Crawley, UK – November 29, 2017 – Only one in four IBM mainframe customers questioned in a new UK survey are confident that their system security complies with the incoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). 31 per cent think they are not compliant, while 40 per cent do not know. Around four per cent are unsure what the GDPR is.

The poll of 55 mainframe users was conducted by Macro 4, a division of UNICOM® Global, at the annual GSE UK Conference for IBM mainframe users in November 2017.

While IBM Z systems have long been respected for their security, most of the users surveyed recognize that mainframe security needs more attention. Only around seven per cent feel there is no need for improvement.

86 per cent cited tougher regulations such as the GDPR among the main reasons for making access to mainframes more secure. Other key drivers are the increasing sophistication of cyber criminals (mentioned by 80 per cent) and the fact that mainframes are now more connected to the outside world, and therefore more vulnerable (67 per cent).

“Far from being a closed off environment, today’s mainframe is typically connected to the internet, because it runs important business applications that need to be accessed by millions of enterprise users and customers across the globe,” explained Keith Banham, Mainframe Research and Development Manager at Macro 4. “Anyone who has ever booked a flight, purchased insurance online or used internet banking is likely to have interacted with a mainframe somewhere along the line.

“Growing web and mobile access to the mainframe, combined with hackers getting smarter – and tougher rules and sanctions around data breaches – makes mainframe security a priority.”

Mainframe security is handled by software products such as RACF that tightly control user access to resources such as applications and data. However, the majority of the survey sample agree that security can be improved by adopting additional methods that IBM and other vendors are currently championing.

96 per cent of respondents agreed that data encryption is an important way of securing the mainframe, in line with IBM’s increased focus on this method following the launch of pervasive encryption for its new z14 model.

Similarly, with IBM now supporting multi-factor authentication as a more secure alternative to traditional password-only access, 67 per cent agree it is an important additional security measure.

58 per cent of the sample recognize the importance of data minimization, which involves strictly limiting the personal data that is collected and stored to the minimum necessary to accomplish a specific purpose.

“None of us in the mainframe community can afford to be complacent and it is encouraging to see the growing uptake of new security technologies,” added Keith Banham. “Our parent company, UNICOM Global, recently acquired the new z14, which is leading the way with its ‘encrypt everything’ approach. Multi-factor authentication is another area that’s attracting a great deal of interest and the good news is you can implement it relatively easily if you use a session manager, which is a message that went down well at the GSE conference.”

Macro 4 ran the survey of 55 IBM mainframe users at the GSE UK Conference held by Guide Share Europe (GSE), the premier IBM User Group in Europe, from November 7–8, 2017.

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Media Contact:

Uday Radia
CloudNine PR Agency
+44 (0)7940 584161
uradia@cloudninepr.com

A short guide to the GDPR is available at: www.macro4.com/what-is-the-gdpr

About Macro 4 www.macro4.com
Macro 4, a division of UNICOM Global, develops software solutions that accelerate business transformation. Macro 4’s cross-platform enterprise information management solutions make it easy for companies to go digital, personalize customer communications and unlock the value of their corporate content. Macro 4 solutions for application lifecycle management, session management and performance optimization are used by many of the world’s largest enterprises to modernize their mainframe applications and development processes.

About UNICOM® Global www.unicomglobal.com
UNICOM Global consists of more than forty (40) corporate entities encompassing a wide range of businesses across all geographic regions. With its corporate headquarters in Los Angeles, California, to offices in Illinois, Kentucky, Florida, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Texas and Virginia, throughout EMEA in the UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland and the UAE, and across Asia/Pacific with locations in Japan, China, India, Australia, Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and the Philippines. UNICOM Global offers deep in-house resources and flexible IT solutions to partners worldwide, and is continually focused on acquiring and integrating mature and growing mid-cap NASDAQ, London Stock Exchange AIM and German publically-traded companies in technology, financing, IT, real estate, and business services. Visit UNICOM's websites for additional information about the services, products and solutions that the Company offers:

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