IBM wants to encrypt the world…

There are only two types of companies, it is commonly said: those that have been hacked, and those that just don’t know it yet.

IBM, the computing giant, wants to get rid of both. The company said Monday that it has achieved a breakthrough in security technology that will allow every business, from banks to retailers to travel-booking companies, to encrypt their customer data on a massive scale — turning most, if not all, of their digital information into gibberish that is illegible to thieves with its new mainframe.