Security Month
Presented by Vertali
Inside IBM’s 2026 z/Resilience Conference: What Mainframers Should Know
In this first-person piece, Robi Singh shares what he learned in Rome about the changing demands of mainframe resilience—from regulation and cyber recovery to GDPS, AI, and quantum-safe security.The z/Resilience Conference is known for bringing together mainframe...
You Can Now Carry a Teaching Mainframe in Your Bag
For years I have told mainframe security newcomers the same thing: If you want to learn how to attack and defend a system, you need to use that system. Unfortunately, z/OS is not something you spin up on a laptop over lunch or throw into your home lab. Mainframe...
Why It’s Finally Time to Retire Your TN3270 Emulator
For decades, TN3270 terminal emulators have been a staple for accessing mission-critical mainframe applications. However, as cyber threats evolve and legacy systems strain under new compliance demands, it is becoming increasingly clear that traditional...
Why Human Error is the Mainframe’s Biggest Risk
Mainframes have always had a bit of a superhero reputation: rock-solid, ultra-secure, and always up. They’ve powered banks, airlines, and governments for decades without so much as blinking. But I want to share an uncomfortable truth: even the most secure systems in...
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...
Modernizing Mainframe Security: RACF and MFA Misconceptions
Passwords Aren’t Enough to Modernize Mainframe Security Security is the backbone of any organization’s control environment. In today’s hyper-connected economy, protecting against IT threats is not just a technical requirement—it’s a business imperative. A single...
TRIVIA – Penetration Testing
Mainframes have long been known for their unmatched reliability and security—but even the most trusted systems can hide surprises beneath the surface. As technology evolves, so do the tactics of those trying to exploit it. Penetration testing (pen testing), or...
Mainframe Security: The Quiet Frontline of Enterprise Defense
For decades, the mainframe has been viewed as one of the most secure computing platforms on Earth. With tightly controlled access, centralized data management, and unmatched reliability, it earned its reputation as the “fortress” of enterprise IT. But, as evidenced in...
Security Month
Presented by Vertali
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...
Modernizing Mainframe Security: RACF and MFA Misconceptions
Passwords Aren’t Enough to Modernize Mainframe Security Security is the backbone of any organization’s control environment. In today’s hyper-connected economy, protecting against IT threats is not just a technical requirement—it’s a business imperative. A single...
TRIVIA – Penetration Testing
Mainframes have long been known for their unmatched reliability and security—but even the most trusted systems can hide surprises beneath the surface. As technology evolves, so do the tactics of those trying to exploit it. Penetration testing (pen testing), or...
Mainframe Security: The Quiet Frontline of Enterprise Defense
For decades, the mainframe has been viewed as one of the most secure computing platforms on Earth. With tightly controlled access, centralized data management, and unmatched reliability, it earned its reputation as the “fortress” of enterprise IT. But, as evidenced in...
From Mainframe to Cybersecurity: Experience Is the New Superpower, Ladies
From Mainframe to Cybersecurity: Experience Is the New Superpower If you’ve written COBOL, debugged Assembler, or know how to resolve an S0C7 abend, chances are you belong to an older—and increasingly rare—demographic in tech. If you’re a woman, that group is even...
The Heat is on. What 2025 Cyber Attacks in the UK Teach Us About Mainframe Security
Vertali’s Leanne Wilson reflects on a year of cyber attacks and what needs to happen now. 2025 was quite a year for cyber attacks. The UK in particular experienced a significant surge, with 43% of businesses reporting at least one incident and an astounding 91% of...
Kev Milne Brings Mainframe Pen Testing to Life with open-source Gibson
In the second episode of The Mainframe Book Club, host Andrew (Andy) McCandless talks with Kev Milne, Cyber Threat Intelligence Manager at NatWest Bank, and one of the few professionals focused on mainframe penetration (pen) testing.A Platform Born from Missing Skills...
Simplifying Mainframe Security in 2025, featuring Ravi Patil ▶️
Simplifying Mainframe Security with Broadcom As hybrid IT environments expand, so do the risks. In this video, Broadcom’s mainframe security expert, Ravi Patil, Director of Cybersecurity and Compliance, breaks down how compliance, continuous monitoring, and smarter...
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Upcoming Events
Events
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Workload Automation (CA 7 & ESP) User Group Workshops & Event
Register now for the Workload Automation (CA 7 & ESP) User Group Workshops & Event Night October 19, 2026 | Plano, Texas We are excited to announce WLA (CA 7 […]
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North American Mainframe Technical Exchange – Plano, Texas – October 20 – 22, 2026
Virtual MeetingSave the Date! Learn more about the North American and Virtual Mainframe Technical Exchanges here.
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Virtual Db2 User Group | Safeguarding Your Data: A Comprehensive Guide to Db2 for z/OS Security Exit Routines
Zoom - Virtual MeetingThis session explores Db2 for z/OS Security Exit Routines and their role in strengthening enterprise data protection and access control strategies. Attendees will gain insight into how security exit routines […]
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Virtual CICS User Group | CICS Security Discovery
Zoom - Virtual MeetingMany CICS environments continue to rely heavily on transaction-level security, often resulting in users retaining access privileges that are no longer appropriate for their current roles. This session will provide […]
Agentic AI on the Mainframe
It’s AI month at Planet Mainframe, and for Round Two of our Trivia Challenge, we’re turning to agentic AI. On the mainframe, this emerging technology is moving beyond answering questions and generating code. Agents can interpret goals, reason through multi-step...
Risk and Compliance Portfolio for IBM Z Environments, IBM Z Datathon, and more
Rocket Software Launches Rocket® z/Assurance™, a Risk and Compliance Portfolio for IBM Z® Environments IBM Z Datathon: Build AI for Good. In 24 Hours. At Global Scale. Broadcom 2026 North American Mainframe Technical Exchange LTM Collaborates with IBM and Red Hat on...
❓Think You Know Mainframe AI
Mainframes have powered intelligent decisions for decades. Today, artificial intelligence (AI) takes that role further – spotting fraud as transactions happen, anticipating workload demands, helping developers understand legacy code, and strengthening system...
Next-Generation Dual-Architecture Processor, Advances in AI Enablement for Application Modernization, and more
IBM Unveils Next-Generation Dual-Architecture Processor for IBM Z and LinuxONE BMC Survey Finds 94% Confidence in the Mainframe as Enterprises Scale AI With Human Oversight Rocket Software Advances AI Enablement for Application Modernization Across Mission-Critical...
Partnership to Accelerate Secure AI Deployment, Introduction of New Agentic Modernization, and more
IBM Partners with OpenAI to Accelerate Secure AI Deployment for Enterprises Across Core Operations Kyndryl Introduces New Agentic Modernization Services-As-Software Scaled Through Kyndryl Bridge BMC Achieves the AWS AI Competency Kyndryl Named 2026 CIO 100 Award...
Mainframe Jargon Challenge
Every technical field develops its own language, and the mainframe world is no exception. Whether we’re talking about the alphabet soup of multi-letter acronyms or terms that have been part of the platform for decades, mainframe jargon serves as a kind of shorthand...