IBM Mainframe Operating System Now Certified to Enable More Secure Financial Data Transactions

IBM Mainframe Operating System Now Certified to Enable More Secure Financial Data Transactions

IBM today announced that its mainframe operating system z/OS now includes a newly certified data encryption feature that may allow companies to further secure confidential data and transactions within global networks.

The Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) encryption technology within the IBM eServer zSeries mainframe operating system, z/OS Version 1 Release 5 (V1R5) and higher, has been certified as Identrus-compliant. Identrus is a company that issues and manages identity credentials based on global industry, banking and technology standards.

The PKI services in z/OS allows IBM clients — including retailers, bankers, credit-card issuers — to act as their own digital certificate authority. This may help to remove the typical process of a “middle man” certifier for banks, which can incur “per transaction” charges. For businesses with thousands of transactions conducted daily worldwide, this approach has the potential to translate into significant savings. Also it may reduce the number of places that confidential data passes through, allowing more control to the banks that hold and process the data.

“By using digital certificates regularly, banks may enable more effective risk management against loss of data or fraud,” said June Felix, general manager, IBM Global Banking. “IBM anticipates that more banks will tap the PKI capability of encryption, which may allow a greater number of highly secure financial transactions globally. Once again, z/OS offers customers security features and value at the time when our financial services firms demand it the most.”

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