IBM Unveils New Mainframe IBM Z

Announcements, Blockchain, FinTech, Innovation | July 24, 2017 By:

IBM has launched a new mainframe system called IBM Z, a blockchain technology capable of running more than 12 billion encrypted transactions per day.

IBM Z aims to address cyberattacks which have compromised financial data. The mainframe also aims to help companies automate financial regulatory compliance, in line with confidentiality and data protection laws.

IBM claims that the new system handles encryption more cheaply and efficiently than rival server systems, which burn through massive amounts of computing power to encrypt and decrypt data. IBM Z can encrypt data 18 times faster than other platforms currently available in the market. The new chip has a total of 14.4 miles of wire and 6.1 billion transistors.

“The vast majority of stolen or leaked data today is open and easy to use because encryption has been difficult and expensive,” said Ross Mauri, general manager of IBM’s Z mainframe business. “We created a data protection engine for the cloud era to have an immediate and significant impact on global data security.”

To protect encryption keys, IBM created special circuitry that acts like dye packs hidden in bank vaults to foil robberies. When the hardware detects malware or other intruders prying into memory, it can throw out the keys and restore them once the coast is clear again. IBM calls it “tamper-responding” hardware.

IBM Z will be used initially as an encryption engine for the company’s cloud computing technology and blockchain services.

IBM also hopes that through IBM Z, firms may be able to comply with the new protection laws such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the US Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) guidance on the use of encryption in the financial services industry.