The changing roles of management in a security-focused world

The Identity Theft Research Center states that the number of U.S. data breaches in 2014 reached an all-time high at 783, a 27.5% increase from the previous year. No industry is safe from breaches, with business sectors, medical/healthcare companies, education, and government institutions all under attack. Companies are beginning to understand the importance of having risk management processes and decision makers in place to handle the threats of attacks.

IT managers and their changing roles

Companies know it’s time to focus on cybersecurity, with 90% of CIOs and top IT professionals agreeing that security has become their top concern. Despite this increase, only 21% of those surveyed felt comfortable with the security systems in place.

As the importance of security increases, those in project management roles will be encouraged to understand new risk management systems, as well as aligning the team, systems and vendors all under the new security goals.

Here are a few specific management roles and how they will be shaped by security and risk in the coming years:

The Director of IT is in charge of managing technology systems within an organization, specifically focusing on which tools are being utilized. As security concerns continue to grow, a director in this position will not only need to assess the risks that will arise in company technology, but also ensure that the technologies being used are secure. Data security concerns for an IT director would include:

• Investing in the best security tools for the company
• Encrypting the systems and tools used by employees
• Keeping tabs on the employees who are using company tools to make sure they are not abusing technology access

 Data processing managers are responsible for the storage and organization of information and data in the workplace. These managers will be expected to ensure that the information storage and organization processes are secure from attacks. Some of the security concerns of data management include:

• Password security
• Two-step authentication to retrieve information
• Disk encryption on important information
• Keeping track of which team members have access to information.

Cybersecurity project managers are responsible for making sure a company’s networks are safe from vulnerabilities and breaches by planning and implementing security measures on all systems. Not only do these managers have to predict risks, they then have to take those risks through the next steps of improving business processes and implementing changes to systems throughout departments. Security concerns for cyber security managers include:

• Regulating access to information for staff
• Training employees under new security systems
• Forecasting threats to systems before they attack

Preparing for a new era of security

As security importance increases, IT departments will no longer be left on their own to solve security issues. Instead, project managers and their teams will be responsible of making sure products and services are secure. In addition, project managers need to have an understanding of the technologies that are out there to prevent data breaches. Strategically aligning company projects with the business objectives and security goals will significantly decrease the chance of risks.