When do you use the Top Secret MSCA previous password?

Products

• Top Secret

Issue/Introduction

In what situations would the MSCA previous password be used to signon instead of the current password?

Environment

Release : 16.0

Component :

Resolution

The MSCA previous password is used to logon the MSCA on the console in order to issue TSS commands or shutdown the TSS started task. The MSCA current password is used to signon to terminals and batch jobs.

In very early releases of z/OS, anything entered on the console could be seen including passwords. 

Signing on with the previous password prevents the MSCA's current password from being exposed on the console.

Seeing the password on the console is no longer a concern in current times since passwords entered on the console are no longer displayed.

it is a good security practice to use another TSS admin acid to signon to the console and not the MSCA. The MSCA on the console should be used in emergency purposes or as a  last resort because all other SCA Top Secret administrators have been suspended or can not signon to the console for some reason.