GAVS enGAge April 23

Napoleon Bonaparte

April

2023

“The truest wisdom is a resolute determination.”

Problems are only opportunities in work clothes.

Henry J. Kaiser

Microsoft Azure and Power BI – The Game changers

Prafulla Upase throws light the various applications of Microsoft Azure and Power BI and the powerhouse that they are when paired together. – “One of the biggest reasons for widespread adoption of Power BI with Azure is the freedom to connect the services without any code.”

Elevated Perspectives on Recent Restructurings

Sundaramoorthy S shares insights on how the strategic restructuring of some of the biggest organizations can be leveraged by others in the industry. – “The current macro-economic reality was a surprise to many and hence led to such restructuring.”

A Primer for System Design

Arunkumar Soundararajan has written a concise primer for system design. – “The whole process of system design is an extensive topic, that requires experience, expertise, knowledge of software, languages, technology trends and various other factors to build a large enterprise system.”

Rise in Automotive Hacking

Lakshana D writes about how cars are becoming more susceptible to hacking assaults as they get more connected. – “There are numerous wireless and other cyber vulnerabilities in automobiles. In the automobile sector, having the correct kind of cyber security is crucial.”

17 Understanding Zero Trust Network Access

Ayyanar Govindaraj has written on how Zero Trust Network Access is the way to go to ensure security in an increasingly complex digital landscape. – “The user is first authenticated and authorized, and then their request is verified based on several factors, including their device health, location, and behaviour patterns.”

21

Striking a Balance

Akshayaa S writes on how changes over the past two generations have greatly impact our lifestyle and our health. – “People had to cope with so many changes and figure out how they can fit into it, giving rise to a lot of confusion and competition. This, in turn, started impacting our health greatly leading to an increase in stress, depression and other mental health issues.”

At a recent hearing on Advances in AI, a leading expert on explainability and AI said that the world is at an inflection point in terms of what future AI will bring. He emphasized on how important it is for us to discuss the role of AI, what exactly we want it to do for us, and how to ensure it benefits us all. The recent leaps and bounds of various AI-led applications have quickly become a cause of both excitement and concern. While we have just scratched the surface of the endless possibilities of AI, experts are of the opinion that hard questions about how we let AI impact our lives, be asked now.

Businesses have been quick to adopt AI for various internal processes, however the lack of transparency is troubling. AI algorithms are known to replicate human biases which will end up hindering progress in our society. For instance, using AI to hire candidates or to decide if a rental application is accepted, directly affects people’s lives.

Businesses are also building on top of a few AI systems available in the market, which further complicates the situation. Not much attention has been paid to problems that will result from the nature of the AI “supply chain”. The entire system of AI is subject to whatever vulnerabilities or biases are in the large system at its base. It is also important to understand how the interactions of the AI systems work to know who should be held liable and who should address the concern.

Sections of the society are urging lawmakers to ask rigorous questions about how AI tools are being used by businesses that end up impact lives. We are also witnessing increasing regulations around AI. The EU has the AI Act - the first ever law on AI by a major regulator. It assigns applications of AI to one of three risk categories (unacceptable, high, and low risk), and regulates them accordingly. The US Copyright Office also launched a new initiative to deal with the difficult policy questions around AI, attribution, and intellectual property. While we do believe that AI brings in enormous benefits, we must take steps to navigate around its risks.

We have some insightful articles in this edition.

Prafulla Upase has written, Microsoft Azure and Power BI – The Game changers

Sundaramoorthy S has written, Elevated Perspectives on Recent Restructurings

Arunkumar Soundarajan has written, A Primer for System Design.

Lakshana D has written, Rise in Automotive Hacking

Ayyanar Govindaraj has written, Understanding Zero Trust Network Access.

Akshayaa S has written, Striking a Balance

Happy Reading!

What’s New In Tech

Mind-control robots demonstrated

Researchers from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) have developed biosensor technology that allows operating devices, such as robots and machines, solely through thought control. It has immense potential in healthcare - allowing people with a disability to control a wheelchair or operate prosthetics.

3D-printing revolving devices with sensors

Researchers at MIT have created a system that enables makers to incorporate sensors directly into rotational mechanisms with only one pass in a 3D printer. This gives rotational mechanisms like gearboxes the ability to sense their angular position, rotation speed, and direction of rotation.

New approach to locomotion for soft robotics

North Carolina State University Researchers have demonstrated a caterpillar-like soft robot that is driven by a novel pattern of silver nanowires using heat to control the way it bends. It can move forward, backward and dip under narrow spaces.

New repair techniques make micro-robots resilient

Researchers have developed resilient artificial muscles that can enable insect-scale aerial robots to effectively recover flight performance after suffering severe damage. In addition, they demonstrated a novel laser repair method that can help the robot recover from severe damage, such as a fire that scorches the device.

As a trusted partner to 40+ healthcare organizations for more than a decade, GS Lab | GAVS’ technology expertise and healthcare domain knowledge empowers healthcare organizations with competitive edge pursuing their digital transformation journeys. Our innovative healthcare solutions enable healthcare organizations to achieve secured & efficient operations, enhanced care experiences, insights driven care and cost efficiencies. We showcased our capabilities around AI Driven Hospital Acquired Infection Risk Score, AI Driven IT Management – ZIF, Physician Credentialing, Patient Journey Mapping, and Patient Consent Management , at the recently held ViVE event in Nashville.

GS Lab | GAVS at HIMSS 2023

Join us at the world’s premier healthcare event, HIMSS, April 17-21, at McCormick Place Convention Center, Chicago, to discover how we accelerate Healthcare transformations. We are at Booth # 3449

Lightning Sessions

Join our experts as they share valuable insights and fresh perspectives on key trending healthcare technologies with our 20-minute sessions at our Booth. Happening twice a day, at 11:00 a.m. & 3:00 p.m.

• Monday, Apr 17 –– Assessing cybersecurity posture for healthcare organizations

• Tuesday, Apr 18 –– Becoming a cloud-smart healthcare organization

• Wednesday, Apr 19 –– Importance of data management in value-based care

• Thursday, Apr 20 –– Insights driven healthcare – The New Frontier

Microsoft Azure and Power BI – The Game changers

Microsoft Azure is a powerful cloud platform offering hundreds of products and services ranging across computing, analytics, storage, and networking. It provides frameworks and tools to build and run applications across on-premise, multiple clouds, and at the edge.

Power BI from Microsoft is a collection of software services, apps, and connectors that helps users make sense of data collected from various sources by converting them into meaningful, interactive insights. Power BI has three critical components — the desktop application called Power BI Desktop, the online SaaS Power BI service, and the Power BI mobile app. Data stored in spreadsheets, on the cloud or onpremise data warehouses can be easily connected using Power BI to visualize, understand, and share effortlessly.

One of the biggest reasons for wide-spread adoption of Power BI with Azure is the freedom to connect the services without any code. These two powerful tools can be used by a range of users including IT professionals, data scientists, and business analysts. Newer Azure and Power BI updates leverage Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Big Data Analytics, and other emerging technologies to present a single source of truth and to get a deeper understanding of large-scale data through actionable insights. Organizations can now create new avenues of data analytics with these tools to break free from data siloes. An organization investing in these data analytics tools must also focus on creating a comprehensive data governance solution. As the sources, types, and volume of data increases exponentially, experts recommend having the right governance tools and plan in place to reap the benefits of these powerful data visualization tools.

Getting Started with Power BI

Using Power BI depends on the role of the user in

the project. While some users focus on creating reports, others can use it to track the progress of specific business functions. As Power BI allows customization, a developer can use Power BI APIs to embed reports into custom applications. To get started with the Power BI service, the user must have Power BI Pro or Premium Per User license. However, there is also a 60-day trial option to test the waters.

Since Power BI is a data visualization tool, starting with Power BI Desktop is recommended to create reports. The desktop application can begin creating reports once data is imported into the application. Once data is added, the user can create a report customized using filters and visualization options available in the application.

How Power BI and Azure Work Together

Azure Analytics and Power BI can be integrated to create useful insights from large-scale data. There is no code required to connect Power BI to Azure services. Bringing Azure and Power BI together reduces the burden of data complexity and allows users to get real-time insights through reports presented in the form of graphs and other data visualization tools. By embedding Power BI in Azure, users can create interactive reports and dashboards that can be used to handle large volumes of data. By storing data in Azure, Power BI users can significantly minimize the data processing efforts for large data volumes.

Connecting Azure to Power BI

Power BI connects with various Azure applications, including Azure SQL Data Warehouse, Azure SQL Database, Azure Analytics Service Database, and Azure HDInsight.

To connect Azure with the Power BI Desktop app, go to Get Data and click on Azure > Azure Analysis Services database. There are two boxes to fill — server and database. In the server, include the full URL to connect. If the database name is unknown, it can be blank. Azure supports both Connect live and Import options. Select the preferred option and then Connect. Once this process is complete, enter Microsoft account credentials to sign in. Once inside the account, move to navigator to select the model to connect to.

To connect Azure to the Power BI service, the user must have a Power BI Desktop file that has a live connection to the model in the server. Once that is available, go to Power BI and select Get Data > Files to locate and select the .pbix file.

Transform, Shape, and Merge Cloud Data

By combining the powers of Power BI Desktop and Azure services, users can reduce the time taken to simplify complex data. As a powerful visualization tool, Power BI can be used to create interactive reports and dashboards that help users present their business data depending on the audiences’ context. Whether the business has one central location with all the data or information is spread across various systems, Power BI and Azure have built-in integration and connectivity capabilities that can be used for data processing from cloud-based and on-premises systems. Power BI can be connected to various cloudbased systems including Azure Blob Storage, Azure SQL Database, and Azure HDInsight data sources using the same Query. The Power Query Editor can be used to connect to one or many data sources, shape and transform the data to meet specific needs before being loaded into Power BI for visualization.

Analytics and Reporting using Power BI

Data analytics is an inherent function of Power BI. The tool can be used to create quick, meaningful insights that can be shared with others in the form of reports and dashboards across the organization. Using advanced analytics, users can identify trends and understand patterns to take better business decisions and create plans and forecasts. Power BI is known for its no-code experience, integrated governance, ease of use, and in-built semantic modeming technology.

Embedding Power BI in Applications

Data can be fully utilized only when departments are not confined by siloes. The self-service analytics solution helps visualize data and embed them into the application or website, thus creating a data-driven enterprise. Power BI is easily compatible with Azure Cosmos DB and Azure Data Lake Storage which helps create interactive reports to bring data to life.

Future of Data – Azure and Power BI

Microsoft was part of the leaders’ quadrant in the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Analytics and BI Platforms. Interestingly, there is an increasing shift towards creating audience-specific reports. As businesses continue to produce large volumes of data, investing in a good data visualization tool has become imminent. Power BI, combined with Microsoft Azure, offers unparalleled advantages to businesses as they simplify report creation and collaboration. However, to sustain and grow the usability of these ML-based tools, businesses must also focus on investing in people who have the right skill sets.

About the Author

Prafulla is a Microsoft Azure Architect (Technologies) with 20 years of experience in managing various stages of the Product Life Cycle such as Requirements Gathering, Analysis and Design, and Development for ClientServer, Desktop Applications & Web and N-tier Applications on-premise and Azure Cloud.

Elevated Perspectives on Recent Restructurings

Sundarmoorthy S

Organizational restructurings, in terms of employee count, in some leading global organizations have been making the news recently. In this article, I will discuss some elevated perspectives of those actions and how it could be strategized effectively.

These restructuring decisions were highlighted in the media in a negative light. It has been labelled as destructive, and it has been predicted that these actions will have a chain reaction globally – across other top-level IT, midsized and small service, and product entities, and the same is expected in the nonIT companies too. However, this may not be true.

The resources invested by these organizations in emerging technologies like Metaverse, Robotics, Virtual Reality, may not have had the expected outcomes. The restructuring may be primarily due to the result of over-investments – such as hiring new talent for research and development, infrastructure costs, etc. As they are among the top global organizations, it is expected of them to pave the road to the future by investing in R&D efforts, innovating, and bringing new products to the market.

As the organizations strategized their business in the own ways based on the roadmap and milestones, there are a few hard decisions which they may have to take along the way. This restructuring is one among those. The current macro-economic reality was a surprise to many and hence led to such restructuring.

Strategic Utilization

The investments which we discussed above is key for other small, medium, and possibly for large IT service providers too. Resources available in the market could be utilized effectively by other organizations. They could fill the vacant positions in other organizations in the market.

For organizations, it’s not the best approach to follow the footsteps of any other entity when everyone has their own goals, vision, and purpose. Every action should be focused toward their future roadmap and the strategies for achieving the same.

In the above illustration, we see that there are 4 targets placed. Let’s consider 4 types of entities trying to reach those targets in a scheduled period of time. From this perspective, it looks like all the entities were trying to reach the same target, but that is not true.

Have a look at the below images where it shows how they are different from each other on their journey.

Fig 1: Targets for different type of entities

2023 for Start-ups

To highlight, yes, 2023 is the year for majority of the start-ups. The employees impacted by the restructuring have the knowledge, expertise and know the gaps in the market. They could use this opportunity to establish their own start-ups to cater to the needs of the market.

In the past, we have come across stories of tech giants acquiring start-ups in multibillion-dollar deals. It is possible in the future too.

While on the topic of start-ups, here is how India’s government is enabling start-ups:

• Financial assistance

• Facilitate funding

• Provide collateral-free loans

• Offer mentorship

• Tax exemptions

• Networking opportunities

• Easy access to vital resources

Our Cybersecurity leader, Kannan Srinivasan, had addressed a select group of start-up founders and aspirants on Secure Application Development Practices, in association with NASSCOM.

Current macro-economic situation is not new. Economies have faced this situation in the past and bounced back powerfully, hope this will happen very soon with the help of governments, financial experts and business leaders. Industry trends should not distract your business goals, rather your strategies should enable the industry and economy positively.

About the Author

Sundar has more than 13 years of experience in IT, IT security, IDAM, PAM and MDM project and products. He is interested in developing innovative mobile applications which saves time and money. He is also a travel enthusiast.

Fig.2 : Targets with Business specific approach

A Primer for System Design

Arunkumar Soundararajan

My friends and I often challenge ourselves in building Low-Medium complex systems to see how they perform when shared with an end-customer. The feedback is captured; which is then dissected for abnormalities.

Recently, I asked ChatGPT to build an algorithm and it generated a code which was awesome. However, system design is not just about that. It is about determining and designing a robust collection of architectural components that can scale (both vertically and horizontally), is fault tolerant and can even run in a fail-safe mode, among other things. Today, complex systems and applications can even run in mines/remote locations across the globewhere there is zero network!

The whole process of system design is an extensive topic, that requires experience, expertise, knowledge of software, languages, technology trends and various other factors to build a large enterprise system. All these put together universal concepts, best practice guidance, and emerging ideas are how one can adapt in building a successful enterprise System. It is very important to also understand the important tradeoffs (say microservices vs SOA or selection of tools/ Languages/Infra restrictions etc), addressing cross cutting concerns viz. anything that affects throughout the system such as Security, Logging, fault tolerance etc. For instance, to build a printing library, one need not write thousands of lines of code in Java vs an interoperable library that can be built on C# with onethird the lines of code.

Preparing for System Design

A system can be classified into at-least three major building blocks:

1. At the heart of the framework likes well-defined business requirements, surrounded by many entities such as

2. Architectural Vision /Framework components, Governance etc. and

3. Real-time business users

These three archetypes should always be tightly woven. System design calls for multiple stakeholders viz. Business Architect, Application Architect(s), Data Architect, Technology Specialist, Infrastructure experts, and various others to work in tandem. Keeping the program sponsor updated on the progress (including the tools, technologies) at every stage is important. Checks should also be kept on the cost overruns.

Build the Building Blocks

The very fundamental blocks of system should be broken into business components. Understanding the architectural and business landscape along with ease of injection of various components, building the computing components repository such as servers, databases, messages, queues, logging, caching, application, load balancers and understanding its interactions to a good extent is highly recommended

Selection of tools (from the above section) plays a vital role in deciding the future course of the application/product. Identifying interfaces and modus operandi of touch points for third party integrations should be carefully thought through for Electronic Data Exchanges

Understanding the tradeoffs during selection of each artifact vs technology should be a key step to a good robust system design. For e.g. today, a high volume data handling can be served by Teradata vs Oracle or TimesTen DB, but one needs to identify the trade off’s while selecting these tools coupled with the business asks. There are plenty of other factors such as licensing costs, support model, type of DB (on Prem vs cloud) etc.; but it is with evolution and newer inventions, time is the only factor that

will make the design last long. Couple of decades back, the commonly used shopping cart was less scalable, untenable, poor transaction handling, limited infrastructure is now a past thing. Today, it has become a robust, multi-tiered architecture, high in integrations, built on extremely durable infra and can seemingly capture a step-by-step transaction via blockchain and with AI embedded programs, thus delivering a seamless journey for the end-user.

Building these architectural blocks and making them perform to scale should be the goal; with this comes the evolution of UML which would encompass the enterprise to Functional and Technical components keeping the model in mind. As an instance, Object Relation mapping technologies have undergone a sea change starting with Toplink JDOs EJB Hibernate. Although the core concept of these tools is the same, it is important to keep the architectural framework components current and up-to-date even if it involves a technology reconsideration. Not doing so may later lead to lack of support, deprecated methods, redundant license costs. Thus, the framework must be flexible for a technical overhaul if required.

A step further in the application architecture, below are some basic pillars -

1. A strong recommendation for OOP Applications is having a foundation of the Five SOLID Principles which defines the rules and best practices of designing large scale applications. These help us understand the usage of absolute design patterns, usage of anti-patterns which every engineer should learn, help refactor to keep it clean, extendable, and testable.

2. API first design approach – These are the first building blocks of platform, and everything that revolves around this will be consumed by various endpoints. This set produces a set of modular, interoperable APIs when combined would achieve a certain set of functionalities. This reusable API approach involves methods and functions that are consistent and reusable. Largely the contract should be established which involves a good design (data), proper planning and collaboration. After the model is frozen, development teams can work in parallel on multiple APIs and eventually reducing time to market. A proper governance must be established and enforced to have desired outcomes.

3. Building smart and scalable wireframes –

During application design, building a modern

robust wireframe is often neglected. It is very important to comply with modern wireframes that share heatmap results based on number of clicks, navigation traces and its efficiency via simulations. Again, these must be run with the stakeholder as there could be a bearing to the technical design.

T(a/e)sting the Design

While time may be the real test to check the behavior and draw patterns out of it, it is equally important first to have an enterprise design that is scalable between layers. Providing assumptions and signoffs will prove to be an equally decisive factor at later stages. Having all data points with respect to Scalability, Performance, Secure, Consistent usage of design patterns, CAP theorems, communication mechanism etc., will have equal bearing to the entire testament of the design.

Start simple yet keep it scalable.

About the Author

Arunkumar is the Leader of the Technology Excellence Center. Primarily a Technology Enthusiast with extensive experience in designing applications from scratch and leading Digital Transformation programs. He has a flair for building seamless UX wireframes too.

Rise in Automotive Hacking

Lakshana D

The rise of the connected car has resulted in several innovative developments in the automotive sector. The modern car is more technologically advanced and linked than ever before, with new forms of car sharing and ride-hailing services, powerful entertainment systems and driver-assist technologies. However, cars are more susceptible to hacking assaults as they get more connected. Automotive hacking is a concern for both automakers and car owners in the recent years.

Automotive Hacking

Unauthorized access to or manipulation of a car’s computer systems is referred to as automotive hacking. This might include straightforward assaults like breaking into a car or messing with the infotainment system, and sophisticated ones like taking over the steering or engine. Automotive hacking can be done physically by getting into the car’s onboard computer systems or remotely by taking advantage of weak points in the wireless network.

Data Protection Approach

Enterprise data protection experts concur that automakers must update their data security procedures to thwart attempts by hackers. Simple data protection measures like perimeter security and intrusion detection might not be enough to fend off attackers. Stronger passwords won’t be able to fend off the sophisticated tactics that attackers are using to break in. To secure data, so that even if it is stolen, the attacker cannot use it to harass the victim, the present data breach vulnerabilities need to be addressed using tokenization or encryption.

Driverless Vehicles and Ransomware

The goal of cybercriminals is to steal data from unsuspecting passengers, which they would then exploit to hold their victim’s hostage. Since connected and autonomous vehicles depend on user data for operation, this is a lucrative target. Nowadays, cybercriminals have access to enormous amounts of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) data, including a passenger’s home address, credit card number, email address, and places they travel to. Then, they can develop and send convincing phishing emails in an effort to steal more data or trick recipients into clicking on harmful links, allowing them access to the recipient’s machine. They have two options: scrape valuable data or hold it until they receive a sizable ransom payment.

Hackers’ Entry Points: Ways to Prevent Them

Steps to Curb these Attacks

By taking the necessary steps, you can shield yourself from becoming a victim of a cyberattack.

• Maintain System Updates: In order to get the most recent bug patches, it’s critical to keep the software on your car updated. These important upgrades include security patches for the systems of the car’s known vulnerabilities. The best course of action is to closely monitor cyber security updates from your car maker because vulnerabilities emerge as a result of discoveries and patches.

• Reduced access: By creating password-protected accounts, you may restrict who has access to the data about your car. By limiting access to individuals with valid accounts, this will assist in preventing unauthorized login attempts.

• Detect and Stop Unauthorized Communications: Malicious code and data packets are frequently sent to a vehicle as the initial stage of a cyberattack. It is advised to have a firewall integrated within the car to stop hackers from accessing the internal network. Vehicle-tovehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication will be limited to authorized parties by an effective firewall (vehicle-toeverything).

• Use third-party software with caution: Your car could be harmed if third-party software and programs are installed on it. Use only automakerapproved software when altering your car.

• Use of VPNs: Numerous VPNs have received favorable ratings, which demonstrates how useful they are for protecting drivers. Engine management and electronic systems in cars can be protected by VPNs. A robust VPN will enable car owners to securely access the internet while also defending linked automobiles from outside assaults. Some travelers already use a VPN to access the networks of their offices or coworking spaces.

Finally, be careful to routinely update the software on your car and apply security fixes. Make sure that any customized software on your car has the automaker’s approval. By establishing password-protected accounts, you can restrict the number of people who have access to the software in your car.

There are numerous wireless and other cyber vulnerabilities in automobiles. In the automobile sector, having the correct kind of cyber security

is crucial. While technology advancements may contribute to increased driver security, there is a chance that they could also make automobiles more vulnerable. Hackers can access automotive systems more easily as they grow increasingly linked. In order to safeguard all these aspects of the driving experience, automakers should concentrate on creating secure software and executing a defense-indepth strategy that includes powerful cyber security solutions.

References

• https://mitigatecyber.com/rise-of-automotivehacking/#:~:text=What%20is%20Automotive%20 Hacking%3F,no%20right%20to%20get%20into.

• https://www.uscybersecurity.net/automotiveindustry/

About the Author

Lakshana is a part of the Red Team at GS Lab | GAVS. She is passionate about technology and spends her free time reading, traveling and gardening. She loves playing badminton and is a sports fanatic.

Understanding Zero Trust Network Access

Ayyanar Govindaraj

Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) is a security model that focuses on the principle of “never trust, always verify.” This approach to security assumes that all users, devices, and applications attempting to access a network are potential threats and should be verified before being granted access. The traditional security model assumes that anyone accessing the network from within the organization is trustworthy, while anyone outside the organization is a potential threat. This approach has become outdated due to the rise of cloud computing and the increasing number of remote workers. With the traditional model, once an attacker has gained access to the network, they have access to everything on it.

Key features of ZTNA

ZTNA, on the other hand, verifies every user, device, and application before granting access to specific resources. This model provides a more granular approach to security, where access is only granted on a need-to-know basis. This approach significantly reduces the attack surface and improves the overall security posture of the organization.

ZTNA is achieved through a combination of technologies such as identity and access management, multi-factor authentication, microsegmentation, and encryption. These technologies work together to provide a more secure and flexible approach to network access.

ZTNA is a security model that ensures secure access to resources by providing access based on identity, context, and risk.

Benefits of ZTNA

ZTNA Tools

• Akamai

• Netskope

• Zscaler

• Citrix

• Duo

• Okta

• Azure

• Prisma

ZTNA implementation

ZTNA focuses on granting access to applications and resources on a need-to-know basis, regardless of whether the user is within or outside the corporate network perimeter. To implement ZTNA, organizations need to adopt a set of security principles that includes:

ZTNA Use Cases

• Secure remote access: With ZTNA, remote workers can access enterprise applications securely and without the need for a VPN. ZTNA provides granular access controls and only grants access to the resources that are required for a specific task.

• Third-party access: Organizations often need to provide access to their resources to third-party vendors, contractors, or partners. With ZTNA, organizations can provide secure access to these third parties without compromising security.

• Multi-cloud security: Many organizations have resources deployed across multiple cloud providers. ZTNA provides a centralized security policy across all cloud environments, ensuring that access controls are consistent across all resources.

• Secure IoT access: Internet of Things (IoT) devices are often vulnerable to attacks and can be used as an entry point into an organization’s network. ZTNA provides secure access to these devices and can isolate them from the rest of the network to reduce the risk of an attack.

• Protecting legacy applications: Many organizations have legacy applications that cannot be easily secured using traditional methods. ZTNA provides a secure access point for these applications and can limit access to only authorized users and devices.

• Securing BYOD: Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies can create security risks for organizations. ZTNA can provide secure access to enterprise resources for employee-owned devices, while also enforcing security policies and ensuring that only authorized users can access sensitive data.

In traditional security models, once a user is authenticated and authorized, they are trusted to access all resources within the network. However, in a ZTNA model, every access request is treated as potentially malicious, and access is only granted after thorough verification.

ZTNA works by providing a secure, encrypted tunnel between the user’s device and the resource they are trying to access. The user is first authenticated and authorized, and then their request is verified based on several factors, including their device health, location, and behaviour patterns. It can help organizations comply with regulations such as GDPR and HIPAA.

Overall, ZTNA is a modern security model that can help organizations protect against cyber threats in an increasingly complex and dangerous digital landscape.

About the Author

Ayyanar G is part of the Information Security team. He has 10+ years of experience across various roles in Network Security in IT. His expertise ranges across Networking, Firewall and Network security products such as Netskope ZTNA, Palo Alto and Cisco ASA.

He is passionate about reading technical blogs and driving.

Striking a Balance

Akshayaa S

Whether we love our work or work to earn for something we love, we all need to have work-life balance.

India probably didn’t have to focus much on work-life balance as we had our own way of life which had its uniqueness and completeness. But nevertheless, with western influences creeping in, things started changing gradually. We never gave up on our culture nor did we completely westernize and this state of being somewhere “in-between” brought in a lot of challenges. People had to cope with so many changes and figure out how they can fit into it, giving rise to a lot of confusion and competition. This, in turn, started impacting our health greatly leading to an increase in stress, depression and other mental health issues.

up feeling more incomplete and inadequate. In the current state of exposure and growth, if a person isn’t satisfied with even one of the aspects (Family, career, learning, entertainment, and so on) that itself brings in a lot of mental disturbances. Hence, having a good balance between different aspects of life is necessary for us to have good mental health.

Before we focus on how to balance it better, it is important to identify what are the components to be focused on and how much we need to focus on each one of them. For some people it is necessary to have time for travel, whereas some people need time for spirituality; different people have different requirements and expectations on what they want for themselves in their life. Understanding it always makes it easier to figure out how to bring some balance in the same.

In the last two generations, lifestyle changes have been huge along with a great impact on our health. Our life has become so fast paced, that we struggle to find time even for ourselves or our loved ones. So much exposure often distracts people from understanding their purpose in life. Some people focus more on becoming a better fit in society; some get carried away by instant gratifications, while some wander around without knowing what they want for themselves. As a result, we end up missing out on living our life to the fullest.

There could be different phases in life where we focus more on a particular component. Yet, life can never be just about one thing. If a person is only focusing on one component, that person will eventually end

Striking a balance is never a destination. It is always a continuous process which needs some modulation at different points of time. It is a process where we try to analyze and understand ourselves on where all we are missing out and what more can make us live to the fullest. Once we do some self-analysis, we can further try to understand what is making it difficult for us to focus on those areas. It could be time management for some; or maybe a person is focusing too much on one aspect; or it could be some deeper issue that needs to be healed which is a hindrance in letting us balance our life better. Identifying and understanding the root causes are always important to bring any changes in our life patterns. Once it is done, it is always easier to start working on those areas which need to be rectified.

When it comes to our society’s expectations on gender roles, a lot of pressure still exists among the population. Often women are expected to focus more on the family and household responsibilities, while men are expected to focus more on career and finances. Though there have been a lot of changes in recent times, a lot of people who don’t want to stick with those expectations are finding it hard to get along with it. Probably it has been with us for so many years that even with all the current changes in the modern world we find it difficult to set our mind free from it. It is often not others who stop a person from changing; it is the person’s own mind which needs some clarity on the choices made for themselves. Once a person gets that mental clarity, balancing life becomes a cakewalk irrespective of the gender.

Anyone associated with GS Lab | GAVS may reach out to Akshayaa at Akshayaa.s@gavstech.com and discuss their personal and professional challenges with her.

About the Author

Akshayaa Sridhar is a Psychologist with experience in counseling. She has completed her master’s degree in HRD Psychology from Madras University, followed by a specialization in corporate, family & school counseling. She has been working with Corporates such as Accenture and in her personal capacity has been working with private clients too.

She deals with all kinds of relationship issues, improving work productivity/ academic focus, stress management, motivational issues, personal growth & development, family problems and other issues related to managing one’s own emotions, thoughts, and behaviors.

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