From governments to military, airlines to banks, the mainframe is alive and well and touches you in everything you do. The security community that's tasked with reviewing the security on mainframes, though, actually knows very little about these beasts. Be it a lack of access by the security community or the false notion that mainframes are dead, there is a distinct gap between the IT security world and the mainframe world. Mainframes in the IT security community are talked about in whispered hushed tones in the back alleys. Neither knowing if they're as secure as IBM (and mainframers) claim or if they're ripe with configuration problems ready to be exploited. This talk will remove some of the mystery surrounding the mainframe, breaking down that 'legacy wall.' Discussing how security is implemented on the mainframe (including where to find configuration files), how to access it, simple networking and configuration commands, file structure etc. will be presented at this session.