COMMON POWERUp 2025

COMMON POWERUp 2025

Unlock the Power of IBM i at POWERUp 2025!

Join us in Disneyland, California, for POWERUp 2025, the premier conference for IBM i professionals. Whether you’re an experienced expert or just starting your IBM i journey, this event offers unparalleled education, hands-on workshops, and valuable networking opportunities. Stay ahead of the curve with insights from industry leaders, explore the latest innovations, and connect with a thriving community that shares your passion for IBM i. Don’t miss this opportunity to expand your knowledge, grow your skills, and power up your career!

10:00am PDT

IBM i Security - what's new in recent releases

Monday May 19, 2025 10:00am - 11:00am PDT

Come learn about the security features included in the IBM i operating system's most recent releases. Whether exciting, mundane, or even a little scary to consider, there is something that will pique your interest.

Speakers

Tim Mullenbach

Monday May 19, 2025 10:00am - 11:00am PDT
Room 8 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Security

11:15am PDT

IBM i Security Basics

Monday May 19, 2025 11:15am - 12:15pm PDT

This is an "IBM i Security 101" session. We will cover IBM i security topics from the basics (user profiles, system values, and object authority) through more advanced topics (adopted authority, authority checking, IFS considerations, audit journaling, and a multi-layer defensive posture). We'll cover some of these topics from the traditional "greenscreen" as well as Navigator for i.

Speakers

Steve Riedmueller

Certified IBM i Admin - IBM Champion, Speaker, Mentor, and Advocate, Kisco

Monday May 19, 2025 11:15am - 12:15pm PDT
Room 8 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Security

3:15pm PDT

Ransomware and IBM i: Strategies to Protect the IFS from Cyber Attacks

Monday May 19, 2025 3:15pm - 4:15pm PDT

Critical business assets stored in IBM i IFS objects are as vulnerable to ransomware and other cyberthreats as files stored on Windows and Linux servers. Ransomware gangs pose a significant threat to systems including the IBM i. These criminal organizations are becoming more sophisticated with creation and distribution of harmful programs. Securing the IBM i from potential attacks is a key element within the IT Defense in Depth strategy.

Speakers

Ken McCalister

Monday May 19, 2025 3:15pm - 4:15pm PDT
Room 8 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Security

4:30pm PDT

SIEM-plify your IBM i Security Strategy

Monday May 19, 2025 4:30pm - 4:50pm PDT

The IBM i runs the core applications for so many businesses, yet it is the least visible to most security teams. Increasing integration into adjacent technologies, combined with the severity of today’s threats, makes detecting suspicious activity quickly more important than ever. It is critical to have your IBM i security events included in your security information event management (SIEM) console, MDR or XDR solutions.
But what does that mean for the IBM i? And where do you start?

Speakers

Sandi Moore

Sr. Solutions Engineer, Fortra LLC

Sandi has been working with Fortra customers for over 20 years supporting systems monitoring and security software. With experience on IBM i, AIX, and Linux, she has been involved in product demonstrations, implementation, support, training, research, and product testing. Sandi is... Read More →

Monday May 19, 2025 4:30pm - 4:50pm PDT
Room 8 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Security

5:05pm PDT

Ensuring Data Resiliency

Monday May 19, 2025 5:05pm - 5:25pm PDT

Data resiliency is critical in today’s cyber threat landscape. Many companies believe that their high availability solution or disaster recovery plan is sufficient in the event of a cyber-attack; however, that’s not enough. Recovering from a cyber event requires companies to implement data security and protection measures beyond the standard disaster recovery plan.

Speakers

Laurie LeBlanc

Monday May 19, 2025 5:05pm - 5:25pm PDT
Room 8 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Security

8:00am PDT

Single Sign On (Kerberos) Overview for IBM i

Tuesday May 20, 2025 8:00am - 9:00am PDT

Wouldn’t it be nice to have just one password? It may be possible using Single Sign On. In this overview level session, we will discuss how the process works. We will cover the steps to setup an IBM i in an existing Windows Environment. Finally, the session will provide some pain points and best practices to consider before implementing Single Sign On. Time and systems permitting, a live demo of the setup and usage will conclude the session.

Speakers

Robert Andrews

Principal Security Consultant, IBM

Robert Andrews is a Principal Security Consultant, Senior Technical Staff Member (STSM), and the Team Lead for the IBM i Security and Authentication Technology Expert Labs team in Rochester, MN. He is an IBM certified Thought Leader and The Open Group certified Distinguished Technical... Read More →

Tuesday May 20, 2025 8:00am - 9:00am PDT
Room 8 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Security

9:15am PDT

Using Function Usage to add Another Layer to your IBM i Security Defenses

Tuesday May 20, 2025 9:15am - 10:15am PDT

Come to this session to understand what Function Usage (formerly known as Application Administration) is, how to access it, how to implement settings to add an additional layer of security to your IBM i Security strategy and how discover or report on current settings. Carol will also discuss the audit journal entries that are generated by function usage and describe several ways to utilize this information.

Speakers

Carol Woodbury

IBM i Security SME and Senior Advisor, Kisco Systems

With over 30 years' experience in the area of IT security, Carol is known world-wide as an expert in the area of computer security. During her career, Carol has architected security solutions for Fortune 100 companies as well as small and medium-sized organizations. Carol is passionate... Read More →

Tuesday May 20, 2025 9:15am - 10:15am PDT
Room 8 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Security

10:45am PDT

30 Security Tips in 60 Minutes

Tuesday May 20, 2025 10:45am - 11:45am PDT

Security is a big topic, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Just like weightlifting, where you can start with smaller weights and work your way up, such is the case in cyber security, you can reduce your risk by doing some basic things as you work toward bigger goals. Examining the most common causes of security failures and a few simple countermeasures can help you take some action now.

Speakers

Robert Nettgen

Senior Consultant, Briteskies

Robert Nettgen wanted a career in radio broadcasting, but saw that profession declining and found better pay working in IT. A PC developer in the ‘80’s, Rob started administering AS/400s in the early ‘90s for a Radio/TV group owner. In 1999 Rob accepted a job as IT director... Read More →

Tuesday May 20, 2025 10:45am - 11:45am PDT
Room 8 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Security

3:15pm PDT

Securing SSH on IBM i - Practical Approach

Tuesday May 20, 2025 3:15pm - 4:15pm PDT

• SSH is the preferred shell for administering and managing OpenSource technology on the IBM i
• Automation software such as Ansible requires SSH connectivity to function properly

• Organizations are adopting DevOps tools such as Merlin, VS Code for i, etc. to deploy application code that requires SSH connectivity

• Provide examples and tips to secure SSH for any IBM i environment

Speakers

James Olliges

Tuesday May 20, 2025 3:15pm - 4:15pm PDT
Room 8 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Security

4:30pm PDT

Break Free from Defaults – Why Keeping Them Can Harm Your System Security!

Tuesday May 20, 2025 4:30pm - 4:50pm PDT

Misconfiguration is still one of the leading causes of data breaches.
IBM i settings can also be misconfigured—either by mistake or neglect.
Not updating the shipped configurations can expose your system.
Find out how you can improve the shipped configuration on your new system or improve the configuration that has been handed down year after year, hardware migration to hardware migration.

During this session, you'll learn about the top IBM i security configuration errors that can make your system, data and organization vulnerable.

Speakers

Amy Williams

Sr Security Services Consultant, Fortra LLC

Amy Williams is a Senior Security Services Consultant who joined Fortra in 2015. She holds CISSP, CISA, and PCI-P certifications.Amy has worked on the IBM i platform for nearly 30 years and her experience includes application testing, system installation, system administration, and... Read More →

Tuesday May 20, 2025 4:30pm - 4:50pm PDT
Room 8 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Security

5:05pm PDT

IBM i Security: A Dual Responsibility

Tuesday May 20, 2025 5:05pm - 5:25pm PDT

With security breaches making weekly headlines, what is IBM doing to provide us with a secure-able operating system? And once delivered, what are our responsibilities? Or is what IBM's doing sufficient such that we have no additional work or responsibilities? Come and join a lively discussion between Steve Will and Carol Woodbury as they debate these relevant issues.

Speakers

Steve Will

IBM i CTO & Chief Architect, IBM

Steve is the CTO and Chief Architect for the IBM i Operating System. Spending the past fourteen years of his IBM career in this position, he has become an award-winning speaker, author of the influential blog "You and i," (https://bit.ly/You-and-i-blog) and is one of the most sought-after voices at customer briefings and events. Steve has worked on IBM i and its predecessors since before the creation of the AS/400, and is currently responsible for setting the strategy of the IBM i operating system, as well as deciding which enhancements will be implemented. In his role, he talks to clients and pa... Read More →

Carol Woodbury

IBM i Security SME and Senior Advisor, Kisco Systems

With over 30 years' experience in the area of IT security, Carol is known world-wide as an expert in the area of computer security. During her career, Carol has architected security solutions for Fortune 100 companies as well as small and medium-sized organizations. Carol is passionate... Read More →

Tuesday May 20, 2025 5:05pm - 5:25pm PDT
Room 8 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Security

8:00am PDT

Best Practices for the IBM i Security Administrator

Wednesday May 21, 2025 8:00am - 10:15am PDT

Know you should be managing your IBM i Security implementation but don’t know where to start or what all needs to be checked? This session will provide you with a checklist of the areas of the operating system that should be checked on a regular basis. Carol and Steve will explain why it’s important to perform these checks along with the risks of not maintaining your security configuration. The Run SQL Script file used during the demo will be provided with the handouts.

Speakers

Carol Woodbury

IBM i Security SME and Senior Advisor, Kisco Systems

With over 30 years' experience in the area of IT security, Carol is known world-wide as an expert in the area of computer security. During her career, Carol has architected security solutions for Fortune 100 companies as well as small and medium-sized organizations. Carol is passionate... Read More →

Steve Riedmueller

Certified IBM i Admin - IBM Champion, Speaker, Mentor, and Advocate, Kisco

Wednesday May 21, 2025 8:00am - 10:15am PDT
Room 8 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Security

10:45am PDT

Building a Successful IFS Security Strategy

Wednesday May 21, 2025 10:45am - 11:45am PDT

Ask any security professional which area of IBM i security is most often ignored and chances are the unanimous response is a chorus of “the Integrated File System."

Many organizations are either unaware of the risks that an unsecured IFS poses or are simply unsure of how to secure it. Regardless of the reason, this is a problem. The system interface doesn’t differentiate how a user profile accesses data – which leaves sensitive data exposed and vulnerable to manipulation, malware, and even theft.

Speakers

Sandi Moore

Sr. Solutions Engineer, Fortra LLC

Sandi has been working with Fortra customers for over 20 years supporting systems monitoring and security software. With experience on IBM i, AIX, and Linux, she has been involved in product demonstrations, implementation, support, training, research, and product testing. Sandi is... Read More →

Wednesday May 21, 2025 10:45am - 11:45am PDT
Room 8 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Security

3:45pm PDT

Audit Journaling with Navigator for i

Wednesday May 21, 2025 3:45pm - 4:45pm PDT

Understand how Navigator for i makes audit journaling on the IBM i easy. Learn how Navigator simplifies configuring auditing to just a few button clicks. See how Navigator can make consuming and analyzing audit entries easier. Learn about new improvements that increase the performance of analyzing audit entries.

Speakers

Ann Wilkerson

Software Developer, IBM

Ann Wilkerson is the technical team lead for Navigator for i and a developer for IBM i Services.

Wednesday May 21, 2025 3:45pm - 4:45pm PDT
Room 8 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Security

5:00pm PDT

IBM i Security with an SQL Chaser - Round 3

Wednesday May 21, 2025 5:00pm - 6:00pm PDT

In this award-winning session, be prepared to hear Scott Forstie and Carol Woodbury shake up the world of IBM i Security, mixing up yet another set of SQL concoctions to bedazzle the otherwise boring world of IBM i Security. This menu includes examples of using SQL to find vulnerabilities in your code (aka penetration testing) as well as new (but practical!) ways to use SQL services to discover and fix your security out your current processes that have reached their ‘consume by’ date. And, of course, be prepared to be a bit shaken (but not stirred).

Speakers

Carol Woodbury

IBM i Security SME and Senior Advisor, Kisco Systems

With over 30 years' experience in the area of IT security, Carol is known world-wide as an expert in the area of computer security. During her career, Carol has architected security solutions for Fortune 100 companies as well as small and medium-sized organizations. Carol is passionate... Read More →

Scott Forstie

STSM, Db2 for i Architect, IBM

Scott Forstie is a Senior Technical Staff Member within IBM i development and spends most of his time working as the Db2 for i Architect. He has worked on IBM operating system development since joining IBM in 1989.Scott is a frequently published author, speaker at industry events... Read More →

Wednesday May 21, 2025 5:00pm - 6:00pm PDT
Room 8 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Security

8:00am PDT

A Practical Guide to IBM i Authority Collection

Thursday May 22, 2025 8:00am - 9:00am PDT

This session explores practical applications for Authority Collection, including standard and creative use cases. Authority Collection can be used to reduce the security exposure of privileged user profiles and to lock down objects/libraries/IFS. We will cover these in detail, along with some “outside the box” ways of using this technology to answer questions and solve problems.

Speakers

Carol Woodbury

IBM i Security SME and Senior Advisor, Kisco Systems

With over 30 years' experience in the area of IT security, Carol is known world-wide as an expert in the area of computer security. During her career, Carol has architected security solutions for Fortune 100 companies as well as small and medium-sized organizations. Carol is passionate... Read More →

Steve Riedmueller

Certified IBM i Admin - IBM Champion, Speaker, Mentor, and Advocate, Kisco

Thursday May 22, 2025 8:00am - 9:00am PDT
Room 7 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Security

8:00am PDT

IBM i Security Best Practices

Thursday May 22, 2025 8:00am - 10:15am PDT

While the IBM i is an extremely secure system, there are still a variety of attack vectors that can result from administrative mistakes that can cause a breach. In this session, we will review many of the common issues and configuration errors we have seen time and again with our IBM i customers. If you are a system administrator or security officer, this session is a must attend!

Speakers

Robert Andrews

Principal Security Consultant, IBM

Robert Andrews is a Principal Security Consultant, Senior Technical Staff Member (STSM), and the Team Lead for the IBM i Security and Authentication Technology Expert Labs team in Rochester, MN. He is an IBM certified Thought Leader and The Open Group certified Distinguished Technical... Read More →

Thursday May 22, 2025 8:00am - 10:15am PDT
Room 8 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Security

11:15am PDT

TLS for ACS and Navigator

Thursday May 22, 2025 11:15am - 12:15pm PDT

The use of encrypted sessions is both an effective way to prevent credential theft, as well as a requirement for numerous laws and regulations.
In this session, you will see how to configure the replacement for Client Access—Access Client Solutions—to use an encrypted (TLS) session.
This session will include an example of using your IBM i as a CA (Certificate Authority). You’ll also see an example of creating a request to send to a well-known CA to create the digital certificate you’ll need to assign to the servers to enable encrypted communications.
Demonstration of securing Navigator for i using a self-signed certificate.

Speakers

Amy Williams

Sr Security Services Consultant, Fortra LLC

Amy Williams is a Senior Security Services Consultant who joined Fortra in 2015. She holds CISSP, CISA, and PCI-P certifications.Amy has worked on the IBM i platform for nearly 30 years and her experience includes application testing, system installation, system administration, and... Read More →

Thursday May 22, 2025 11:15am - 12:15pm PDT
Room 8 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Security

1:30pm PDT

Disk-level encryption isn’t enough

Thursday May 22, 2025 1:30pm - 2:30pm PDT

As companies look to leverage encryption as part of their security landscape, it can be tempting to just implement disk-level encryption. As security requirements continue to grow and compliance regulations are taken into account for the IBM i environment, administrators are finding they need to implement encryption at the field level versus disk level encryption.

Speakers

Bill Hammond

Thursday May 22, 2025 1:30pm - 2:30pm PDT
Room 8 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Security

3:00pm PDT

Moving to a Higher Level: Password Resilience

Thursday May 22, 2025 3:00pm - 4:00pm PDT

Have you thought about the passwords you use on your systems? What rules or restrictions do you have in place? But more importantly, why?! Have you ever thought about what those rules actually do to your passwords? Do you think they are making you more secure or less secure? In this presentation, we will cover passwords in depth, in theory, and specific to IBM i. Can your IBM i password be hacked? Come and find out at this inquisitive session! COMMON Bronze medal session.

Speakers

Robert Andrews

Principal Security Consultant, IBM

Robert Andrews is a Principal Security Consultant, Senior Technical Staff Member (STSM), and the Team Lead for the IBM i Security and Authentication Technology Expert Labs team in Rochester, MN. He is an IBM certified Thought Leader and The Open Group certified Distinguished Technical... Read More →

Thursday May 22, 2025 3:00pm - 4:00pm PDT
Room 8 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Security

5:00pm PDT

Dive Deep into IBM i Security Internals

Thursday May 22, 2025 5:00pm - 6:00pm PDT

As only one who's seen (and written!) IBM i OS code can do, Carol Woodbury takes you deep into the internal workings of IBM i Security. Topics of discussion include where and how authority is checked, how security settings affect performance, why and when to use some of the obscure security-related system values such as QUSEADPAUT, a discussion of some of the more hidden features such as validation lists and more.

Speakers

Carol Woodbury

IBM i Security SME and Senior Advisor, Kisco Systems

With over 30 years' experience in the area of IT security, Carol is known world-wide as an expert in the area of computer security. During her career, Carol has architected security solutions for Fortune 100 companies as well as small and medium-sized organizations. Carol is passionate... Read More →

Thursday May 22, 2025 5:00pm - 6:00pm PDT
Room 8 1150 Magic Way, Anaheim, CA 92802

Security