Collaborating for Modernizing Mainframe Data Protection: A Privacy-First Approach

Collaborating for Modernizing Mainframe Data Protection 

As enterprises accelerate their digital transformation initiatives, mainframe environments face unprecedented challenges in balancing mainframe data protection with modernisation. Traditional approaches to mainframe data security often create silos. These limit the ability to leverage powerful analytics platforms like Snowflake or enable agile development practices across hybrid z/OS and Linux on z environments.

Financial services organisations, insurance companies, and other data-intensive enterprises are discovering that legacy data protection strategies can become transformation bottlenecks, preventing them from fully realising the value of their mainframe investments while meeting evolving regulatory requirements.

Bridging Mainframe Heritage with Modern Privacy Innovation

TES, an IBM Platinum Business Partner and digital trust technology company, has pioneered a transformative approach to mainframe data protection through its strategic partnership with eXate. This collaboration combines IBM’s proven enterprise infrastructure with cutting-edge data privacy technology to deliver comprehensive protection that scales seamlessly from z/OS platforms to modern cloud environments.

We’re fundamentally changing how enterprises think about data security across their entire hybrid infrastructure, ensuring that sensitive information remains protected, whether resident on z/OS, transitioning to Snowflake for analytics, or being used in development environments.

The Role of IBM Crypto Express

Integration with IBM Crypto Express 7s and 8s Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) is at the core of TES’s approach.

IBM Crypto Express 7s and 8s are tamper-resistant, high-performance cryptographic coprocessors that provide:

• Hardware-based encryption acceleration for z/OS workloads
• Quantum-safe cryptographic capabilities preparing enterprises for post-quantum security
• FIPS 140-2 Level 4 certification ensuring the highest security standards
• High-throughput cryptographic operations without impacting mainframe performance

By integrating eXate’s data discovery and protection platform with these advanced HSMs, organizations can automate PII discovery, apply dynamic masking, and maintain zero-trust protection during cross-platform migrations.

Automated PII Discovery at Mainframe Scale

• Real-time identification of sensitive data across VSAM files, DB2 databases, and IMS datasets
• ML-powered classification that understands mainframe data structures and formats
• Continuous monitoring, ensuring comprehensive coverage as data landscapes evolve

Hardware-Accelerated Encryption

• Quantum-safe encryption keys generated and managed exclusively within IBM Crypto Express HSMs
• End-to-end protection that leverages mainframe hardware acceleration
• Zero-trust architecture, ensuring data remains protected even during cross-platform migrations

Protecting Data Beyond the Mainframe: The Snowflake Example

One of the most compelling applications of this integrated approach addresses how to securely leverage mainframe data in modern analytics platforms like Snowflake. Historically, moving sensitive mainframe data to cloud analytics platforms required:

• Complex data masking processes that could impact analytical value
• Multiple security layers created performance bottlenecks
• Extensive compliance reviews for each data movement

However, with eXate integrated into the mainframe environment via IBM Crypto Express HSMs, sensitive data is encrypted before it ever leaves the z/OS platform. When this data reaches Snowflake:

• Data remains encrypted throughout the entire journey from mainframe to cloud
• Analytics operations can be performed on encrypted data using eXate’s advanced privacy-preserving techniques
• Compliance requirements are automatically satisfied across all jurisdictions
• Performance remains optimal due to hardware-accelerated encryption

The TES team noted that financial institutions can now run real-time risk analytics on encrypted customer data in Snowflake, while maintaining complete regulatory compliance and data sovereignty. 

Regulatory Requirements for Data Masking

TES’s implementation of eXate transforms how organisations handle sensitive data in development and testing environments, addressing critical regulatory requirements that mandate data protection in these scenarios. 

Under PCI DSS Requirement 3.3, organisations must mask PANs when displayed, ensuring “truncated PAN cardholder data to display only a maximum of the first six and last four digits at any time,” and that “only personnel with a legitimate business need can access entire PANs.”

More significantly, GDPR mandates that PII must be protected through techniques like anonymization and pseudonymisation in non-production environments, with organisations required to implement data masking techniques that reduce the risk of exposing real identities in development, testing, or analytics environments. 

Financial services organisations face additional scrutiny, as compliance regulations, including PCI DSS and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), establish data security requirements for businesses that accept credit cards and regulate measures for the privacy and security of consumer information.

Like-for-Like z/OS Data Masking. With regulatory requirements mandating data protection in non-production environments, eXate provides:

• Dynamic data masking that preserves referential integrity across complex mainframe datasets
• Format-preserving encryption ensuring test data maintains realistic characteristics
• Automated data classification that identifies sensitive elements across COBOL copybooks and data structures

Linux on z Pop-up Mainframes for SecDevOps

The integration extends beyond traditional z/OS environments to support modern DevOps practices through Linux on z Pop-Up Mainframes:

Secure Development Environments

• Instant provisioning of secure Linux on z environments with pre-configured eXate protection
• Seamless data sharing between z/OS production and Linux on z development platforms
• Real-time data protection that adapts to dynamic development workflows

Enhanced Security Operations

• Continuous monitoring and protection across hybrid z environments
• Automated compliance reporting spanning traditional and modern platforms
• Integration with modern security toolchains while maintaining mainframe security standards

Addressing Contemporary Regulatory Challenges

French Senate Inquiry and Cloud Sovereignty

Recent regulatory developments, including the French Senate inquiry into cloud sovereignty, have highlighted the critical importance of maintaining data control across all platforms. TES’s approach ensures that:

• Mainframe data sovereignty is preserved even when leveraging cloud analytics
• European data protection requirements are automatically satisfied across hybrid environments
• Cross-border data sharing remains compliant with evolving regulations

US CLOUD Act Mitigation

The US CLOUD Act poses particular challenges for international financial institutions. TES’s integrated solution addresses these concerns by:

• Maintaining encryption keys within enterprise-controlled HSMs regardless of where data is processed
• Ensuring cloud providers cannot access encrypted data even if compelled by foreign legislation
• Providing audit trails that demonstrate continuous data protection across all platforms

The Future of Mainframe Data Protection

TES’s integration of eXate with IBM Crypto Express technology represents more than a technical advancement; it’s a fundamental shift toward privacy-native mainframe modernisation. This approach enables enterprises to:

• Preserve Mainframe Investments while extending capabilities to modern platforms 
• Accelerate Digital Transformation without compromising security or compliance 
• Enable Innovation through secure access to previously siloed mainframe data 
• Future-Proof Security with quantum-safe encryption and evolving privacy frameworks

TES provides comprehensive implementation and support services for enterprises adopting this integrated approach.

Conclusion: Mainframe Renaissance Through Privacy Innovation

The partnership between TES and eXate, powered by IBM’s advanced cryptographic infrastructure, represents a new paradigm for mainframe data protection. By seamlessly integrating privacy-native capabilities across hybrid environments, this solution enables enterprises to explore the full potential of their mainframe investments while meeting stringent security and compliance requirements.

As regulatory landscapes evolve and digital transformation accelerates, the organisations that thrive will be those that can seamlessly protect and leverage their data assets across all platforms. TES’s innovative approach ensures that the mainframe remains relevant and central to securing digital transformation strategies.

For enterprise architects, security professionals, and transformation leaders, this integrated solution offers a clear path forward: maintaining the reliability and security of mainframe environments while enabling the agility and innovation demanded by modern business requirements.

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