DEV Community: Alex

Business Intelligence Systems: An Overview of Top Solutions

Alex — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 10:00:16 +0000

It has become incredibly important for modern businesses to implement accurate and data-driven strategies to stay ahead of their competitors and retain clients. But how can one properly process massive volumes of data and derive needed insights from it? This is where business intelligence may come to the rescue.

Business intelligence is a great tool to ensure everyone in the company has access to high-quality data and makes the right business decisions. In this article, we'll cover the top benefits of Business Intelligence and its core features and an overview of the top BI solutions to choose from.

What is Business Intelligence?

Business intelligence (BI for short) is a set of processes for collecting, processing, analyzing, and transforming business data into meaningful insights that companies can use to make data-driven decisions. A business intelligence system consists of multiple technologies (Software-as-a-service BI, Mobile BI), processes (data mining, reporting), and tools (Sisense) that companies use to work with their data.

What are your competitors doing right now? How should we allocate the budget for the next month? What are the future trends in terms of user behavior or product demand? These and many other questions can be answered with a business intelligence system. Companies can use BI to make effective decisions, detect internal problems, identify market trends, or find new revenue opportunities.

The main benefits of BI for companies include:

Valuable business data: business intelligence eliminates guesswork from decision-making and uncovers many hidden insights;
Competitive analysis: companies can monitor their sales and marketing performance and compare them against the competition;
Improved operational efficiency: BI provides a holistic view of the company’s performance and helps identify development opportunities;
Increased revenue: business intelligence helps companies ask more accurate questions about why things are happening, make comparisons across various metrics, and identify weaknesses in sales.

Key features of Business Intelligence

In general, BI encompasses three core processes:

Data management: helps organize an unstructured set of data by processing it in a BI system;
Data discovery: the ability to explore and discover needed data and extract meaningful insights from it (data mining, OLAP);
Reporting: presents information in a user-friendly manner and effectively communicates the consequences of data analysis (visualizations, dashboards)
.
A BI tool includes a variety of complex processes that perform different functions - let’s focus on the key ones below:
Data mining: the process of discovering and collecting data;
Reporting: provides data analysis to stakeholders in the form of easy-to-understand reports;
Dashboards: dashboards center around KPIs (key performance indicators) that help decision-makers focus on critical metrics;
OLAP (Online Analytical Processing): supports complex data analysis and manages large datasets;
Data visualization: transforms data into clear and understandable charts, graphs, and bar graphs;
Predictive analytics: statistical, modeling, machine learning, and data mining tools allow companies to develop strategies for the future, assess unknown risks, and recognize opportunities;
Data processing: compiles multiple data sources, dimensions, and measurements, and prepares them for analysis.

Conclusion

A Business Intelligence system can greatly improve the performance of your company but only if you select a tool that aligns with your objectives and goals. When choosing a BI solution, consider different criteria such as access to different data sources, ease of reporting, collaboration options, and data management structure. A company can reap the full benefits of Business Intelligence by choosing the right vendor so we highly recommend investing a certain amount of time into researching available options.

Understanding CIS Security Controls: How to Implement Robust Cyber Defense

Alex — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 09:28:17 +0000

We’ve talked a lot about cyber security in our past articles - in particular, we discussed the biggest cybersecurity threats (and recommend best practices for preventing them), best practices for secure coding, and ISMS aka Information Security Management System. Now it’s time we talk about CIS controls and why they matter for any organization despite its size and domain.

The definition and the brief history behind CIS controls
The CIS controls were first developed by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) in response to a request from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). Several organizations contracted by DoD fell victims to significant data loss incidents so DoD asked for the core security controls that would help organizations protect themselves from cyber-attacks.

So in 2008, a consortium of government agencies, institutions, companies, and individuals came up with a list of basic security controls that became known as CIS security controls. Before being published, the list was shared with hundreds of IT organizations for verification and finalization. Since then, the ownership of controls was first transferred to the Council on Cyber Security (CCS) in 2013 and in 2015, to the Center for Internet Security (CIS).

According to the official definition, CIS controls are “a recommended set of actions for cyber defense that provide specific and actionable ways to thwart the most pervasive attacks”. To add to this, in 2016, Kamala D. Harris (then California Attorney General) said during her speech on the data breach that CIS controls are a minimum level of security that any organization that processes personal data should meet.

In simple words, CIS controls are a must-have for any organization that cares about the security of its data and these controls cover the most basic security needs.

Can CIS controls replace other standards like NIST or ISO?
No, they can’t - but CIS controls facilitate the implementation of other security standards and frameworks and are cross-compatible. That means an organization must implement CIS controls to ensure basic security as a starting point. And then you can proceed to implement NIST Cybersecurity Framework, ISO 27000 series, and similar standards as well as comply with regulations like HIPAA.

Categorization of CIS controls

The list of CIS controls is updated every year and in May 2021, the latest version aka CIS controls v8 was released. While version 7 contained 20 controls, version 8 now has 18 controls since some of them were merged into one and some were deprecated. According to experts, version 8 now reflects a more modern approach to cybersecurity and is more comprehensive.

Now, it is important to note the following. In version 7, all 20 controls fell under three categories:

Basic (1-16): key controls that every organization (despite its size and domain) should implement;
Foundational (7-16): security best practices that are highly recommended for implementation;
Organizational (17-20): these controls focus on people and processes involved in cybersecurity (i.e. incident management or penetration testing).
Since all organizations differ in size and resources, it’s clear that some will have more difficulties with implementing the needed controls than others. Thus, CIS defined three implementation groups that categorize organizations and help them understand what controls should be implemented and how. These groups are:
Implementation group 1: small and mid-sized businesses (family businesses, startups) that have limited resources and expertise in terms of cybersecurity.
Implementation group 2: mid-sized and big organizations with moderate resources and expertise in terms of cybersecurity. Includes organizations that are outside the IT sector and established businesses.
Implementation group 3: mature big companies with extensive resources and expertise in terms of cybersecurity.
Changes in the categorization of CIS controls v8
As you can see, CIS is very flexible when adapting its practices for the needs of every organization. For example, if we look at control 1 (Inventory and Control of Hardware Assets), it includes several recommended actions and all of them are divided by the corresponding implementation groups.

In version 8, however, controls are no longer categorized as basic, foundational, and organizational. Instead, they now fall under the IG1 (Implementation Group 1) and IG2 categories. IG1 contains almost all controls (except for 13, 16, and 18) and they are considered the basic cybersecurity hygiene controls for any organization.

The list of CIS controls in version 8
For you to clearly understand what areas CIS controls cover and what they focus on, we list down all controls of the latest version 8.

Inventory and Control of Enterprise Assets
Inventory and Control of Software Assets
Data protection
Secure Configuration of Enterprise Assets and Software
Account Management
Access Control Management
Continuous Vulnerability Management
Audit Log Management
Email and Web Browser Protections
Malware Defenses
Data recovery
Network Infrastructure Management
Network Monitoring and Defense
Security Awareness and Skills Training
Service Provider Management
Application Software Security
Incident Response Management
Penetration Testing

You might find this article interesting:
Vulnerability Assessment vs Penetration Testing

How to implement CIS controls

Even though the implementation of CIS security controls will be different for every organization, CIS defined several main steps that can help you get started and are applicable to any company. For more details, please see the official documentation by CIS on all controls and the best ways to implement them for each Implementation Group.

Know and understand your environment
The first two CIS controls are “Inventory and Control of Enterprise Assets” (1) and “Inventory and Control of Software Assets” (2). These controls perfectly reflect the “know your environment” concept.

As CIS put it, in order to set up efficient protection, you need to have a clear understanding of what exactly you are going to protect. Therefore, before implementing any security practices, you’ll have to do a bit of “inventory” aka:

Know what’s connected to your environment: identify and take an inventory of the data that your organization processes and stores.

Know which devices are connected to your network in order to validate them and ensure there are no possible weak areas. For device identification, you can use a network scanner and you can also use a device tracker to always keep an eye on the connected devices.
Know your software: you’ll need to assemble a full inventory of all apps that run on your system. You will also need to identify all external services that your employees might use.
Configure the levels of access and admin rights. As you can see, the first step towards better security is identifying and validating all used hardware and software. While it may sound mundane, it is an absolute must if you want to solidify your current state of cybersecurity.

Protect your assets
The next step is quite comprehensive and involves many steps, directed at protecting both your network and educating employees on cybersecurity. Almost all controls fall under this stage and all of them are aimed at helping you create a more secure environment.

Here are several recommended practices to follow:

Timely apply necessary configuration changes;
Always update your software and regularly implement security patches;
Enable multi-factor authentication and ensure all users use strong passwords;
Use encryption for both software and hardware;
Educate your employees on cybersecurity and ensure they understand it;
Limit user access and constantly control it. Of course, this is a rather general list of actions to take - if you check the list of CIS controls, you will get more specific guidelines on recommended actions.

Prepare your organization
Once you’ve set up a robust security foundation, you can come up with a list of actions to take in case an incident occurs. That means you need to think about a response and recovery strategy so you can get back on track as soon as possible.

The first thing to take into account is managing your backups. You need to make sure that the backups are completed and tested and that all critical files are backed up. It is recommended to perform weekly backups if possible. As well, try placing at least one backup destination outside of the network - in case of a ransomware attack, you will still maintain access to it since it won’t be accessible through the network.

Second, you need to have a detailed plan that will outline how to act in case an incident happens. This includes defining roles and responsibilities (i.e. who will serve as a lead and who should be contacted first), preparing a list of external contacts (i.e. insurance agents, legal counsels), and getting ready to contact an IT consultant in case your own knowledge and skills are not enough.

Summing up

The implementation of CIS controls will solely depend on your organization and available resources so you need to familiarize yourself with the list of controls and figure out the best ways to implement them. As you can see, all CIS controls cover the basic cybersecurity aspects and do not require excessive resources or expertise. But their implementation can significantly reduce the risk of attacks and establish the first level of defense that most organizations tend to overlook.

What Does An IT Consultant Do? The Role in Detail

Alex — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 09:21:02 +0000

To keep business operations running smoothly and efficiently, many companies rely on advanced technologies. But to reach this goal, business owners have to determine which technologies to invest in or how to optimize IT-related areas. In light of this, almost every company requires technical expertise. It is here that IT consulting has become a precious choice for businesses.

But what does an IT consultant do, and how does this role help organizations achieve tech-related and business goals? In this article, we will discuss the role of IT consultants, their responsibilities, required skills, and the pros and cons for a project.

What is an IT consultant?

In short, an information technology (IT) consultant advises companies on how to use technology to meet their business goals. In detail, an IT consultant is a technical specialist who identifies technology-related problems, develops strategies and selects and implements software and hardware solutions to optimize systems. Typically, they provide strategic guidance to organizations on what appropriate technology or software to invest in and how to resolve issues related to IT infrastructure effectively.

Overall, the role of an IT consultant is to improve organization's IT systems and business performance. IT consultants bridge the gap between technical teams and staff to understand their business goals and recommend hardware and software accordingly. Moreover, IT consultants can provide clients with updates about the latest technology as it becomes available. However, their responsibilities go beyond that.

What does an IT consultant do?

On a daily basis, IT consultants perform a variety of duties. They communicate with regular clients and implement technology solutions as needed. During a project development, the primary responsibilities of IT consultants can include:

Define objectives for a project;
Plan timescales, budget, and resources;
Gather a technical product requirement;
Choose the right tech stack;
Analyze a company's IT system and infrastructure;
Analyze IT system risks;
Design, test, and install new systems;
Work with the in-house technical team;
Train staff to use a new IT system;
Monitor performance of IT systems;
Produce detailed documentation and reports;
Identify potential clients and build relationships.

As you can see, IT consultants' responsibilities consist of many tasks and usually depend on a company's objective and project scope. Based on that, consultants may work on short-term, long-term, or multi-phase projects and carry out the above duties in general.

You might find these articles interesting:

Pros and Cons of Outstaffing
Software Development Team Structure: Things To Consider
The Difference Between Offshoring and Outsourcing: What’s Best for Your Business?

The types of IT consultants

Depending on the company and industry, the specific expectations of an IT consultant may differ and focus on various IT areas. Now let's dig deeper into some of the types of IT consultants.

An IT project management consultant
An IT project management consultant is a qualified specialist who helps organizations create, execute, and manage an IT project. To ensure that projects are completed on time and within budget, an IT project manager defines project scope, set goals, and establishes timelines. The role of IT consultants is to improve management processes and complete a project on time.

A maintenance and repair consultant
A repair and maintenance consultant maintains and repairs hardware, software, and networks. The purpose of their work is to assess a company's maintenance performance. They are responsible for:

Evaluating existing maintenance processes;
Providing maintenance and repair guidance;
Developing maintenance training programs for staff;
Establishing a maintenance and repair budget ;
Selecting the right equipment and tools.

With the assistance of this type of IT consultant, businesses can minimize maintenance costs, reduce downtime, and improve equipment performance.

An IT security consultant
The role of IT security consultants is to identify vulnerabilities in organizations' systems and networks, assess security risks, and develop robust security strategies to prevent cyberattacks. They also ensure that organizations comply with relevant regulations and standards, such as GDPR and HIPAA, and keep their security policies up to date. The duties of an IT security consultant vary based on the type, such as:

Cloud security consultants;
Network security consultants;
Cybersecurity consultants;
Information security consultants;
Compliance consultants, etc.

Your business may need one of these IT security consultants to adopt a robust cybersecurity strategy. They help companies protect their digital assets and avoid data breaches. So, if you understand "what is an IT consultant and what types there are?" let's turn your attention to the value an IT specialist brings to a project.

Pros and cons of working with IT consultants

Often, organizations consider hiring in-house IT staff instead of an IT consultant. It is because companies understand the role of a full-time employee better than an unclearly titled " IT consultant." Having a consultant on board can lead to accelerating a company's growth. But in what way?

The pros of hiring an IT consultant
Here are some of the key benefits of hiring an IT consultant:

Cost-efficient: IT consulting saves time and money as businesses do not need to hire a full-time employee, which often is impractical or expensive. So, clients pay only for consulting services;
Enhanced focus on business: organizations can hire IT consultants for technology management so business owners can focus on their core operations;
Improvement of core areas: IT consultants have experience in different technologies and environments, which allows them to identify "weaknesses" in operations efficiently;
In-depth expertise: as IT consultants have various and rich knowledge in any field, they can recommend and integrate relevant technologies into business operations;
Defining future risks: consultants can anticipate and predict potential problems before they occur.

No doubt that for effective IT operations management, businesses should have well-designed IT strategies that allow them to control a situation rather than react to it after it happens. Although IT consultants can provide valuable expertise and advice, businesses should carefully weigh the potential benefits and drawbacks before hiring one.

Cons of working with IT consultants
Business owners should consider the following potential cons of using IT consultants:

Need for newer technology: having IT consultants may lead organizations to invest in newer technology to match or expand on their existing technology;
Limited communication: as IT consultants work with third-parties so and companies may encounter a bit of downtime and misunderstanding during a project;
Difficulty integrating with existing systems: new systems or technologies may be difficult to integrate with existing IT infrastructure, resulting in additional costs and complexity.

In order to ensure that a consultant's efforts are aligned with the goals and needs of the business, it is critical to choose an IT consultant with the appropriate skills and experience.

Required skills for IT consultants

IT consultants should have a certain skill set to match company needs with technological solutions. Here are some of them:

Critical thinking
One of the primary responsibilities of IT consultants is to identify and fix hardware, software, and networking issues. Due to this, critical thinking skill is essential to analyze situations thoroughly associated with information technology and come up with an effective solution.

Customer support
The ability to provide excellent customer service is another essential skill for IT consultants to retain clients and establish long-term relationships. When IT specialists ask questions and listen carefully to customers, they can pinpoint and determine customer needs and provide better customer support.

Technical proficiency
In-depth technical knowledge of the IT field such as operating systems, databases, and programming languages (and other aspects) is necessary to evaluate and install software and hardware properly. Moreover, to keep up with industry standards, an IT consultant must stay up-to-date on the latest trends, take online courses and connect with other IT experts.

Interpersonal communication
The ability to collaborate effectively with‌ team members and clients is vital to ensure that a consultant understands clients' needs better and can implement a tailored solution. Honing this skill may help IT consultants gain customers' trust and improve their overall experience.

Time management
When it comes to meeting deadlines, keeping track of completed tasks, and keeping the team members up to date during a project, time management is an incredible skill for IT professionals. By using this skill, IT consultants help technical teams understand better what they are needed to do and accomplish tasks without interruptions. As a result, all team members will stay on track during the project.

Problem-solving
The primary responsibility of a consultant is to identify and solve any arising problems a client may have before or after a technology is implemented. Thus, IT consultants have to analyze data and draw conclusions from it to come up with a client with the best solution.

Needless to say, this is not the complete list of required skills since it can include many more, depending on the niche and the project requirements. However, these skills and others make sense for IT consultants to respond to clients' concerns, propose solutions, and implement them without disrupting business operations.

How to become an IT consultant

Typically, IT consultants begin their careers with a bachelor's degree in IT, software engineering, computer science, cybersecurity, or related fields - that is mandatory for many companies. However, there are many ways to succeed in this career path. Listed below are some ways to grow as an IT consultant.

Earn a bachelor's degree
As stated above, earning a degree in IT is a strong starting point for becoming an IT consultant. Even though a bachelor's degree is not always needed, employers prefer IT consultants with a degree from a university. A bachelor's degree can also help IT candidates demonstrate specific skills and knowledge that employers may be looking for - and put them ahead of competitors.

Some professionals take it a step further and receive an MBA (master's degree) too. Additionally, IT consultants often specialize in particular industries to become familiar with a specific market. For example, IT consultants may create software for healthcare facilities or offer services to non-profit organizations.

Training and certifications
Many IT professionals follow other paths to become IT consultants and prefer online resources, courses, training, and certifications. Certification and training prove to employers that IT consultants have a high level of knowledge, expertise, and experience. Having a certification demonstrates to employers that a consultant is committed to their profession and gives them an edge over other candidates.

Among the certifications IT consultants should be aware of are:

Certified Technology Consultant (CTC)
Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP)
Project Management Professional (PMP)
Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE)
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)

Gain experience
Often, employers look for IT candidates with previous work experience. Therefore, it is a good idea for newcomers to start with entry-level positions as interns to gain experience before they begin providing support and consulting services. IT experience shows clients that an IT consultant is capable of solving the real problems they are likely to face.

Build networks
The network of professional contacts or lists (from a previous job) can be helpful for IT consultants who may use it as references. IT consultants can establish an excellent reputation and earn the trust and respect of employers if they have gained good references early.

Another way to build a career through networks is by connecting with potential employers on social media platforms like LinkedIn. Aside from that, placing a CV with details about skills, experience, and work samples will help experts find new career opportunities rapidly.

Final thoughts

Now that we are clear on the question “What does an IT consultant do?”, it is time to put it all together. IT specialists help small and medium-sized businesses develop strategies, select and implement software and hardware solutions, and optimize existing IT systems.

However, when it comes to hiring an IT consultant, businesses need to keep several factors in mind. First and foremost, IT consultants need in-depth technical skills and a solid understanding of all aspects of the different IT fields. They also need well-developed soft skills to deal with clients and develop practical solutions. Over time, having a blend of education, work experience, specialized skills, and connections leads to a highly skilled IT consultant.

The Basics of Building an Efficient and Secure Intranet Portal

Alex — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 10:43:40 +0000

The Basics of Building an Efficient and Secure Intranet Portal
Most businesses view in an Intranet portal as a solution that is able to meet the needs of both employees and enterprises. Indeed, a well-developed Intranet portal enables better employee interaction, improves teamwork, and fosters company culture. But without a clear understanding of what the intranet should include, a company takes the risk of designing a product that does not match its purpose. But how does one approach intranet development and what pitfalls should a company avoid? Let's move to the answers.

What is an Intranet?

An Intranet is a private communications network used by employees to access enterprise resources. Authorized employees can access company news, policies, records, databases, and announcements whenever they need to. It helps companies to improve communication and collaboration among employees and to make corporate information easier to use and share.

The main goals of the intranet are:

Improved internal communication;
Efficient management of organizational knowledge;
Employee engagement; Thus, an organization's system can help maintain corporate culture and serves as a single point of truth. Note though, that each organization designs its internal system differently based on its needs. So before discussing the process of website development, let’s first look at the different types of intranets. This can help you figure out which one is the most appropriate to your needs.

What are the different types of an Intranet?

Perhaps you’ve heard other intranet names, which may confuse you and make you think that all of them are the same thing. But that's not true. To gather a full of understanding of different types of internal networks, let’s walk through the differences between them:

Intranet: a private internal network used by authorized employees that helps manage content, communicate, collaborate, and maintain the company culture;
Extranet: a network that is used by both employees and external parties (vendors, clients, and suppliers) to communicate or share data within an organization. Examples are universities, colleges, or franchise operations;
Portal: a digital platform that integrates with the company’s CRM, provides communication with internal employees and stakeholders, and provides access to corporate resources. Now that you understand what an intranet is and what its main types are, let's turn our attention to its benefits.

The answer is below:

Benefits of having an Intranet

We’ve briefly outlined the main benefits of having an intranet - now let’s look at them in more detail below:

Improved communication: helps HR and communications specialists to keep employees engaged and informed and prevent staff separation;
Improved productivity of employees: makes it easier to store, retrieve, and access information at any time and from any device, which boosts productivity since employees spend less time looking for the needed information;
Improved knowledge sharing: it is an up-to-date knowledge place that can help build a strong knowledge-sharing culture where employees can share and manage essential data;
Eliminated silos: it comes equipped with built-in chat apps or can be integrated with necessary third-party apps that, in turn, leads to strong collaboration across departments and helps eliminate data silos;
Improved engagement: it allows employees to efficiently interact with their company and hence increase loyalty and engagement. While internal system capabilities are growing over time, one thing stays the same - a company's portal must always address the needs of employees. Hence, let’s discuss the essential features of intranet portals.

Main features to include in an Intranet portal

Before getting down to the intranet creation, remember that it will be unique for every company due to different needs based on how the company is structured and its business goals. However, there is a set of main features that every internal website should have in order to help companies build strong employees relationships and meet their goals.

Integrations
A high-performing intranet should integrate with the work-critical apps and programs that coworkers use day by day. Thus, consider those intranet portals that provide built-in integrations with tools like Google Workspace or Slack. A full integration with your business suites will make access easier for employees and will help create a unified work environment.

Communication and collaboration
An intranet is a great place for business communication and for building a strong company culture. Most modern internal websites contain features that allow co-workers to chat in real-time or exchange files of different formats. The main idea here is that an portal provides a space for employees to share ideas, build networks, collaboration, and create strong brand advocates.

Responsive design
With the diversity of devices that we use these days, it’s crucial that a portal should be accessed from various ones. Employees should be able to connect from their mobile devices, communicate and network with a team no matter where they are. Hence, a responsive design is a must.

CMS
A functional portal should have an integrated CMS to make digital content management easier. A content management system is the best platform for improving the productivity of employees and information management. So the right CMS platform for your portal should be easy to manage, have an advanced functionality, and offer customization options.

Analytics
Another highly valued feature of an intranet is analytics. You should be able to track employee engagement and analyze the results to understand what works the best (and what doesn’t work at all). You can analyze the following metrics:

The number of users and sessions;
Number of page visits;
Devices and browsers used;
Most visited pages;
Bounce rate. These metrics allow an organization to identify patterns of the intranet portal usage and create and share relevant content with your staff. Hence, analytics identify areas that need improvement to improve a communication strategy over time.

How to create an Intranet

By now, you may be thinking: an intranet sounds great, but how exactly do you develop one? Good question! Below, we list the basic steps of portal development.

Determine your goals
When building an internal portal, it can be difficult to know where to start. So, the first step is to define the business goals that reflect your company's needs and to understand how the portal can help achieve those goals. The most common needs of a company include:

Establish proper document and knowledge management;
Smooth running of business operations;
Manage and support teamwork;
Enhance HR management;
Ensure easy access to information and resources;
Manage calendars, events, meetings, and important dates. User-friendly and brand-focused design The name and design of a company's portal are all about its brand. Employees should relate to it and refer to it frequently. So when it comes to design, the simpler means the better. The design should be modern and eye-catching but also reflect the company's style. Otherwise, a company takes the risk of having a website which is overloaded with unnecessary visual elements. Here are some tips on creating a user-friendly design:

Choose a simple, intuitive user interface (UI);
Test how your Intranet looks on both desktop and mobile apps;
Choose layouts, colors, and graphics that reflect your brand;
Incorporate visually dynamic content (videos, images);
Put extra thought into navigation;
Use consistent and readable fonts. Stay focused on:

Scalability
Any organization needs to build a digital portal that continues to function well as the business grows. An increase in the number of users, the volume of content, or high simultaneous workloads can affect the performance of your portal. Therefore, it should have high scalability in order to withstand high loads and possible functionality expansion. If the portal cannot handle the volume of users and provide the performance that they expect, it will fail quickly.

Assemble a team
The development of the intranet portal requires cross-functional coordination and agreement between stakeholders. Therefore, the company needs to define responsibilities of each user. Some of the most common team roles for building digital portal are:

Sponsor/owner: ensures the association between the portal and the organization’s objectives, deals with both resource and financial requirements;
Business analyst: ensures the work of the organization on internal and external issues, identifies trends (communication with customers, analysis of business case, etc.);
Manager: manages and notifies changes that affect internal operations;
Architect: sets standards for how information is organized and navigated within a portal system;
Content manager: monitors and validates updated information about business news or departments events. Establishing clear roles for your team makes it easier for any company to manage all the elements required to build an internal portal.

Create content
As mentioned above, the purpose of a portal is to facilitate your workflows. But it is pointless to have an шntranet portal if your employees don't use it because it lacks relevant information. Having good quality content increases both proposed value and employee trust. Examples of content that you might want to include are:

Official policies, documentation;
Onboarding support;
Team-specific content;
Access to external content;
Other corporate material. The best solution to avoid overload is to create a map of the sequence of pages of the portal and a site menu. As well, make sure that you update the content regularly.

Establish security
Cyber threats keep on being a significant problem. Therefore, a company should develop expertise in firewalls, encryption technology, and virus protection to ensure employees' knowledge is secured. An portal must be reliable and provide trustworthy information to the employees.

Test your Intranet
When you are ready to launch the portal, it’s wise to test it for functionality and user-friendliness. Any intranet provider should be able to give you a demo or a free trial to assess the suitability of the software. Afterward, you can tweak the design and content as needed before it is made available to frontline workers.

Let's investigate:

Pitfalls to avoid when building an Intranet
When designing an intranet portal, consider possible issues that may negatively impact the usability and value of your portal. Let's break them down so you are aware of these pitfalls in advance.

Missed user requirements
The most common pitfall is lack of understanding of user requirements. The success of an intranet portal depends on users' acceptance of the system. So, if employees do not see the value in using a company portal, it will be a forgotten tool that nobody uses. Hence, it’s easier to listen to user requirements at the beginning of the development than to update the portal over time.

Insufficient management
The idea that a portal will always be successful is a huge mistake. A company needs to consider change management from the beginning of the development process. The corporate system must be constantly updated and properly managed to provide employees with relevant and up-to-date information.

Poor navigation
Another pitfall a company may face is the lack of smooth navigation. If a site isn’t user-friendly and convenient, it’s difficult to find the necessary information. So employees will rarely use the intranet portal (or never). It's important to incorporate features (i.e. search bars, drop-down menu) into your internal portal if you want employees to find what they're looking for.

Irrelevant content
One more reason why company websites fail is useless content. Employees typically expect шntranet data to help them get work done and find it quickly when needed. However, if the information is ineffective and doesn’t produce results of the search, the risk of employees may not come back to the Intranet portal increase. It is important to have content editors and meetings to keep information fresh.

Final thoughts

A successful Intranet portal can transform how your business connects, communicates, collaborates, and tracks progress. A user-centric approach allows the organization to keep up with modern employee requests. It is not necessary for businesses to stick to certain intranet portal development strategies and templates. Make your internal platform stand out and give it a shot.

Penetration Testing vs Vulnerability Scanning: Everything You Need to Know

Alex — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 10:28:26 +0000

It’s not enough to establish a robust security environment — it’s also important to regularly check it for potential vulnerabilities. To learn how susceptible a system is to various vulnerabilities and threats, organizations typically use penetration (pen) testing and/or vulnerability assessment. And while it’s easy to confuse the terms, every organization needs to clearly differentiate between the two.

In this article, we compare penetration test vs vulnerability scan, list the core differences between them, and explain why they are critical for your cybersecurity. If you have not yet planned your next cybersecurity assessment, now might be a good time to plan one!

What is pen testing?

Penetration testing is a set of ethical hacking methods aimed at evaluating the security of a system. In other words, this process implies the use of hacking techniques in order to «crack» the system, assess what vulnerabilities are present, and how critical they are.

Note that the main difference between hacking and ethical hacking is that the latter is not performed with the aim to steal sensitive data or get access to it. Its main goal is to test the system and all involved parties are aware of the process and of the deployed methods.

Since penetration testing is pre-approved, it’s logical to assume that there are certain frameworks and guidelines to follow when planning a pen test. The most well-known are:

OWASP penetration testing guidelines;
Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual (OSSTMM for short);
Cybersecurity framework by The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST);
Penetration Testing Execution Standard known as PTE S. If we take OWASP guidelines, for example, the documents provide a detailed explanation of pen test requirements, reporting, and all involved aspects. By following such standards, organizations can make sure that pen testing will be secure and will not harm it in any way.

Penetration testing types

Before moving on further, it is important to differentiate between different pen testing types.
You can categorize the test types depending on your goal:

External tests: the attack is aimed at assets that are visible to people outside the organization (i.e. websites, apps). In this way, you can test the efficiency of possible external attacks.
Internal tests: are performed in a scenario when an attacker has access to internal assets and resources.
Blind tests: in this case, the attacker can obtain publicly available information but has no knowledge of internal assets. Now let’s move on to the seven stages of a penetration test and to the processes that each stage contains.

The main steps of pen testing

Though every penetration test will be different for every organization, there are certain guidelines to follow and certain steps to take. Below, we list the core stages of pen testing that can serve as a base to plan your strategy. Note that we used the OWASP recommendations as a base though some sources list six steps only.

Pre-engagement interactions: preparation for the upcoming pen testing and set up of all needed processes.
Intelligence gathering: in other words, collection of relevant information (i.e. about the system), as well as secure approval from the organization’s management.
Threat modeling: the process of modeling future threats and the ways they will be used on a target.
Vulnerability analysis: involves vulnerability assessment (more on it below) and the main aim is to understand whether the target is susceptible to known or expected threats.
Exploitation: the process of performing an attack on a system.
Post exploitation: involves all processes related to system recovery.
Reporting: a very important step since every pen testing requires detailed reporting once it’s finished. You can find more information on reporting in the OWASP documentation. Now we can move on to vulnerability assessment. Is it part of pen testing or is it an independent process? Are these two processes the same? Let’s make the penetration test vs vulnerability scan clear.

What is a vulnerability assessment?

While pen testing is used to test the system’s endurance against attacks, vulnerability assessment is more of a scanning procedure. VA is used to check the system against the database of known vulnerabilities and see whether they are present in the system. As well, VA is used to categorize the vulnerabilities and mark them as critical or not.

The main goal of vulnerability assessment is to identify existing vulnerabilities and analyze how to deal with them in the most effective manner. In this way, the VA process helps companies strengthen their cybersecurity by understanding its current state and knowing what needs to be improved.

Vulnerability assessment is typically performed with the help of automated scanning tools — more on them below. As for now, let’s look at the two main types of VA:

As part of the pen testing: in this case, vulnerability assessment is included in step 4 of penetration testing and helps identify present vulnerabilities before executing the attack.
As an independent process: in this case, VA serves as a regular security check and keeps organizations updated on their security status.
Depending on the tested target, there is another categorization of vulnerability assessment:
Network-based: VA tests the organization’s network and analyzes its security;
Host-based: analyzes workstations, servers, or other hosts;
Wireless network scanning: analyzes the organization’s Wi-Fi network;
Applications: scans web or network applications;
Database: checks databases for weak areas.

Vulnerability assessment scanning tools

As mentioned above, vulnerability assessment is usually performed by using automated scanning tools. Luckily, there is a variety of them in the market. But as with any other tool related to cybersecurity, you need to be extra cautious in order to choose a reliable one. And once again, you can rely on OWASP since there is a list of OWASP-recommended vulnerability scan tools.

You can find the full list here and meanwhile, let’s briefly overview it. The list contains tools from A to Z and includes both free and commercial solutions. As well, it states the platforms on which each tool runs (Windows, macOS, Linux, SaaS) so you can find the one for your exact platform.

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Difference between a penetration test and vulnerability assessment

When talking about penetration test vs vulnerability scan, these two terms are often used in conjunction. However, they can be used separately as well — everything will depend on your business goal.

In the table below, we will look at the main features of each security testing type and at the differences between them. By knowing these peculiarities, it will be easier for you to adjust your testing strategy correspondingly.

In this table, we’ve summarized the core features to compare. However, we can also look at penetration testing vs vulnerability scanning in more detail.

Speed

In terms of execution speed, vulnerability assessment is much faster and may take a few minutes only (or a few hours at most). Pen testing, on the contrary, is a much more complex process that involves several stages. Thus, it may take a few weeks to fully complete penetration testing and assemble a detailed report.

Depth of analysis and performance

We’ve already mentioned it in the table but let’s repeat once again. Vulnerability assessment has certain limitations and may not detect certain issues, such as business logic errors. As well, the VA process is not as deep as penetration testing and may leave tiny security flaws unnoticed.

Penetration testing, on the other hand, provides a holistic view of the state of the system and offers deep insights into existing flaws and their severity. And since it implies manual testing, pen testing becomes highly efficient against difficult vulnerabilities.

Risk analysis

As you can guess from the name, risk analysis is the process of identifying and assessing risks. By risks we mean the factors that may harm the organization and negatively impact its security. And while both vulnerability assessment and penetration testing are effective in analyzing risks, their scope of work slightly differs.

Vulnerability assessment provides you with CVSS scores for each vulnerability. CVSS stands for the Common Vulnerability Scoring System and is used to measure the severity of each detected vulnerability. In this way, VA kind of tags vulnerabilities but that’s all the information it provides in regards to risk assessment.

With penetration testing, things are much more interesting. In addition to detecting vulnerabilities, pen testing also provides you with information on how much access one can get via certain vulnerabilities, how quickly and how far threat actors can escalate the privileges, and how much of a loss the exploitation of a certain vulnerability can bring. In simple words, pen testing not only tells you what’s there in terms of vulnerabilities but also how bad it is.

So, which security testing method do you really need?

In a perfect world, we’d highly recommend you perform both regular VA checks as well as annual penetration testing. However, we also understand that there are many factors impacting one’s cybersecurity strategy, such as time or availability of resources.

So how do you know which testing method you need right now (if you need any at all)? While it’s preferable to consult a knowledgeable cybersecurity expert, we’ve also assembled a small list of questions that might help you:

Does your organization process sensitive data on a regular basis, and how much sensitive data does your organization process?
How critical will it be for you and your clients if your system is under a cyber attack?
Do you have all the needed resources to perform proper security checks in accordance with approved guidelines?
Will you be able to invest a certain amount of time into educating your employees on cyber security? The thing is, the more sensitive data your organization processes and stores, the more important it is to regularly perform security checks, including in-depth ones. In general, it is recommended that organizations of any size and within any domain implement certain security procedures — see our article on CIS controls, for example. But for certain organizations, the cost of a small mistake is much higher than for others and you need to determine in what category your company falls. After that, you will be able to make the right choice between penetration test vs vulnerability scan.

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