IT Security Manager Responsibilities: Oversight, Reporting, Personnel Management

Featured article by Jim Kreinbrink

IT security managers are the first line of defense in the organization. They oversee all of the processes and procedures within its IT infrastructure. In addition, they must regularly report to upper management on their findings. This job can be challenging, but it also offers a lot of opportunities for growth, development, and learning new skills.

IT security managers are responsible for overseeing policies and procedures and reporting on findings to upper management. They typically work in-house or remotely from home, so there is flexibility regarding location and hours for this position type.

This job requires a highly recommended level of communication with both internal IT departments and external stakeholders such as vendors, auditors, and regulators who might impact your company’s business model. It also requires a high degree of project management skills since you’ll be responsible for implementing security initiatives to reduce risks.

Additionally, you might oversee all aspects of the IT department, including network infrastructure design software.

What does an IT security manager do?

As an IT security manager, you’re responsible for implementing company-wide policies and procedures to ensure the organization is compliant with regulations and standards. You must make sure that all employees are trained on these policies and procedures to avoid compliance issues and maintain a secure IT infrastructure. In addition, you’ll be responsible for overseeing the IT auditing process, which includes ensuring all security protocols are being followed.

You might also be responsible for overseeing the implementation of any new technologies or software in your organization. It’s important to ensure that these new technologies don’t impact the existing network infrastructure or introduce environmental risk.

Roles and Responsibilities of an IT Security Manager

The responsibilities of an IT security manager vary depending on the type of organization and the size of the company. However, there are some common responsibilities and duties that you’ll likely be responsible for as an IT security manager. These include:

1. They are implementing policies and procedures to keep your company compliant with current regulations and standards. You’ll need to ensure that all employees are trained on these policies and procedures through an ongoing training program. If any employees violate these policies or procedures, it’s your responsibility to issue corrective action when necessary. Additionally, you must proactively work with employees to understand how these policies impact their daily work activities.

2. Maintaining a secure infrastructure by overseeing the IT auditing process (e.g. penetration testing, vulnerability assessments, etc.). You will also be responsible for reviewing all audit results and making necessary changes to your infrastructure.

3. Ensuring that your organization uses the most secure technology available to protect company data. This means that you’ll need to stay on top of new threats, vulnerabilities, and exploits as they become known. You’ll also need to make sure that you know any potential impacts these new threats might have on your network infrastructure and existing security measures.

4. Providing security training for employees. It’s important that all employees understand how their daily work activities impact the organization’s overall security. This includes understanding the security risks associated with specific job functions (e.g. administrative personnel should understand how phishing attacks work and how they can protect themselves from becoming a victim).

5. Monitoring the security of all external-facing applications, networks and systems. This includes ensuring that all third parties that provide services to your organization are held to the same security standards as internal employees.

6. Acting as an escalation point for high-risk vulnerabilities and incidents. This includes properly assessing the risk associated with new threats, vulnerabilities, and exploits before you decide how best to address them. You’ll also need to be able to make decisions on when it’s appropriate to notify senior leadership about new threats and their potential impact on your organization’s infrastructure.

Reporting Requirements and Roles

As a security analyst of your organziation, you’ll be required to create and maintain detailed reports on the overall state of your organization’s IT infrastructure.

This includes documenting any new threats and vulnerabilities discovered and their potential impact on your organization. You’ll also need to document the steps that were taken to mitigate or remediate these risks.

As a security analyst, senior leadership will use your reports to make decisions on how best to protect the company’s infrastructure from cyber threats. You should ensure that all of your reports are clear, concise and easy for non-technical staff members to understand.

You may also be asked to create presentations for management meetings or educational sessions for new employees at your company. These presentations should include detailed information about the cyber threats currently facing your organization, as well as the steps that you’re taking to mitigate these risks.

Reporting and Oversight

One of the primary responsibilities of a security analyst is to oversee the activities of other IT and security personnel. This may include conducting training sessions for new employees, reviewing the work of junior analysts and making recommendations for improvements to their procedures.

Another aspect of your job will be to review the work produced by other IT personnel. For example, you may be asked to review the findings from a penetration test or vulnerability assessment report. Your job will ensure that these reports are clear and easy for non-technical staff members to understand. You’ll also need to ensure that all of your recommendations have been followed by those who performed the tests or assessments.

In addition, you’ll be responsible for ensuring that your company’s policies and procedures are being followed. You may also be asked to review any security incident reports that users or contractors submit. This type of review aims to ensure that the information contained in these reports is accurate and consistent with the policies and procedures that you’ve implemented within your organization.

Another important responsibility of a security analyst is to identify potential risks and vulnerabilities within your organization’s infrastructure. This includes reviewing any information about possible vulnerabilities that may have been discovered by your company’s IT staff members, as well as conducting vulnerability assessments on all of your company’s computers and networks.

With today’s increasingly automated web processes, protecting the infrastructure is vital to revenue. For example,on the cutting edge of FinTech companies such as olive are providing quotes and coverage based on algorithms (See https://olive.com/how-much-does-extended-car-warranty-cost/), and downtime of any sort impacts revenue.

How to prepare for your new role

A bachelor’s degree in computer science or security is required for this position. Most employers prefer candidates who have a master’s degree in information security or computer science and at least two years of experience working in a similar role.

You’ll also need to demonstrate your technical skills through courses like network security, penetration testing, malware analysis and computer forensics. The more technical skills you have, the more opportunities you’ll have to work with the latest technologies.

The bottom line

In addition to a high salary, you’ll have the opportunity to work with cutting-edge technologies and help your organization improve its overall security. Networking security certification is a great first step if you’re interested in this field. It will provide you with the technical skills needed for this position and add value to your resume.