IBM Z Could Revolutionize Transaction & Financial Data Security

On Monday, July 17, IBM announced a groundbreaking technology that could change the entire landscape of financial data security. The new mainframe system is called IBM Z, and it’s capable of running more than 12 billion encrypted transactions per day.

This incredible technology comes on the heels of global concerns about malware and data security following the Petya and NotPetya ransomware attacks. These most recent global outbreaks affected hundreds of businesses worldwide, including major banks and a nuclear power plant.

What Does IBM Z Mean for Financial Data Security?

IBM Z addresses breaches of financial data and helps businesses comply with new data security laws, such as the recent Security Guidelines passed in New York.

Many businesses – especially SMBs – struggle to meet financial data security standards due to the time and cost investment of large-scale encryption. The general manager at IBM Z, Ross Mauri, stated,

“The vast majority of stolen or leaked data today is in the open and easy to use because encryption has been very difficult and expensive to do at scale. We created a data protection engine for the cloud era to have a significant and immediate impact on global data security.”

 

According to IBM, more than 9B data records have been lost or stolen since 2013 – and only 4% of those were encrypted. With businesses now able to encrypt data at scale, hackers and malware breaches must break through an additional layer of armor to reach financial transaction data.

The technology extends across any network, device, and application – with no impact on business service level agreements. The tech covers even the newest solutions in finance, including instant payments.

Any business that relies on the Cloud (which should be ALL businesses in 2017 and beyond) should consider IBM Z for financial data security. This technology is unlike anything we’ve seen before, and could be the start of a security revolution as we advance our technological capabilities.

However – new technology ALWAYS brings creative new hacking and malware pathways. Do not rely solely on IBM Z for security – remember to follow all information security best practices to avoid data breaches.

As always, if you need help shoring up business information security, give us a shout for a free consultation.