Security First, Security by Design, or Security Pragmatism : Strategic Roles of It Security in Digitalization Projects

Title data

Guggenmos, Florian ; Häckel, Björn ; Ollig, Philipp ; Stahl, Bastian:
Security First, Security by Design, or Security Pragmatism : Strategic Roles of It Security in Digitalization Projects.
In: Computers & Security. Vol. 118 (2022) . - 102747.
ISSN 0167-4048
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cose.2022.102747

Project information

Abstract in another language

Digitalization determines the future viability of many companies and represents an elementary component of competitiveness in some industries. Along with digital transformation, however, IT security is gaining importance and managerial attention. Therefore, digital transformation must be not only aligned with business strategy but also with the corresponding IT security governance. Driven by internal and external factors, organizations follow different alignment paths to manage the strategic interplay of both domains. In this paper, we conduct a multiple case study to investigate these strategic alignment paths based on digitalization or IT security initiatives that organizations launched in the past. From our analysis, we conceptualize three strategic alignment paths: Security First, Security by Design, and Security Pragmatism. Thereby, we contribute to digital transformation and IT security governance literature and provide guidance in managing the interplay of these domains to practitioners.