Issues Facing IT Managers and Security Professionals

Issues facing IT managers or security professionals in an environment where IT is constantly expanding and changing

The high level of advancement in technology in the past decades has not only positively changed  life through the creation of new things, systems and processes but has also posed several material challenges and issues to different people, experts, and professionals. This paper is focused on discussing some of the eminent issues that IT managers or security professionals are facing in an environment where IT is constantly expanding and changing. Some of the major areas of concern discussed being system security in terms of data safety, privacy-related issues, ownership, cyber security, and several other points.

IT managers and several other professionals are spending sleepless nights each and every day trying to come up with means and ways of enhancing the security and privacy of user data, this, therefore, means that data security is a major challenge and a potential threat to every user. It is, therefore, a serious issue that should cause a major concern to IT managers and other security professionals. In the current technological evolving world, data is not just a vital tool but also an asset worth protecting. This protection is in line with the high level of sensitivity of the aforesaid data. This data may range from bank passwords to personal safety codes (Damgard, 1999). Potential hackers could attempt to hack systems, websites and other avenues with an aim of stealing these pieces of information with intent of fraudulently dealing with them. IT managers and security professionals are therefore in constant efforts, trying to design new techniques of tightening data security and preventing any form of vulnerability.

           Privacy is not just a right but also an important element of human comfort and thus should not be compromised. Different platforms such as facebook, twitter and WhatsApp have emerged over time providing platforms where user information can be easily accessed by a third party. IT managers and professionals are working tirelessly to ensure that only authorized user information is accessible to third parties. The recent privacy and security breach by Cambridge analytical has catalyzed the advocacy for data privacy and thorough security protocols while accessing user data (Vaidhyanathan, 2018). Hackers can easily breach privacy protocols and infringe on user information. IT managers are therefore faced with a challenge of ensuring that their users’ privacy is protected and only authorized parties are accessible to their information.

           With advancement in technology, there has been a constant rise in great and more powerful innovations and inventions from different walks of life. As the number of innovations increases, piracy and Intellectual property infringement have been on the rise. IT managers have advocated for the stringent legal measure to mitigate this problem (Ron, Paul, 2005). They have continuously been engaged in designing new measures of protecting ownership and directing benefits of inventions to the rightful owners. This is an act that has lowered the morale of innovators since they do not enjoy total ownership of their inventions as financial gains go to the hands of non-developers and fraudsters.

           Due to the current dynamic environment of evolving technology, there has been a rapid rise in new trends and techniques. IT managers and security professionals are faced with a challenge of ensuring that they cope with the emerging trends that are a threat to system security. New hacking tools have emerged over time and thus posing a great challenge to the IT industry. It is, therefore, a serious concern for IT managers and security professionals to ensure that they design new tools that are capable of countering the new emerging security threats (Akhgar, Arabnia, 2013). These professionals are also concerned about designing new systems, software, programs etc. that meets user needs and requirements as per the emerging dynamics of the environment so that they cannot be left behind on matters IT.

           Several social media platforms have been characterized by fake news and fake information. In the world where access to pieces of information is just within a click of a button, IT managers have had to deal with issues related to the authenticity of information within their platforms. Some disparaging remarks and defamatory statements have been made about others on Facebook, this has led to several court cases which sometimes result in huge fines on those found culpable. The last US presidential elections were characterized by social media propaganda and fake news (Hunt, Mathew, 2017). This is clear evidence why information authenticity should be a matter of concern to IT managers. Security professionals have also faced a similar challenge, they have to ensure that systems are secure and no unauthorized piece of information gets into and out of their systems.

           IT managers have more often than not faced challenges with regard to sourcing the right manpower with the requisite training and matching skills. The world of technology is very dynamic and diverse, new security glitches are being detected each and every day. It is therefore important to have qualified professionals who are able to not only detect these security breaches but also prevent them from occurring. Sourcing such manpower is obviously expensive due to their unavailability; it is, therefore, a real issue that IT managers are facing on a daily basis. They have to conduct continuous training to their staff to align them with the emerging trends and techniques. This concern is also extended to talent relation within organizations. It is estimated that the demand for IT professionals will grow by 15% up to the year 2022; these further estimates provide that the demand for specialized skills such as cyber security professionals would be very high and only well-established firms would be able to source them. IT managers are therefore engaged in discussions that would help in talent recruitment and retention.

 Cloud computing is an emerging phenomenon in the world of technology and every professional in this sector is concerned about. This is the ability to connect a large number of computers in a single network. The main area of concern in this respect has been related to data within the network in terms of ownership and how it should be kept. These concerns can easily result to legal disputes which are equally unacceptable (Mahmood, 2014). IT managers have to decide on how to deal with this new phenomenon. They have to choose whether to deal in the clouds or to retain their traditional ways of operations. It is, therefore, a heated debate among different professionals with those in the security analyzing the security threats associated with this new development.

           Cyber security remains to be a nightmare to several IT professionals and managers. Like several other illegal practices, different trends emerge frequently to escape the barriers meant to counter them. A common example of a cybercrime relates to botnet where malicious software users were able to take control of an entire network. Committing such crimes are less expensive compared to the revenue tied in their investigations and possible mitigations? IT managers are constantly conscious of this fact and are spending sleepless nights designing ways and means of countering cybercrime. Security professionals see this as a potential breach and are living no stone unturned as far as this is concerned. Cyber security and cybercrime are therefore hot areas of concern to IT managers and security professionals.

           It is now apparent that there are several issues that IT managers and security professionals face in the constantly changing technological environment. They have to design new ways and means of mitigating these issues and also proactively deal with them. The world of technology is obviously changing and expanding people must change with the changes.

References

Akhbar,B. Arabnia, H. (2013). Emerging Trends in ICT.

Damgard, I.B. ( 1999). Lectures on data security: Modern cryptology in theory and practice. Berlin: Springer.

Hanik, R., Craig, P. (2005). Software Piracy exposed.

Hunt, B. Mathew, G. (2017). Social media and fake news in the 2016 elections. Journal of economic perspectives, 31 (2): 2011-36.

https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.31.2.211

Mahmood, Z. (2014). Cloud computing: Challenges, limitations and R and D solutions.

Vaidhyanathan, S. (2018). Antisocial media: How facebook disconnects us and undermines democracy.