When it Comes to Data Breaches, the Best Defense is a Good Offense

December 11, 2023

Every business needs to be able to safely fend off attackers lurking around their IT infrastructure. And as new technologies and tools, like open source, gain prominence within the mainframe, attackers are prepared to take full advantage. The ramifications, if an attack proves successful, can be devastating. According to a Rocket Software survey of IT leaders, top security concerns included revenue loss, damage to brand reputation and loss of intellectual property.

With the stakes so high, what are companies doing to keep their mainframe secure without having to sacrifice innovation and modernization efforts? Among those surveyed, the consensus was clear—the best way to defend an organization from an attack is to get proactive and act before an attack happens. Let’s look at a couple of the most important elements to focus on when moving toward a proactive stance on security.

Isolating Workloads is a Must

When it comes to stopping a breach, there’s more to it than just building up defensive capabilities. Businesses need to take it a step further and get proactive in setting themselves up to be able to quickly respond, isolate workloads and limit damage immediately. According to Rocket Software’s survey findings, 97% of organizations believe they have that ability. And another 58% said they could isolate their workloads quickly. However, of those respondents, 39% acknowledged that isolating their workloads would cost them significant resources and time to do so effectively. There’s no predicting when a breach might strike, and if an organization is caught unexpectedly the result could spell complete disaster. Getting proactive and ensuring IT staff have the tools they need to quickly isolate workloads beforehand is an important piece of an effective mainframe security strategy.

Move Toward Continuous Monitoring

The arrival of open source software has had a huge impact on the mainframe application development space. But as is the case with any new technology, it also invites new risks along with it. The mainframe is inherently a highly secure environment, so incorporating an open source piece of code developed by a third party means there’s an opportunity for vulnerabilities to sneak through. So, what should businesses be doing to ensure their systems are secure without sacrificing the benefits that come with open source development? A major piece of the puzzle comes down to monitoring.

Organizations need to establish processes for continuous monitoring in application development to ensure that vulnerabilities are spotted quickly and addressed before an attacker can break in. It’s a fact that, fortunately, a majority of survey respondents are prepared for this, as 80% said they have well-defined processes in place to manage and monitor the use of open source in their mainframe environments. Getting proactive about mainframe security means remaining vigilant and ready to catch weaknesses before they lead to something much bigger.

Ultimately, mainframe security is about more than just reactive measures. Real, meaningful security processes are established long before any attacks happen and help make responding to incidents easier and quicker—a result that minimizes damage to both the bottom line and a business’ reputation as a whole.

Learn more about how Rocket Software can help keep your operations secure with our mainframe security services.