Mainframe-reliant organisations urged to boost security

Micro Focus has urged Australian organisations relying on mainframes to take steps now to secure their core systems in advance of upcoming changes to the nation’s critical infrastructure laws.

The new laws will designate organisations in more industries as critical infrastructure operators, introducing a legislative requirement for them to bolster their IT security.

Micro Focus Australia and New Zealand regional sales director for application modernisation Brent Butchard said security is a constantly evolving concern for organisations relying on mainframes, and Australian organisations have been on high alert in terms of cybersecurity for some time due to evolving cyber threats and new exposure surfaces.

“Changes to the ways of working for many organisations include a rise in bring your own device (BYOD), remote working practices, and an increase in cloud-based business apps. This increased connectivity and lowered visibility has led to significant risks for businesses,” he said.

“It’s essential that mainframe-reliant organisations maintain a robust security posture to ensure that core systems and data remain secure, including those buried deep within the organisation.”

One of the most efficient defences organisations can introduce is multi-factor authentication, which is compatible with mainframes and lets organisations provide an added layer of protection on top of additional cybersecurity technologies, Butchard said.

“Integrating MFA protections into an organisation lets companies increase their level of security by establishing additional barriers that threat actors would need to overcome to breach the network. This increases the level of difficulty for cyber attackers to penetrate network security and is essential to today’s mainframe-reliant organisations.”

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