"Over the last few years the mainframe has added PKI support, crypto co-processors, centralized management, and has the latest AES encryption."

Crooks said software to encrypt data to tapes with PKI is good for bank infrastructure and IBM also has a Java program to decrypt data on any machine to allow secure interchange between platforms.

"In the future we will bring tape units [to market] that can encrypt themselves - this will support a range of devices," he said.

Crooks also said the mainframe is "committed to open standards and security", adding that third-party identity management and encryption products from the likes of CA are increasing.