IBM has announced the launch of a new mainframe system that is capable of overseeing more than 12 billion encrypted financial transactions a day, as the American technology giant seeks to further its interests in the financial cybersecurity market. Officially titled IBM Z, the new mainframe has been engineered to address cyber attacks which target financial data.
IBM claims its new mainframe system can encrypt data at a speed that is 18 times faster than other platforms, thereby making it ideal in helping enterprises automate financial regulatory compliance in line with confidentiality and data protection laws. The mainframe will initially be used as an encryption engine for IBM’s cloud computing solutions and blockchain services.
Speaking at the unveiling ceremony, 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.
IBM has stated that the IBM Z mainframe is set to be the company’s most significant systems overhaul in more than 15 years. Currently, IBM’s transaction engines supports 87% of all global credit card transactions, amounting to USD 8 trillion worth of card payments each year.