Mainframes hold an organization’s most critical and sensitive business data, making it crucial to ensure that data is secure and meets the strictest privacy regulations.

Controlling access through network micro-segmentation is an effective way to protect sensitive data on mainframes by isolating applications or devices. Such isolation is required in heavily regulated industries with compliance standards such as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). 

Because Micro-segmentation can isolate each application into its own network segment, it is an important step toward achieving Zero Trust security. That isolation gives organizations the ability to limit application access to specific network segments or specific devices, providing an additional layer of security beyond user authentication. 

The PCI Security Standards Council says that any assets that store, process, or transmit payment card data are “in scope”—meaning they must be assessed for PCI compliance. Thus, the entire network is in scope without proper segmentation.. Network segmentation that isolates the card handling applications reduces the PCI review to that specific area rather than an entire network, which can span hundreds of thousands of devices. Reducing the scope of the PCI DSS assessment also reduces the cost and difficulty of implementing PCI DSS controls and mitigates risk to an organization by consolidating cardholder data into fewer locations with greater control.

In our latest research brief, Micro-segmentation Keeps Sensitive Mainframe Data in Compliance, done in partnership with Vertali, we analyze how micro-segmentation makes a network easier to secure and manage by isolating segments.

In this brief you’ll learn:

• Why micro-segmentation is so important
• Challenges of micro-segmentation
• How mainframe segmentation tools can be difficult to configure and manage at large scale
• How Vertali zTrust for Networks manages micro-segmentation using IBM z/OS tools

Vertali zTrust is a helpful third-party tool that adds management, implementation, and monitoring controls to isolate mainframe systems with different security needs. This approach reduces the number of systems in PCI DSS compliance scope and empowers the Cyber/Security teams to implement segmentation. It also can save organizations time and money from performing these tasks manually. If you are interested in learning more, download your copy of Micro-segmentation Keeps Sensitive Mainframe Data in Compliance, today.