The Immortal Retrofuturism of Mainframes and Their Security - Modern Applications and Protection

Explore the enduring significance of mainframe technology in a DEF CON conference talk that dispels common misconceptions about these powerful computing systems. Discover how mainframes continue to process critical transactions like debit card payments while maintaining exceptional reliability and input/output capabilities. Learn about the modern mainframe architecture's role in business infrastructure, its impressive uptime performance, and essential security measures for protecting these mission-critical systems. Through demonstrations including earthquake response scenarios and analysis of the Logica breach, gain practical insights into mainframe operations, command line utilities, and networking components. Understand why mainframes remain indispensable for contemporary business operations and how their unified architecture continues to evolve for future applications.