Building Security into Your IT Change Management

Most security incidents don’t come from sophisticated attacks. They come from mistakes during changes.

Someone deploys a new server and forgets to configure the firewall. Someone enables a feature and accidentally makes data public. Someone updates permissions and grants too much access.

Change management is a security control, even though it doesn’t look like one.

Why Changes Create Risk

During changes:

  • Security controls may be temporarily disabled
  • New components may lack hardening
  • Configurations may not match security policies
  • Testing may be rushed or skipped

After changes:

  • Security implications may not be understood
  • Documentation may not be updated
  • Monitoring may not cover new components
  • Dependencies may create unexpected exposure

The pattern:

Change happens → Security gap introduced → Gap persists → Eventually exploited

Breaking this pattern requires building security into how changes happen.

What Needs Change Management

Infrastructure changes:

  • New servers and systems
  • Network configuration changes
  • Cloud resource provisioning
  • System migrations

Application changes:

  • New software deployment
  • Application updates
  • Configuration changes
  • Integration changes

Access changes:

  • New user provisioning
  • Permission modifications
  • Privileged access grants
  • Vendor/contractor access

Security changes:

  • Firewall rule modifications
  • Security tool configuration
  • Policy changes
  • Exception grants

All of these can introduce security issues if not handled properly.

The Basic Change Process

At minimum, changes should include:

1. Request and documentation

What’s being changed? Clear description of the change.

Why? Business justification.

What’s affected? Systems, users, data impacted.

2. Impact assessment

Security implications: What security considerations does this change create?

Dependencies: What else might be affected?

Rollback: How do we reverse this if something goes wrong?

3. Approval

Who needs to approve? Based on risk level and scope.

Are security concerns addressed? Evidence of security consideration.

4. Testing

Before production: Test in non-production environment where possible.

Verification: Confirm the change works as intended.

5. Implementation

Scheduled window: When changes happen (minimise business disruption).

Change execution: Follow documented procedure.

6. Post-implementation review

Verification: Did the change work?

Security check: Are security controls still in place?

Documentation update: Is documentation current?

Adding Security Checks

Embed security into each stage:

At request:

  • Standard questions about security implications
  • Flagging high-risk changes for additional review

At assessment:

  • Security team review for significant changes
  • Risk assessment for infrastructure changes
  • Threat modelling for major application changes

At approval:

  • Security sign-off for changes affecting security posture
  • Clear accountability for security decisions

At implementation:

  • Security configuration verified
  • Hardening applied to new systems
  • Access controls properly configured

At review:

  • Vulnerability scan of new systems
  • Security configuration audit
  • Monitoring verification

Risk-Based Approach

Not all changes need the same scrutiny.

Standard changes (pre-approved):

  • Low risk, well-understood
  • Examples: regular patches, standard user provisioning
  • Process: Follow documented procedure, minimal approval

Normal changes:

  • Moderate risk or complexity
  • Examples: New applications, permission changes, configuration updates
  • Process: Standard change process with appropriate approvals

Emergency changes:

  • Urgent, can’t wait for normal process
  • Examples: Critical security patches, incident response
  • Process: Expedited approval, retrospective review

Major changes:

  • High risk, significant impact
  • Examples: Infrastructure migration, major system implementations
  • Process: Full change process with additional security review

Classify changes by risk. Apply appropriate process.

Common Security Gaps in Changes

New systems without hardening:

Systems deployed with default configurations. No MFA. Unnecessary services running. Default passwords.

Fix: Hardening checklist for all new systems.

Firewall holes never closed:

Temporary firewall rules for implementation that become permanent.

Fix: Expiring rules. Review of temporary exceptions.

Excessive permissions:

Access granted for implementation that’s never reduced.

Fix: Time-limited access for changes. Review after completion.

Testing in production:

Security controls disabled for testing and not re-enabled.

Fix: Test in non-production. Verification checklist before go-live.

Incomplete documentation:

Changes made but architecture diagrams, inventories not updated.

Fix: Documentation update as part of change closure.

Change Management Tools

Enterprise options:

  • ServiceNow
  • BMC Helix
  • Ivanti

SMB-appropriate options:

  • Freshservice
  • Jira Service Management
  • Zendesk
  • Even a shared spreadsheet with proper controls

The tool matters less than the process. A disciplined spreadsheet beats a poorly-used enterprise tool.

Working with IT Providers

If you use managed services, change management spans organisations.

Questions to ask:

  • What’s your change management process?
  • How are we notified of changes?
  • How are security implications assessed?
  • Can we approve changes affecting our environment?

What good looks like:

  • Documented change process
  • Client visibility into planned changes
  • Security considerations addressed
  • Post-change reporting

Your provider’s changes can affect your security. Make sure there’s transparency.

Emergency Changes

Emergencies happen. Critical patches. Incident response. Urgent fixes.

Emergency process should include:

  • Quick approval path (not no approval)
  • Documentation during or immediately after
  • Retrospective review
  • Same security verification, just faster

Emergency changes shouldn’t bypass security. They should have a faster path that still includes essential checks.

Cloud-Specific Considerations

Cloud environments change constantly. Traditional change management needs adaptation.

Infrastructure as Code: Changes defined in code, version-controlled. Security review through code review.

Automated deployment: CI/CD pipelines deploy changes automatically. Security checks built into pipelines.

Immutable infrastructure: Systems replaced rather than modified. Security configuration baked into images.

Policy as Code: Security policies enforced automatically. Non-compliant changes blocked.

For cloud-native organisations, security becomes part of the development and deployment process rather than a separate review.

Getting Started

If you have no change management:

  1. Start with documentation: who changed what, when, why
  2. Add basic approval for significant changes
  3. Include security questions in change requests
  4. Require post-change verification

If you have basic change management:

  1. Add security assessment to the process
  2. Create security checklists for common change types
  3. Include security team review for high-risk changes
  4. Track security-related findings

If you have mature change management:

  1. Automate security checks where possible
  2. Integrate with security tools (vulnerability scanning, configuration management)
  3. Measure security outcomes of change process
  4. Continuous improvement based on incident analysis

Metrics to Track

Process metrics:

  • Percentage of changes following process
  • Emergency change rate (should be low)
  • Change backlog

Security metrics:

  • Security-related change failures
  • Vulnerabilities introduced by changes
  • Changes requiring emergency remediation
  • Audit findings related to change management

Track these to identify process gaps.

When Changes Go Wrong

When a change causes a security issue:

Immediate:

  • Assess impact
  • Implement containment if needed
  • Consider rollback

Investigation:

  • What went wrong?
  • Was the process followed?
  • What should have caught this?

Improvement:

  • Update process to prevent recurrence
  • Add checks that would have caught the issue
  • Train team on lessons learned

Incidents are learning opportunities. Use them.

Working with Specialists

For businesses wanting to improve change management, AI consultants Brisbane and similar firms can help:

  • Assess current change processes
  • Design appropriate procedures for your size
  • Implement tooling and automation
  • Establish security integration

The combination of process design and security expertise improves outcomes.

The Cultural Aspect

Change management only works if people follow it.

Building the culture:

  • Make the process proportionate (not bureaucratic for small changes)
  • Explain why controls matter
  • Make it easy to do the right thing
  • Learn from failures rather than punishing

If people see change management as an obstacle rather than a protection, they’ll work around it.

Final Thought

Security isn’t just about defensive technology. It’s about how you operate.

Change management controls how your environment evolves. Good change management prevents security gaps from being introduced. Bad change management (or none) creates constant exposure.

Build security into how changes happen. It’s one of the most practical improvements most SMBs can make.

Working with specialists like Team400 can help design processes that work for your size and context. But the fundamental principle applies to any organisation: control how changes happen, and you control significant security risk.