1. Securing Your IBM i:
The Critical Role of Encryption
Bill Hammond | Director, Product
Marketing
2. Today’s Topics
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• Understanding the changing regulatory
landscape
• Effective encryption strategies
• Data privacy decisions for your
organization
• Q & A
4. Cybersecurity
mesh
Comprehensive
audit reporting
• A new approach to security,
which will involve connecting
different security tools and
technologies to create a more
comprehensive security
solution.
• Enables organizations to
monitor compliance status
effectively while providing
detailed insights into security
practices.
Data
Protection
AI and machine
learning
• Customers will be tasked
deploying strong cryptography
for data encryption and
enhanced access control
• Organizations move away from
perimeter-based security
models. Zero-trust assumes that
no one can be trusted and
requires continuous verification
of users and devices.
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• This will be pervasive across all
areas of technology and data
risks, consumer/investor
protections, and risk
management and governance
Regulatory
Uncertainty
• These will be used more
extensively to detect and
respond to threats leading to
more sophisticated security
solutions that can adapt to new
threats
Zero-trust
security
6. Why Encryption is Critical
• Data Breaches:
• Minimizes the impact of data breaches. Even if attackers gain access to your
systems, encrypted data remains useless.
• Reduces the risk of sensitive information (customer data, financial records,
intellectual property) falling into the wrong hands.
• Compliance:
• Meets regulatory requirements like GDPR and HIPAA, which mandate the use of
encryption for sensitive data.
• Demonstrates a commitment to data privacy and builds trust with customers and
partners.
• Competitive Advantage
• Protects your valuable assets, giving you a competitive edge in the market.
• Enhances customer trust and loyalty by demonstrating a strong commitment to
data security.
• Remote Work
• Secures data transmitted over unsecured networks when employees work
remotely.
• Protects company information from interception during transit.
7. 7
Malware and Ransomware are Rampant
Increasing sophistication and complexity
• Advanced technology that is very difficult to detect
• “Remediation” can be impossible
Unprecedented threat to businesses of all sizes
• Not limited to larger or more advanced businesses
• Not just “disruption”: Can mean permanent end of the business
• Yet legal liabilities remain, even after the business is destroyed
Rapid proliferation
• Cyber-criminals are organizing and sharing
• Malware-as-a-Service is already a reality
8. 8
Data Encryption: The last line of Defense
Encryption transforms readable information into an
unreadable, unusable format (or “cyphertext”)
• No matter how or why it is obtained, encrypted data is useless
• A shield against extortion, even if data is otherwise destroyed
• Helps to minimize or eliminate legal liabilities
Encryption is based on proven, well-known algorithms
• AES, RSA, Triple DES, and more
• Independent certifications are available to validate compliance
with national and global standards, such as those issued by the
National Institute of Standards (NIST)
9. Protect your stored data
with AES Encryption
• The US government and agencies have
accepted the Advanced Encryption
Standard (AES) as a format standard (FIPS
-203, 204 & 205) for encrypting data
• For PCI-DSS, HIPAA, and specific
government privacy rules, AES-256 is the
preferred encryption method.
• The encryption methods recognized by
the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST) ensure that your data is
protected to the highest standards.
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10. Encryption at Rest and in Motion
• Why Encrypt Data at Rest?
• Safeguards Stored Information: Encryption
transforms data into an unreadable format,
protecting it from unauthorized access even if
storage is compromised (e.g., lost device,
stolen hard drive, or breached server).
• Compliance Requirements: Many
regulations (HIPAA, GDPR, etc.) mandate
encryption for sensitive data at rest to ensure
privacy and security.
• Reduces Risk of Data Breaches: Encryption
minimizes the impact of a potential breach by
rendering stolen data useless without the
decryption key.
• Why Encrypt Data in Motion?
• Secures Data in Transit: Encryption protects
data as it travels across networks, preventing
eavesdropping, tampering, or interception
during transmission.
• Maintains Confidentiality: Ensures that
sensitive information remains private and
confidential while being transmitted between
systems or individuals.
• Prevents Man-in-the-Middle Attacks:
Encryption thwarts attackers from
intercepting and altering data during
communication, preserving data integrity.
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11. Data in Motion Challenges
• Manual transfer processes are unwieldy and time consuming
• Tracking transfers and resubmitting failed transfers is tedious
• Capturing files from FTP servers for processing into an ERP system or
other application is a cumbersome manual process or requires
programming
• Securely sending ACH and Positive Pay records to a financial services
company’s FTP server is another burdensome transfer to manage
• Manual management leaves too much margin for human error
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12. The Importance of a
Comprehensive Approach
End-to-End Protection
Encrypting both at rest and in
motion provides a robust
defense against various security
threats, ensuring data
protection throughout its
lifecycle.
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Multi-layered Approach
• Encryption complements
other security measures
(firewalls, access controls) to
create a comprehensive
security posture.
Peace of Mind
• Knowing that your data is
encrypted both at rest and in
motion provides assurance
and confidence in your
security practices.
14. 14
IBM i Encryption Tips
• Beware of home-grown or non-standard encryption
and key management
• Look for independent assessments and certifications
(FIPS-197; FIPS 140-2) of the implementation of a
secure algorithm
• Best option for applications requiring higher
performance
• Can be easily implemented for Db2 databases in IBM i
7.1 or greater using FieldProc solutions with few (if
any) application or database changes
• 3rd party solutions provide APIs and CL commands to
encrypt IFS files, backups, etc.
• Open Access for RPG (OAR) handlers simplify your
project if you have legacy RPG applications and need
to encrypt indexes
• FIELDPROC exits expose security challenges. Make
sure you also implement access logging, automatic
masking, access control for common utilities (like
DBU, Display Physical File Member, and FTP), access
control for encryption keys
16. What is disk level
encryption?
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• On the IBM i, full disk encryption allows you to
encrypt data that is stored in basic disk pools
and independent disk pools
• Full disk encryption protects data from several
different threats:
• Protects data transmission to and from the disk
drive (important in a SAN environment)
• Protects data transmission in the cross-site
mirroring environment (only when the data being
mirrored is on an encrypted independent disk pool)
• Protects data in the case of theft of the disk drive
17. What is field level
encryption?
17
• Field procedures can provide field level (or column level)
encryption on DB2 for IBM i
• A field procedure is a user-written exit routine to
transform values in a single column
• When values in the column are changed, or new values inserted, the field
procedure is invoked for each value
• The field procedure can transform values (encode it) in any way.
• The encoded value is then stored
• When values are retrieved from the column, the field procedure is
invoked for each encoded value.
• The field procedure decodes each value back to the original value.
• Any indexes defined on a column that uses a field procedure are built with
encoded values.
• The fields are encrypted at rest and will be decrypted
when a database operation is performed against the file
that has the field in it.
• Fields can be ”masked” based on specific users or groups.
18. So why is field level encryption better than
disk level encryption?
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Disk level encryption
utilizes the same key
for everything. If the
key gets compromised,
all the data on the
system can be
decrypted with one key
Field level encryption
can utilize a different
key for every field, or
every file depending on
how you want to
implement it. If one key
gets compromised, the
rest of your data is still
protected
Disk level encryption
does not allow for
masking individual
fields, whereas field
level encryption allows
for masking to hide
sensitive data from
those that may have
access to the file but
shouldn’t be able to see
the sensitive field data
20. Implementing
encryption has
its challenges
EXCLUSIVE
LOCKS SMALL WINDOW
• IBM i Field Procedures
(FieldProc) needs an Exclusive
Lock on file data to add/remove
an encryption program and
encrypt/decrypt a column
• Your maintenance window may
be too small to encrypt/decrypt
all files during the allotted time
APPLICATION
RISK
• Encryption processing changes
every record within a file –
increasing risk to applications
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21. The Encrypt While Active option
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Combines market-leading Assure technology to:
• Create a pre-production copy of your encrypted data
• Promote that file to production with only minutes of downtime
• Optionally compress the file being encrypted by removing deleted records
Based on Assure MIMIX and Assure Security products
• Assure MIMIX Enterprise for replication
• Assure MIMIX Promoter, a feature of MIMIX High Availability, for file promotion
• Assure Encryption, a component a Assure Security, for encryption
Combination of Software and Services
• Software to facilitate encryption without downtime and remove encryption risks
• Expert services to manage the process and ensure a successful outcome
22. Benefits of Encrypt
While Active
• Minimizes downtime for encryption
operations
• Mitigates the risk of application
failure after encryption
• Ensures HA/DR-readiness throughout
the encryption process
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As an added benefit, deleted records can
be removed from the file during the
encryption – a Compress While Active
service
23. Data Privacy Is Essential
Protecting data is fundamental to your business
• Customers, partners and employees trust you to prevent
breaches
• Your business suffers negative publicity if breached
Data could be compromised from the inside or outside
• Users should see only the data they need as part of their jobs
• Data must be protected from internal staff, contractors and
business partners – as well as criminal intruders
Regulations require that personally identifiable information (PII),
payment card information (PCI) and personal health information
(PHI) be encrypted
• HIPAA
• GDPR
• PCI DSS
• CCPA
• DORA
• …and more
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24. Meeting Stringent
Regulatory
Requirements with
Complete Visibility
into Security Issues
Compliance
Monitoring
Fully Implementing
Powerful IBM i and
Best-of-Class Data
Protection Capabilities
Data
Privacy
Establishing Multi-
layered, Comprehensive
Protection Against
Advanced Threats
Malware
Defense
Assure Security: Strategic Focus Areas
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Protecting Systems
and Data against
Unauthorized Users
and Malicious
Attackers
Access
Control
• Prevent unauthorized
logon
• Manage users’
system privileges
• Control and restrict
access to data,
system settings, and
command line
options
• Automate security
and compliance alerts
and reports
• Monitor and block
views of sensitive
data
• Integrate IBM i
security data into
SIEM solutions
• Encrypt IBM i data
• Secure encryption
key management
• Tokenization and
Anonymization
• File transfer security
for Data in Motion
• Harden all systems and
data against attacks
• Automate and integrate
security technologies
and management
• Design for depth and
resilience if one or more
defenses fail
#25:Is the Optimize IMS product a service engagement or software? It is both.
What is the expected implementation timeline for configuring this solution?