According to Computer Weekly, Information Technology Management “…is the process of overseeing all matters related to information technology operations and resources within an organization…” Its objective is to ensure that all technological resources, including hardware, software and networks (on-premise or in the cloud or in hybrid environments) are available and reliable, being used correctly and providing value for the organization, through productivity and better user experiences for the organization’s employees.
To understand its importance, you must bear in mind that, in all industries and in organizations of all sizes, the combination of technology and digital skills is key to participating in the digital economy, where data, connectivity, automation and process improvements impact the employee experience and the customer experience through new business models, omnichannel (integrating more digital channels), integration, modernization and consolidation of technologies.
To achieve this, IT strategists must constantly monitor operation, security, compliance (industry provisions and regulations), the integration of new technologies and, of course, budget management.

Content:

• Fundamental role of IT in business structures
• Roles and Responsibilities of IT Managers
• Skills Needed for IT Managers
• Difference between IT Managers and IT Leaders
• Key Features of Effective IT Management
• IT Teams: Types and Functions
• Conclusion

Fundamental role of IT in business structures

In digital businesses, the critical asset is Information Technology (IT), so risk mitigation is essential not only to anticipate threats and protect the integrity of digital assets but also to ensure business continuity, through processes to:

• Identify risks: como primer paso en la gestión de riesgos, debiendo identificar (ambientales, regulatorios, de mercado, etc.) y priorizar en cuáles se encuentra expuesta la organización.
• Analyze: As a first step in risk management, having to identify (environmental, regulatory, market, etc.) and prioritize those in which the organization is vulnerable.
• Assess: Risks should be classified by their importance to define specific actions to mitigate them.
• Mitigate: From the evaluation, develop a plan to mitigate risks including risk prevention tactics and contingency plans.
• Monitor and review risks: There will be risks that you cannot get rid of (environmental or market risks, for example), but that can be monitored. Also in risk management, constant updating must be considered in accordance with the needs of the organization.

IT strategists can use emerging technologies such as advanced analytics and artificial intelligence to analyze risk data and automate IT staff tasks, with a proactive approach to new or negative conditions that could affect the business. Keep in mind that the repercussions of not mitigating risks can be quantifiable, such as reduced productivity, claims expenses, sales losses, etc., and unquantifiable, such as reputational damage to the organization.

Roles and Responsibilities of IT Managers

The IT Area has become extremely important in the Digital Transformation of organizations, being in charge of the following and responsibilities to provide constant and reliable access to IT services and systems:

• Develop business plans related to IT management: This includes defining the hardware and software needs of the company based on the business strategy and the particularities of all areas that make use of technology (Human Resources, Finance, Sales, Marketing, Operations, among others). Consider upgrading technologies, renewing licenses and usage contracts, as well as storage needs.
• Guarantee the security and availability of IT networks and services: From the maintenance and repair of IT infrastructure and resources, the installation and integration of equipment and technologies to advice on new technological solutions.
• Provide support and resolution on issues in services, hardware and software, offering assistance to personnel who need access to service resources, networks, software and hardware. It also involves deploying and training employees in the use of existing and new systems.
• Manage online processes, from website configuration, design and maintenance to e-commerce processes, from testing and improving features and interfaces, to setting up safe channels for transactions and operations from multiple channels.
• Ensure compliance with company quality standards, including service level agreements (SLAs). It is also to assist in IT assessments and inventories and research on new equipment and its acquisition.
• Evaluate potential threats to the company’s digital infrastructure, as well as seek alternatives for a quick response, including third-party support and contingency measures, seeking business continuity.
• Integrate new technologies into the business structure, especially due to the pace of digitization in which it is essential to constantly be evaluating and testing technologies that optimize services and operations in the organization, but that add more value to the business.

Skills Needed for IT Managers

The value of an IT Manager lies in leveraging existing data, ensuring business continuity, optimizing processes and connecting employees with each other and with suppliers, business partners and the end customer. To achieve these objectives, key competencies are required to manage IT, which must be constantly reinforced and updated.

An IT Manager must have Hard Skills, which are technical skills necessary for a job and which are acquired and improved through education, usually through training and certifications, along with experience, such as:

• Knowledge of Codes and Operating Systems, including knowledge of programming languages for coding websites, software development, database management and other technological systems, as well as the use, operation and possible problems in operating systems on equipment and devices.
• Management of databases, networks, hardware and software, knowing how to navigate database software and how to use forms and forms integrated into a database, integration with equipment and knowing how to effectively manage a company’s computer network.
• Software development, essential for those engaged in IT operations, as an organization may require IT professionals involved in programming to develop new software.
• IT security to keep information safe and confidential. It takes a working knowledge of this technical skill and constant updating as the sophistication of cyber threats evolves.
• Consolidation, IT modernization and integration of new technologies, especially emerging ones (Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, 3D Printing, among others) that contribute to efficiency in an organization.

Soft skills are also required, which are non-technical attributes, characters and interpersonal skills that define how a person deals with their professional colleagues and other people in the work and social environment. The soft competencies of the IT manager have become essential for their strategic role in the organization:

1. Business understanding (integral vision), which implies understanding the needs of their peers in IT and business areas, especially since more and more technology expenditure is financed by departments other than IT, because technology has become accessible to end users and there is also consensus in more multidisciplinary teams on technology decisions, and even budgets previously only managed by the IT area are shared. Hence, the IT Manager must have a comprehensive view of the business and its value chain.
2. Efficient and effective stakeholder management: IT managers should not only approach, understand needs and engage with users, but also with suppliers and strategic partners (stakeholders). IT Managers must also involve the parties involved in the innovation processes, to improve or create new services or products.IT managers must lead the change so that their teams stops thinking in terms of putting together applications that meet feature requirements and move on to designing user experiences that are intuitive and empowering. This change of philosophy in the IT function forces us to show more empathy towards users, who begin to value and require both the experience and the result. Likewise, the IT Manager must not lose sight of their team and provide them with the appropriate training. Attracting and retaining talent in the IT area becomes a fundamental task for the sustainability of the area and the fulfillment of business goals.
3. Efficient and effective project management, including the management of internal and external projects and demands, the execution and management of mixed budgets, personnel and supplier administration, with transparency and efficient resource control. It also includes change management for users to adopt and make correct use of the technology, communicating about its impact on the business.
4. Lead the innovation process in the organization, not only being up to date with technological changes and new trends, but knowing how to recommend, to generate new digital revenue streams, working closely with the areas involved in the creation and development of physical and digital combinations that ensure the best customer experience. In customer acquisition and retention, IT Managers assume a strategic role to know and segment customers and monitor marketing campaigns.

As it can be seen, today’s IT Managers must have communication, teamwork and project management skills, in close collaboration with the areas of the organization to understand the needs and look for courses of action that drive efficiency and constant innovation.

Difference between IT Managers and IT Leaders

As it can be seen from the above, the role of IT Managers has transformed from simple suppliers of IT equipment and resources to leadership roles in business, becoming the expert voice to recommend and influence key business decisions. To describe what an IT leader is, let’s look at 7 characteristics that make them indispensable:

1. Curiosity as a cornerstone: Always seeking knowledge of the market, being an insightful advisor, assuming a role of business partner, with a clear perspective of the organization, the desired results and its value chain.
2. Up-to-date and future vision: Constantly evaluating and testing the technologies that can be currently integrated and preparing to integrate new ones, especially those that could be implemented in the short or medium term. The leading IT Manager sets everything up to optimize costs, get rid of repetitive or low-value tasks, relies on automation, and drives their team to work efficiently and at the forefront.
3. Humility: As a characteristic that differentiates the indispensable leader from the average leader. This leader recognizes and seeks support to inspire their teams to find solutions to issues, and trusts and values their team’s contributions. An IT leader can inspire confidence for input, becoming a mentor to their team. This also involves recognizing mistakes to learn from them.
4. Union: The IT leaders of today are players of a team, able to build cohesion so that everyone works towards a goal and towards success. The IT Leader should be able to talk to other teams as well to foster collaboration, inside and outside the company (including suppliers and strategic partners).
5. Discretion: This is one of the most particular and difficult characteristics to develop for IT leaders: allowing their team to do the work without intense supervision, without constantly telling them what and when to do certain tasks. To do this, it is clear that they must trust the capabilities of an adequate team with the necessary knowledge to do their job. This leader is also able to mentor when needed, celebrate successes, and encourage learning about failures.
6. Optimism: IT leaders must be able to encourage optimism, seek improvements even in times of uncertainty and constant disruptions such as those we experienced in recent years around the world. The optimistic IT leader gets employees to understand their contribution and accept causes for which to seek improvements and work shoulder to shoulder with the same goal.
7. Empathy: The lead IT Manager can understand interests from all areas to find courses of action towards the same mission. IT teams and employees of the organization feel identified and have a clear understanding of how they can participate in the common good and the expected business results. IT Leaders take their time to understand potential conflicts or miscommunication.

Finally, IT leaders are also able to recognize the gaps in competencies and can persuade their teams about the need to continue training through Continuous Education, something that has become the standard in IT ecosystems due to the dizzying speed at which technology changes

Key Features of Effective IT Management

According to ComputerWeekly, effective IT management “enables organizations to optimize resources and staffing, improve business and communication processes, and apply best practices. Individuals working in IT management should also demonstrate skills in general management areas such as leadership, strategic planning, and resource allocation.”
Based on this description, IT Managers must ensure that technological resources are used, maximizing as much as possible investments in IT and limiting the risks in its implementation. To do this, they must combine:

• Structures: How the IT function is organized, its assigned responsibilities, and the role in decision making.
• ·Processes: Including information systems and the measurement of their performance.
• Relationship mechanisms: With stakeholder participation, collaboration between business areas and IT staff.

To carry out this, it is necessary to rely on innovative technology and tools that streamline the functions of the staff and the IT leader, such as:

• Data analytics to get valuable insights that help improve operations, as well as identify the root of problems and even anticipate incidents.
• Cloud computing for convenient access to data and services from any location, taking advantage of the benefits of cost efficiency, scalability, security and continuity with data recovery strategies. For teams, the cloud allows them to modernize systems and streamline their work so they can focus on other priorities.
• Artificial Intelligence (including Cognitive Computing, which simulates human thinking) to analyze data, learn and predict problems, in order to improve the quality of IT services. Cognitive computing can be essential to managing IT and accelerating innovation. For technical issues and user support, you may leverage the use of AI-based chatbots acting as virtual agents.
• Internet of Things, (IoT), by incorporating the Internet into everyday objects to drive efficiency, whether by collecting or analyzing data from devices and sensors. Cognitive Computing in IoT allows you to identify patterns and provide additional context, which improves decision making in an accurate and timely manner.

Now more than ever, IT Managers will always be a key in adopting new technologies to improve operations and meet business challenges.

IT Teams: Types and Functions

IT Teams, as we have seen, work with a wide range of IT services and equipment and each one is different, according to the needs of the company. Some are permanent and others have a specific duration according to the particular goal for which they were created. The types of IT Equipment and their functions are:

• Operations Teams: in charge of critical infrastructure for business operations, including networks, data centers and web services. Their job is to monitor and ensure the availability of services and systems to support business operations. They are also known as IT Service Management (ITSM) teams. These teams are permanent.
• Project Teams: focused on specific solutions for particular problems, the implementation of a system or a substantial change in IT. Their efforts are temporary, as once a project is completed the team can be disbanded or reassigned to other functions.
• Support Teams: with responsibility for the maintenance and sustainability of the systems. They are usually permanent teams, (just like operations teams). They are in charge of IT service management to keep operations running. Also, like project teams, they are assigned to address specific problems and even several mini-projects.
• Process Teams: in charge of improving processes related to business growth, also known as enterprise IT support teams. Their job is to manage and improve IT systems for a business process. These teams include analysts, project managers, and data analysts. They work closely with project teams to achieve specific results.

Conclusion

In the digital world, IT Management has become vital to achieve business results and to give continuity to operations regardless of contingencies or disruptions that may arise now and in the future. Also, IT Management must ensure that the employees of the organization adopt the technology and are involved in the strategic decisions of the technology. At the same time, the IT team must ensure that the company’s staff is productive and focused on the business. That is why IT Managers must become leaders in technology decisions, with well-structured teams capable of doing their job and contributing to innovation to face challenges and forge the competitive differentiation of the organization.

Olivia Díaz

Market analyst and writer with +30 years in the IT market for demand generation, ranking and relationships with end customers, as well as corporate communication and industry analysis.

Analista de mercado y escritora con más de 30 años en el mercado TIC en áreas de generación de demanda, posicionamiento y relaciones con usuarios finales, así como comunicación corporativa y análisis de la industria.

Analyste du marché et écrivaine avec plus de 30 ans d’expérience dans le domaine informatique, particulièrement la demande, positionnement et relations avec les utilisateurs finaux, la communication corporative et l’anayse de l’indutrie.

 

The Principle of Least Privilege, also known as PoLP, is a computer security rule that states that each user or group of users must have only the necessary permissions to perform their corresponding tasks.

In other words, the less power a user has, the lower the chances of them having a harmful impact on the business.

Why is it important?

PoLP is important because it helps protect company systems and data from cyberattacks. 

When a user has too many permissions, they are more likely to make mistakes or fall victim to an attack. For instance, users with access to servers could install malware or steal sensitive information.

How is it applied?

PoLP can be applied to any computer system, either on-premise or in the cloud.

Content:

• PoLP in practice
• Continued Importance in a Changing World
• Implementation Difficulties
• Privileged accounts: Definition and Types
• Privileged Cloud Accounts
• Common Privileged Threat Vectors
• Challenges to Applying Least Privilege
• Benefits for Safety and Productivity
• Principle of Least Privilege and Best Practices
• Least Privilege and Zero Trust
• Solutions for the Implementation of Least Privilege
• How to Implement Least Privilege Effectively
• Conclusion

PoLP in practice

What if a user needs to do something they can’t normally do?

The Principle of Least Privilege states that each user should have only the necessary permissions to perform their tasks. This practice helps protect company systems and data from cyberattacks.

However, there are circumstances where a user may need to circumvent security restrictions to perform some unplanned activity. For example, a certain user may need to create records for a new customer.

In these cases, the system administrator may grant the user temporary access to a role with greater privileges.

How is this done safely?

Ideally, the system administrator should create a job that automatically adds the user to the role and, after a defined time, removes them from the role.

For example, the administrator could grant user privileges for two hours and then automatically remove the privileges after that time.

This helps ensure that the user only has access to the necessary permissions for as long as they need them.

What about user groups?

Overall, it is safer to grant permissions to groups of users than to individual users.

This is because it is more difficult for an attacker to compromise an entire group of users than a single user.

For example, if John is an accountant, instead of granting John template creation privileges, the administrator could grant those privileges to the group of accountants.

What about processes or services?

The Principle of Least Privilege also applies to processes and services.

If a process or service works with an account, that account should have as few privileges as possible.

This helps reduce the damage an attacker could cause if they compromised the account.

Continued Importance in a Changing World

A large number of companies, following the COVID pandemic, significantly increased the number of employees working from home. Before, we only had to worry about computers within the company. Now, the security of every laptop or mobile phone accessing your network can be a security breach.

To prevent disasters, we must create security standards and train staff to prevent them from entering prohibited sites with company computers or computers that access our company. That’s why you should avoid giving administrator privileges and applying PoLP on users as much as possible. That is why a trust 0 policy is applied, giving the least amount of privileges as possible. If the user is not authenticated, they are not given privileges.

IT staff should check the security of laptops carried by the user and see how to prevent attacks from reaching enterprise or cloud servers coming from our staff working remotely.

Implementation Difficulties

However, applying the minimum security privilege is nowadays quite complex. Users with an account access countless different apps.

They may also have to access web applications that rely on Linux servers, so roles and privileges must be created in different applications. It is very common for several basic features not to work with the minimum cybersecurity privileges, so there is the temptation to grant extra privileges.

Giving minimum privileges to a single application is already something complicated. Granting PoLP to several systems that interact with each other becomes much more complex. It is necessary to carry out safety quality controls. IT engineers should do security testing and patch security holes.

Privileged accounts: Definition and Types

Privileged accounts or super accounts are those accounts that have access to everything.

These accounts have administrator privileges. Accounts are usually used by managers or the most senior people in the IT team.

Extreme care must be taken with such accounts. If a hacker or a Malware manages to access these passwords, it is possible to destroy the entire operating system or the entire database.

The number of users with access to these accounts must be minimal. Normally only the IT manager will have super user accounts with all privileges and senior management will have broad privileges, but in no case full privileges.

In Linux and Mac operating systems, for example, the superuser is called root. In the Windows system it is called Administrator.

For example, our default Windows account does not run with all privileges. If you want to run a file with administrator accounts, right-click on the executable file and select the option Run as Administrator.

This privilege to run as an administrator is only used in special installation cases and should not be used at all times.

To prevent a hacker or a malicious person from accessing these users, it is recommended to comply with these security measures:

• Use a long, complex password that mixes uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and special characters.
• It also tries to change the password of these users regularly. For example, changing the password every month or every two months.
• It does not hurt to use a good anti-virus to detect and prevent an attack and also to set a firewall to prevent attacks by strangers.
• Always avoid opening emails and attachments from strangers or entering suspicious websites. These attacks can breach accounts. Where possible, never browse with super user accounts or use these accounts unless necessary.

Privileged Cloud Accounts

Today, a lot of information is handled in the cloud. We will cover account management on major platforms such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud.

AWS uses authentication type Identity and Access Management (IAM) to create and manage users. It also supports multi-factor authentication (MFA) which requires 2 ways to validate the user and thus enter, thus increasing security.

On AWS there is a root user who is a super user with all privileges. With this user create other users and protect it using it as little as possible.

Google Cloud also provides an IAM and also the KMS (Key Management Service) that allows you to manage keys.

Depending on the cloud application, there are super users who manage databases, analytics systems, websites, AI and other resources.

If, for example, I am a user who only needs to see table reports from a database, I do not need access to update or insert new data. All these privileges must be carefully planned by the IT security department.

Common Privileged Threat Vectors

If the PoLP is not applied, if a hacker enters the system, they could access very sensitive information to the company by being able to obtain a user’s password. In many cases these hackers steal the information and ask for ransom money.

In other situations, malicious users within the company could sell valuable company information. If we apply the PoLP, these risks can be considerably reduced.

Challenges to Applying Least Privilege

It is not easy to apply the PoLP in companies. Particularly if you have given them administrator privileges initially and now that you learned the risks you want to take the privileges away from them. You must make users understand that it is for the good of the company, to protect its information and that great power comes with great responsibility. That if an attack happens to the company, the reputation of the employees themselves is at stake as well as that of the company. Explain that safety is up to everyone.

Many times we give excessive privileges due to the laziness of giving only the minimum cybersecurity privilege. But it is urgent to investigate, optimize and reduce privileges to increase security.

Another common problem is that having restricted privileges reduces the productivity of the user who ends up being dependent on their superior for lack of privileges. This can cause frustration in users and inefficiency in the company as a whole. You must seek to achieve balance in terms of efficiency without affecting safety.

Benefits for Safety and Productivity

By applying the principle of granting restricted access, we reduce the attack surface. The chances of receiving a malware attack are also reduced and less time is wasted trying to recover data after an attack.

For example, Equifax, a credit company, fell victim to Ransomware in 2017. This attack affected 143 million customers. Equifax had to pay $700 million in fines and reparations. It also had to pay compensation to users.

• It reduces the risk of cyberattacks.
• It protects sensitive data.
• It reduces the impact of attacks.

Principle of Least Privilege and Best Practices

In order to comply with the standards, it is advisable to carry out an audit and verify the privileges of users and security in general. An internal verification or an external audit can be done.

You may carry out security tests to see if your company meets those standards. Below are some of the best-known standards:

• CIS is a Center for Information Security. It contains recommendations and best practices for securing systems and data globally.
• NIST Cybersecurity Framework provides a National Institute of Standards and Technology security framework.
• SOC 2 provides an assessment report of a company’s or organization’s security controls.

Least Privilege and Zero Trust

Separating privileges is giving users or accounts only the privileges they need to reduce risk. Just-In-Time (JIT) security policies reduce risks by removing excessive privileges, automating security processes, and managing privileged users.

JIT means giving privileges only when you need them. That is, they should be temporary. For example, if a user needs to access a database only for 2 hours, you may create a script that assigns privileges during this time and then remove those privileges.

To implement the JIT:

• Create a plan with security policies.
• Implement the plan by applying the PoLP and JIT with controls that may include multi-factor access and role access control.
• It is important to train employees on safety and explain these concepts so that they understand not only how to apply them but why to apply them.
• And finally, it is important to apply audits. This topic was already discussed in point 10.

It is also convenient to monitor permissions to see who has more privileges and also see what resources are accessed, to see if adjustments need to be made to them.

Solutions for the Implementation of Least Privilege

As mentioned above, to increase security, segment the network to reduce damage if your security is breached. Segmenting the network is dividing the network into small subnets.

The privileges granted to users should also be monitored.

Finally, security policies must be integrated with technologies to create an administrative plan according to the software you have.

How to Implement Least Privilege Effectively

To implement the principle of granting access, the proposed system must be implemented on test servers. Personnel should be asked to test actual jobs in the system for a while.

Once the errors are corrected or user complaints are resolved, it is up to you to take the system into production with minimal privileges. A trial period of at least one month is recommended where users test the system and have the old system at hand.

In most cases, the old and new systems coexist for months until the new system is approved with the least privileged security implemented.

Conclusion

The Principle of Least Privilege: A Simple but Effective Measure for Computer Security.

In an increasingly digital world, IT security is critical for businesses of all sizes. Cyberattacks are becoming more frequent and sophisticated, and can cause significant damage to businesses.

One of the most important steps businesses can take to protect their systems and data from cyberattacks is to apply the Principle of Least Privilege. The Principle of Least Privilege states that each user should have only the necessary permissions to perform their tasks.

Applying the Principle of Least Privilege is a simple but effective measure. By giving users only the necessary permissions, companies reduce the risk of an attacker compromising sensitive systems and data.

Tips for applying the principle of least privilege:

• Identify the permissions needed for each task.
• Grant permissions to groups of users instead of individual users.
• Reduce process and service account privileges.
• Review user permissions on a regular basis.