The looming threat of data breaches and cyberattacks compels organisations to adopt meticulous data privacy and management strategies to protect themselves and minimise potential risk. An often-overlooked defence against security threats is the IT service desk and the professionals that steer its direction, including Operators on the front line who do the day to day work, and the management who steer the strategic direction of the service desk. These professionals continually emerge as silent guardians of protecting organisation information and other assets.
If your organisation is not considering the service desk as one of the frontiers against cyber attacks, you may be missing a significant opportunity to leverage experience, know-how, and technology to take on these objectives. ITSM can help strengthen organisational front-line responses and manage user expectations, while the security professionals take on the task of restoring order.
While ITSM clearly doesn’t prevent against attacks, it can help those responsible for managing security events do so much better or more efficiently than without it. Your service desk, working within a framework of robust, security related ITSM processes, can manage the response to such attacks when they occur, and properly designed ITSM processes can help you create a comprehensive defence against targeted attacks. How so? ITSM can help provide first responders from the organisation’s mitigation teams with the ability to swiftly identify vulnerabilities, attack vectors, open doors, and other risks, and optimise the response.
Additionally, ITSM can be used to let users alert the service desk when there is a problem – not through random emails, calls, or knocks on the door, but through a self-service portal Security alerts can be created automatically, or logged manually by users. This could be through an SSP, or through a phone call. Once a breach or attack is identified, the service desk team can see what is happening in the organisation and its infrastructure, what assets you have in it, who is responsible for them, what happened to them or where employees have access. Modern service desk software can also include features like a panic button, allowing users to summon help promptly, ensuring critical incidents receive immediate attention.
Through integrations with security solutions, automated scans and real-time monitoring can also be incorporated into your ITSM tool and supporting processes allowing your service desk and security teams to communicate seamlessly through ITSM. Consequently, service desk teams gain the opportunity to neutralise security gaps and respond promptly to security events.
In essence, ITSM software can empower service desk teams to implement optimisation strategies, reinforcing data security proactively. The positive impacts of this are amplified when your ITSM tool is supported by strong, ITIL-aligned processes
By increasing the speed at which useful information can be accessed by your IT professionals and facilitating collaboration between teams, the whole organisation can benefit.
Attacks come to the service desk
Attack vectors are everywhere and anything that can be manipulated as a potential entry point will be exploited. Threats may come via malicious links in service desk tickets, putting service desk professionals on centre stage in the battle for the security of the organisation in which they serve.
Those who work on the service desk must remain vigilant against such social engineering attacks. Service desk leaders alongside their IT security colleagues should develop strong, robust processes used to respond to security incidents quickly. When developing such approaches, consider how the ITSM tool along with ITIL processes, and security protocols complement each other to respond to security incidents and be used to create a record of what’s happened during these incidents.
Likewise, pairing the service desk and security teams to meet attacks head on is possible through the points mentioned in this piece, as well as by employing intrusion detection systems that can be linked to the ITSM solution. Doing so means any high-priority incidents can then be acted on immediately by the operators on the service desk.
ITSM Data Security and Encryption
While dedicated security tools have advanced to meet much of the present need, they are not well suited for managing communication challenges during such an event. ITSM solutions can support any potential coordination holes that might arise when responding to such an event.
To further elevate data security, service desk software excels in access control management and managing role-based access. Authorised personnel can exclusively access sensitive information through granular access controls and role-based permissions built into the technology. ITSM software can also be configured to add further security steps, such as multi-factor authentication in order to enhance user account security.
Integrating ITSM tools, professionals and processes with security tools, professionals and processes creates the seamless collaboration needed to amplify efficiency. Your ITSM tool should integrate with your security tool, and your ITSM processes (which include their own security processes) should complement your security processes, and vice versa.
A Unified Approach to Data Security
Siloed ITSM and security solutions are not only inefficient but also create security gaps. And the service desk is increasingly under attack from threats. Common attack techniques leveraged against service desks in the last year include leveraging reused and stolen passwords, excess privileged access, and insecure remote access.
- Streamline secure remote support sessions to any device – including third party access – by initiating directly from within an incident or change record, without revealing plain text credentials.
- Standardise remote support procedures across Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, network devices, and peripherals.
- Apply least privilege and zero trust access across support sessions.
- Centralise endpoint privilege management: open tickets for new app requests, integrated approval workflow, and validate tickets before access is granted.
- Store and manage credentials so they are available within the integrated solution for discovery, orchestration, and easier automation of service ticket workflows.
- The ability to search for and retrieve session details and associated tickets or change requests – including access or permissions – on demand.
- Detailed change tracking and recording, including accessing configuration items directly from a change request.
- Auditing of who approved the request and to which privileged account and asset.
As organisations navigate the complexities of data security, ITSM tools tailor appropriate data protection workflows and strategies across the organisation. Even though service management is not often conflated with cybersecurity, this collaboration can help organisations develop a strong response to threats and can serve as an information hub for navigating responses, risk management, and mitigation efforts.
With a steadfast commitment to a holistic and robust approach to data security, organisational leaders can pave a path toward a secure future. Service desk professionals and their technology solutions become the stalwarts of safeguarding all data in the organisation.
By Chris Falshaw, head of IT support, TOPdesk UK