiz, one question asked by Marcus was to name that tune and one option given was an IBM 1401. Rather helpfully Bob Thomas has shared an image of the 1401 and when it was introduced and went out of service.

?? You can read more about the IBM 1401 via the post from Bob Thomas here:

Google Settles $5 Billion Privacy Lawsuit Over Tracking Users in 'Incognito Mode'

The story on The Cyber Security Hub? caught my eye, if you haven't seen the article it appears that Google has been tracking users in 'Incognito Mode'.

I was curious what people think of this and if this is of concern to Mainframe customers, re-use of password, other data related vulnerabilities.

It reminds me that many companies now warn about how you use ChatGPT as the data you share to ChatGPT can be stored and made use of.

You can read the article about the Google lawsuit here:

The class-action lawsuit sought at least $5 billion in damages. The settlement terms were not disclosed.

The plaintiffs had alleged that Google violated federal wiretap laws and tracked users' activity using Google Analytics to collect information when in private mode.

They said this allowed the company to collect an "unaccountable trove of information" about users who assumed they had taken adequate steps to protect their privacy online.

The Worst Hacks of 2023

Here is hoping as we begin 2024 we don't have a repeat of 2023, where everyone from the BBC to Las Vegas seemed to be a victim of hacking.

In the article linked below I find it interesting that Wired has chosen many of the same hacks that I drew attention to in my newsletter.

Just a quick reminder the mainframe is only as strong as its weakest point, and hacks such as password vaults, to phishing all leave the mainframe open to vulnerability.

Cl0p and MOVEit

One of the most impactful hacks of 2023 wasn’t a single incident but a series of devastating breaches, beginning in May, caused by mass exploitation of a vulnerability in the popular file transfer software known as MOVEit.

The bug allowed hackers to steal data from a laundry list of international government entities and businesses, including the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles, Shell, British Airways, and the?United States Department of Energy. Progress Software, which develops MOVEit,?patched the flaw?at the end of May, and broad adoption of the fix eventually stopped the spree. But the “Cl0p” data extortion gang had already gone on a disastrous joy ride, exploiting the vulnerability against as many victims as possible.

Organizations are still coming forward to disclose MOVEit-related incidents, and researchers told WIRED that this trickle of updates will almost certainly continue in 2024 and possibly beyond.

?? You can read more from Wired on the worst attacks of 2023 here:

The politest and funniest hack of 1983

In the same year as War Games was released just over 40 years ago another famous hacking event hit our screens, this time it was on the BBC and TV, it's interesting to see the disruption caused by the hackers and the polite response from the BBC presenters about the hackers.

I don't know why but this clip made me laugh...

Projects gone bad - Horizon

If you live in the UK and you have been watching TV in the UK over the New Year you may have been gripped by the story of when an IT project goes bad.

Previously I shared details around the Fujitsu Horizon scandal, a UK IT disaster so bad that it has been made into televised TV series now, with so many projects taking place the chance of a project going wrong always exists.

I wonder if we may see more TV series exposing when IT projects go wrong, it seems that the UK public has shown an interest in these type of stories.

Background to the TV show

A project run by 富士通 for Post Office Ltd known as "Project Horizon" not to be confused with HORIZONT Software GmbH or any other similar named company.

?? You can read a summarised version of this story via Wikipedia here:

“They mistrusted every Asian postmaster. They mocked Scottish and Welsh postmasters, and pretended they could not understand them. They created a picture of postmasters that suggested they were incompetent or fraudsters.”

Some of the headlines around this are pretty bad

‘They mistrusted every Asian postmaster’: Horizon scandal whistleblower claims racism was rife at Fujitsu helpdesk

'All Asians were called "Patels" regardless of surname'

or

Post-Office accused of not disclosing over 30,000 documents to enquiry

You can read all these stories here:

It does seem that a number of issues that are highlighted in the newsletter are being shared in the trade press after a little delay, and I want to thank everyone who has helped with providing industry leading stories.

Company going bad - Atos

My final story is one that involves 源讯 & Airbus it appears that ATOS who are a major player in the IT industry in general providing support services which includes mainframe customers may be experiencing financial problems.

As a result of the financial problems ATOS is restructuring its business offering.

The story caught my eye as Airbus and Cyber Security on the face of it didn't seem a tight mesh.

As Matthew Gooding managing editor of Tech monitor summed up in his post:-

No New Year cheer for French ITSP Atos, which is still struggling with it massive debt pile and as a result is considering flogging its cybersecurity business to Airbus in a deal which could be worth up to €1.8bn.

Airbus is in preliminary talks over a deal, but may face competition from another bidder, while elsewhere in the Atos empire, talks over the sale of its Tech Foundations business unit to investment fund EPEI are ongoing.

If both transactions go through, you have to wonder what exactly will be left of Atos. Quelle merde.

?? You can read the full post and article here:

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