Hi, folks!
We've decided to add Power BI dashboards in applicable products moving forward. The dashboards will hopefully be a reporting tool and a form of metrics for improving your information security program.
We don't often associate data analytics with information security, but data analytics can be a powerful skill set to have for your information security program.
First, visualization aids in increasing information security awareness. One of the biggest challenges when it comes to developing an information security program is to gain support and budget. The best way to do that is to socialize, socialize, and socialize - and also understand the business. In a sense, it is very important to make your team visible and share your team's accomplishments to other departments. It is important to make the rest of the enterprise aware of the role of the information security department and that such a department exists. Otherwise, information security would not be considered that much when it comes to project planning, assurance activities, change management, etc. How then do we effectively socialize? One way is through visualization. Plan your visualizations right, and ideas will stick to the heads of your audience. Heck, they may even ask for copies of your visualization.
Other than sharing results, visualization can help you keep track of your metrics. The point in having metrics is to know how to continuously improve the security program. Without any data, you wouldn't be sure if the program improvements you are trying to implement would have any significant impact. In any case, any major improvements would need a budget, and in order to secure that budget, you would need to present a business case. The data you will collect, and analysing that data to obtain meaningful information, should help you defend your business case before management.
We believe that any information security team should have a data analyst. They should help identify where data can be collected, how to consolidate it, and how to present it in a meaningful dashboard.
Hopefully in having these PowerBI dashboards, there is an added appreciation in the potential of combining data analytics and information security.
Have a great day!