IBM Announces New Tool Allowing Business Executives to Manage Security and Compliance

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced a new tool that will allow businesses to more easily create enforceable security policies. Secure Perspective enables organizations to create a customized security policy using non-technical language, so business leaders can take an active role in determining how company information is protected.

Secure Perspective is available today on the IBM “all-in-one” System i business computing platform and is planned for availability on other IBM servers later this year.

IBM Secure Perspective for System i allows business leaders to create security policies without needing to know where, or how, that information is stored. Data owners and system administrators can map terms from the policy to digital assets so that the organization’s security policy can be enforced or compliance checked with the click of a button.

“The System i operating system, i5/OS, is recognized as one of the most secure platforms on which to run your business with built-in security capabilities and virus resistance. With today’s heightening security and compliance demands, our clients are looking for help to better define and manage security behavior,” said Mark Shearer, general manager IBM System i. “The announcement of Secure Perspective for System i reduces the need for specialized security skills. Business leaders who know how information should be protected can easily create and manage security policies for their organization.”

Traditionally, security is deployed in a somewhat piecemeal manner with individual focus on technology addressing firewalls, virus scanning, password management and default privileges. Secure Perspective, by contrast, is Java-based™ and written in non-technical language so that anyone within an organization can create and manage security policies that are understandable and meaningful for all members of a business, not just IT.

Secure Perspective helps businesses to identify and manage system security settings, such as which groups and types of users have access to information, and report on compliance to increase the understanding of compliance status between IT and business executives. Compliance with a set of policies can be checked at any time and an easy-to-understand, graphical report produced that can be given directly to auditors or regulatory specialists without re-writing.

The IBM System i platform is the first IBM platform to run Secure Perspective because the legendary security of i5/OS is among the most advanced in the industry and able to support Secure Perspective with few adjustments. The sophisticated, object-based security of i5/OS is referred to as data-centric security, meaning it has inherent data protection mechanisms so users secure data at the object or file level. Among other things, this helps protect against files converting themselves to programs -- a common source of Trojan horse-style viruses.

“Suppose you are running a run-the-business application on System i. The i5/OS on which that application depends is exceptionally robust and secure, and handles more of the features that you need (including administrative tasks) than, say, Linux or Windows,” wrote Wayne Kernochan, Senior Analyst at Illuminata, in a recent paper. “So, on average, your application, itself, will be more robust, secure, and easy to administer. Almost two decades of System i user experience show this to be a real, and not just theoretical, benefit.”

With Secure Perspective, changes to the security policy in response to an auditor’s request can be quickly and easily applied to all the computers in an organization. The tool also includes a predictor that checks policy actions for problems prior to application.

IBM Global Business Services and several business partners will offer customized service offerings for Secure Perspective. System i clients can use IBM Secure Perspective for System i with other tools from security software providers like PowerTech Group, SkyView Partners and Tango/04 Computing Group.

For a demonstration of how Secure Perspective works, go to http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/i/security/secureperspective/index.html.

Pricing and Availability

IBM Secure Perspective for System i is available now at a U.S. list price of $1,500 per managed processor, including the first year of software maintenance.

About IBM

For more information about IBM, visit www.ibm.com. For more about System i, visit www.ibm.com/systemi.