Security visualisation

This article is about Sophisticated visualisations for identifying computer network security threats in Big Data. For other uses, see Security visualisation (disambiguation).

Random Force Directed graph visualisation showing popular websites as nodes

Security Visualisation is a subject that broadly covers the aspect of Big Data, Visualisation, human perception and Security. Each day, we are collecting more and more data in the form log files and it is often meaningless if the data is not analyzed thoroughly. Big Data mining techniques like Map Reduce help narrow down the search for meaning in vast data. Data visualisation is a data analytics technique, which is used to engage the human brain into finding patterns in data.

Recognition and cognition of patterns will lead to the recognition and cognition of anomalous patterns as well. Security Visualisation helps a security analyst identify imminent vulnerability and attacks in a network. Simple visualisations like bar charts and pie charts are naïve and unintuitive when it comes to Big Data. Special, customized visual techniques like Choropleth map and Hive Plot are often desired for effective communication of Big Data. The book "Applied Security Visualisation" is an in-depth study of the correlation between Security and Data Visualisation.

Sophisticated Visualisations

Choropleth

Choropleth is a Visualization that depicts the intensity of a quantity through color shading. It can be useful in finding areas of interest through the variations in color and therefore a human readers attention will be drawn to the area that requires security attention. A Choropleth map is a geographical map in which the states or counties are shaded to depict region of interest.

Choropleth Map Visualisation on a SVG map of the United States