"technically speaking I'm at the top of the hierarchy": How System Administrators Think about Power

Weinberger L, Lämmle C, Hammer A, Eichenmüller C, Gassmann F, Benenson Z (2026)

Publication Type: Conference contribution

Publication year: 2026

Publisher: Association for Computing Machinery

Conference Proceedings Title: Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings

Event location: Barcelona ES

ISBN: 9798400722783

DOI: 10.1145/3772318.3791380

Abstract

System administrators (sysadmins) hold considerable organizational power by controlling access, enforcing or bypassing security, and mediating between users and systems. Previous research on sysadmins highlighted their technical practices, collaboration, update behavior, and misconfigurations, but rarely addressed questions of power, responsibility, and ethics within organizations. We surveyed 262 sysadmins from various countries and professional backgrounds on perceptions of power, morality, oversight, and insider threats. Sysadmins defined their power mainly through specific skills and their perceived irreplaceability, less in terms of destructive potential. Access rights played a role, but more important were how others - such as superiors - perceived them and their skills, as well as their actual decision-making authority. Demographic factors were largely irrelevant, though women were less confident than men when self-assessing their skills and power regarding their profession. Logging, dynamic privileges, and guidelines were not seen as restrictive. Sysadmins described facing ethical dilemmas and relying on their personal moral compass to work through them.

Authors with CRIS profile

Lydia Weinberger Lehrstuhl für Informatik 1 (IT-Sicherheitsinfrastrukturen) Andreas Hammer Lehrstuhl für Informatik 1 (IT-Sicherheitsinfrastrukturen) Christian Eichenmüller Lehrstuhl für Informatik 1 (IT-Sicherheitsinfrastrukturen) Zinaida Benenson Lehrstuhl für Informatik 1 (IT-Sicherheitsinfrastrukturen)

Involved external institutions

Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU) DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Weinberger, L., Lämmle, C., Hammer, A., Eichenmüller, C., Gassmann, F., & Benenson, Z. (2026). "technically speaking I'm at the top of the hierarchy": How System Administrators Think about Power. In Nuria Oliver, David A. Shamma, Heloisa Candello, Pablo Cesar, Pedro Lopes, Alessandro Bozzon, Thomas Kosch, Vera Liao, Xiaojuan Ma, Valentino Artizzu, Fiona Draxler, Gustavo Lopez, Anke V. Reinschluessel, Xin Tong, Phoebe O. Toups Dugas (Eds.), Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings. Barcelona, ES: Association for Computing Machinery.

MLA:

Weinberger, Lydia, et al. ""technically speaking I'm at the top of the hierarchy": How System Administrators Think about Power." Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2026, Barcelona Ed. Nuria Oliver, David A. Shamma, Heloisa Candello, Pablo Cesar, Pedro Lopes, Alessandro Bozzon, Thomas Kosch, Vera Liao, Xiaojuan Ma, Valentino Artizzu, Fiona Draxler, Gustavo Lopez, Anke V. Reinschluessel, Xin Tong, Phoebe O. Toups Dugas, Association for Computing Machinery, 2026.

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