Slide Show: 8 Effective Data Visualization Methods For Security Teams

As cool as complex visualization techniques may be, don't discount the impact of standard charting. Simple methods like bar charts, box plots, and color-coded risk ranking can still play an important role in communicating data.

"Much of the work that gets a lot of attention is complex, interactive infographics or heatmaps or multiconnection, 20-variable graphs. I contend that simplicity is best," says Michael Roytman, data scientist for Risk IO. "Our most effective dashboarding techniques are as simple as they come -- bar charts and histograms, benchmarking line plots, and simple numerical scores for comparison."

Shown here is a vulnerability scoring system done by his firm.

Image Source: Risk IO