At Seiden Group, we listen to client requests that keep their IBM i applications secure, modern, and practical. Recently, a customer asked us to port the GnuPG (GNUPG) PHP extension to IBM i. This extension is now available to Seiden Support subscribers.
Each year brings a new PHP release. We’re prepared Seiden PHP+ so that IBM i users can adopt PHP 8.5 shortly after it becomes generally available (GA) around November 20, 2025. As I mentioned in Keep Your PHP Secure: Why Regular Updates Matter, PHP users should adopt a regular upgrade schedule to make upgrades easier. November 20, 2025 UPDATE PHP 8.5 and Seiden PHP+ 8.5 are both available as of today. Notable Enhancements in PHP 8.5 Two updates stand out to me:
Cybersecurity best practices require regular security assessments, including for PHP. PHP is actively maintained, with a new update released every month. Each release includes bug fixes, performance improvements, and, most important, security patches for newly discovered vulnerabilities. Staying on an old version for too long leaves your applications exposed to risks that the PHP community has already fixed.
The Node.js ecosystem has been disrupted by self-replicating malware called Shai-Hulud. In September 2025, researchers found that Shai-Hulud had infected more than 500 npm packages, including some from trusted maintainers. The worm did not just publish a few bad versions. It spread automatically, using stolen credentials to infect other packages owned by the same developer.
At Brussels Airport recently, I noticed airline staff working from paper passenger lists because their digital systems were unavailable. The EU Cybersecurity Agency (ENISA) later confirmed the disruption was caused by a ransomware attack on a third-party airline system (Reuters report).
In recent months, I have seen an unmistakable, growing wave of younger professionals choosing to invest their energy and creativity in the IBM i platform. This trend was particularly evident at the 2025 PowerUp conference.
We’ve been receiving about one request per week to help clients troubleshoot or fix SMTP email issues on IBM i systems—especially when sending to Microsoft (Office 365) and Gmail accounts. These problems can affect a wide range of systems, including:
A friend in the IBM i vendor community asked me about Mapepire from a popularity and security perspective. He had read about Seiden Group’s support for the Mapepire Db2 for i driver. I have provided his questions and edited versions of my answers below.
Seiden Group is pleased to announce that we now provide production support for the open source Mapepire database connector for IBM i. This includes support for Node.js applications and cloud-based or containerized workloads that connect to Db2 for i—whether from IBM i itself or from external systems. Many developers already rely on Mapepire every day—sometimes without realizing it—because it’s the back-end to the Db2 for i extension for VS Code. We’re excited to help clients adopt this lightweight, high-performance connector.
Using a job queue or scheduler to run PHP scripts helps ensure that PHP-based processes are run successfully and on time. To make it easy for Seiden PHP+ users to schedule jobs, we provide job scheduler or queue functionality and support with our Seiden PHP+ SmartSupport. Benefits include the ability to: