Delegate

Enhanced Definition

In the context of IBM z/OS, "delegate" primarily refers to the act of assigning or transferring authority, responsibility, or access rights from one entity (such as a user, application, or system) to another. This often involves granting specific permissions for an entity to act on behalf of another, or to perform designated administrative or operational tasks within the mainframe environment. In the context of IBM z/OS and enterprise computing, "delegate" refers to the act of assigning specific administrative authority, operational responsibility, or processing tasks from a higher-level entity (e.g., a system administrator, a primary system component) to a lower-level entity (e.g., a group administrator, a specific application, another system component). This transfer of responsibility aims to distribute workload, enhance security, and improve operational efficiency.

Key Characteristics

- Authorization Transfer: Involves the transfer of specific permissions or privileges, typically managed by mainframe security systems like RACF (Resource Access Control Facility), ACF2, or Top Secret.
- Acting on Behalf: Enables one entity (e.g., a middleware service, a proxy user, or an application ID) to perform actions that require the authorization of another entity (e.g., an end-user or a higher-privileged administrator).
- Granular Control: Delegation can be highly granular, allowing specific tasks, resource access, or administrative functions to be granted without conferring full administrative control.
- Auditable: Delegated actions are typically auditable, with security logs (SMF records) recording who performed the action and often on whose behalf, ensuring accountability.
- Identity Propagation: In modern distributed scenarios, delegation often involves preserving and propagating the original user's identity and authorization context from a distributed system to backend mainframe services.

Use Cases

- Security Administration: A RACF security administrator might delegate the ability to define new users within a specific GROUP to a junior administrator, limiting their scope to that group.
- Application Proxying: A z/OS Connect service or a custom REST API might delegate user requests to a backend CICS transaction or DB2 stored procedure, using the end-user's propagated identity for authorization checks on the mainframe.
- System Management: Delegating the management of specific CICS regions or IMS control regions to a dedicated operations team, granting them only the necessary OPERATOR or UPDATE privileges.
- Dataset Access: A user might delegate read/write access to a specific VSAM dataset to another user or an application ID for a temporary period via RACF profiles.
- Privileged Access Management: Implementing solutions where a generic ID can temporarily assume elevated privileges (delegated) to perform specific sensitive tasks, with strict auditing and time limits.

Related Concepts

Delegation is fundamentally intertwined with security management (RACF, ACF2, Top Secret), identity management, and access control. It leverages authentication to verify the identity of the delegating entity and authorization to control what can be delegated and to whom. In modern z/OS, it is crucial for hybrid cloud integration and API enablement (z/OS Connect), where distributed identities need to be mapped and propagated to mainframe resources. It also relates closely to auditing as all delegated actions must be traceable for compliance and security.

Best Practices:

Principle of Least Privilege: Delegate only the minimum necessary permissions required for a task, and for the shortest possible duration.
Regular Review: Periodically review all delegated authorities and access rights to ensure they are still necessary, appropriate, and aligned with current roles and responsibilities.
Strong Authentication: Ensure that entities delegating or receiving delegated authority use strong authentication mechanisms (e.g., multi-factor authentication where applicable).
Audit and Monitor: Implement robust auditing and monitoring of all delegated actions using SMF records and security logs to detect and respond to unauthorized activity promptly.
Clear Documentation: Document all delegation policies, procedures, and specific delegated authorities to maintain transparency, facilitate management, and support compliance.
Use Groups for Delegation: Whenever possible, delegate permissions to RACF groups rather than individual user IDs to