“If your security is buried in a policy document, your business is wide open.”

🧨 The Problem: InfoSec Is Still Treated Like a Bolt-On

In most IT orgs, information security isn’t woven into operations — it’s stapled on the side.

It’s still:

• A compliance checkpoint, not a continuous discipline

• The domain of one team — InfoSec — rather than every service owner

• Written in policy, not lived in practice

• Reactive to audit deadlines, not proactive to business threats

The result?
Security is disconnected from service delivery, change processes, incident responses — and ultimately, from business reality.

“Most organisations lack integration between InfoSec and operational IT functions. This results in delayed response, unclear ownership, and increased risk exposure.”
– ISACA, 2024

✅ The Good: Security Practices That Actually Protect the Business

In a mature ITIL implementation, Information Security Management (ISM) isn’t just documentation — it’s operational.

Here’s what it looks like:

• Security requirements captured during service design, not post go-live

• Access and privilege controls embedded in change and release workflows

• Incident response plans include security breach protocols

• Supplier contracts have security SLAs, OLAs, and breach notification expectations

• Risk assessments are done per service, not just organisation-wide

• Security controls are monitored live — not in quarterly reviews

❌ The Bad: Paper Security That Fails Under Pressure

If this sounds like your setup, you’ve got a ticking time bomb:

• No security risk assessment before onboarding new SaaS vendors

• Admin privileges shared across teams “just in case”

• Incident response that skips the InfoSec team

• Change records with no security sign-off

• Audit findings repeated every year with no fix

• Security policies that aren’t mapped to services or actual controls

When a breach happens, the business asks, “Were we protected?”
The answer is, “Not operationally.”

🔐 Where ITIL Comes In: Making Security a Lived Practice

Information Security Management isn’t a standalone activity in ITIL. It threads through every other practice:

• Service Design: Define what security means per service — availability, integrity, confidentiality.

• Change Enablement: Ensure every change has a security impact check.

• Incident Management: Classify security-related incidents and escalate fast.

• Supplier Management: Require evidence of security controls and breach processes.

• Problem Management: Identify root causes linked to security hygiene.

The goal?
Security isn’t a box to tick. It’s a business protection function — owned by the CIO, embedded across practices, and measurable.

🔍 CIO WAR CHEST: Questions to Uncover the Security Gaps

It’s time to surface what’s really going on in your security model.

1. Which ITIL practices explicitly include security checkpoints or reviews?

   • Ask: Heads of Practice, Change Manager

   • Data: Process maps, recent CAB minutes

2. How are security requirements captured during service design?

   • Ask: Service Architects

   • Data: Service design packs, SLRs with security sections

3. What’s the incident response flow for suspected security breaches?

   • Ask: Head of InfoSec, Incident Manager

   • Data: IR flowcharts, actual timelines from last breach

4. How many privileged accounts are active — and how often are they reviewed?

   • Ask: IAM Lead, Infrastructure

   • Data: Access review logs, policy compliance reports

5. Which suppliers have access to sensitive data — and what controls are in place?

   • Ask: Supplier Manager, Security

   • Data: Contracts, DPA terms, SOC 2 or ISO artefacts

🧠 CIO Truths: Security Is a Business Trust Issue

• If your security policies aren’t mapped to real services, they’re decoration.

• If your service desk doesn’t know how to escalate a suspected breach, you’re exposed.

• If every breach feels like a first-time reaction, you don’t have operational security.

• If your change process doesn’t include security sign-off, you’re creating risk.

• If you’re not involved in security governance — someone else is writing your obituary.

🧩 The Security Integration CIOs Must Lead

Security leadership isn’t about being a CISO. It’s about ensuring your operating model protects your business.

That means:

• Building security into service design

• Auditing the operational behaviours, not just the policies

• Integrating InfoSec into command and control centres

• Aligning security with the change and incident ecosystem

• Ensuring that security is a verb, not a noun

🚨 Need Help Making InfoSec Operational, Not Just Compliant?

We help CIOs move security from documentation to integration:

• Real-world InfoSec embedding into ITIL practices

• Role-specific operational controls and responsibilities

• Supplier security assurance overlays

• Live dashboards for privilege management, breach alerts, and IR response

👉 Let’s get your security aligned to business protection, not just audit passing.

🔚 And That’s a Wrap (For Now)

That’s the final blog in the 8-week ITIL Leadership Playbook series.
But it’s not the end.

We’re now moving into Phase 3: Amplification & Deep Dives.

Watch out for:

• Blog retrospectives

• Live debates

• Practice deep dives

• Thought leadership packs

If you’ve found value in this series, let’s talk about how you apply it in your organisation.

👉 Contact us to turn these questions into transformation.