📖 Note: This article explains how users with the 'Manage Users' permission for an organisation can view the profiles of users who are not affiliated with that organisation.
Opening an Non-Affiliated User's Profile
To navigate to your organisation's non-affiliated users, click Non-Affiliated [1] under the Users submenu option on the sidebar. This will take you to your organisation's Non-Affiliated Users table, which lists out all non-affiliated users within your organisation.
Click the Actions menu [2] next to a non-affiliated user whose profile you wish to view. Next, click View Profile [3] to open their profile.
📖 Note: You can only view a non-affiliated user profile if they are registered to the platform. Those with Invited registration status have not registered to the platform yet, and thus will not have a profile you can view.
Reading a Non-Affiliated User's Profile
A non-affiliated user's profile consists of five main sections - Key User Details [1], the user's Score Overview Bar [2], their Cyber Skills Cortex [3], their Performance Triangle [4], and finally, their Assigned Events [5].
📖 Note: The difference between your view of an affiliated versus a non-affiliated user's profile is that for affiliated users, you will be able to see a Self-Reported Accomplishments section, which you cannot see for a non-affiliated user.
Additionally, an affiliated user's participation in all events platform-wide will show up in your view of their Score Overview Bar, Performance Triangle, and Cyber Skills Cortex. For a non-affiliated user, only their participation within your organisation's events will be visible to you (aside from their FifthDomain Scores).
Finally, you will be able to see a count of how many externally hosted events affiliated users in your organisation have been assigned, but you will not be able to see event details. For non-affiliated users however, you won't be able to see if they have been assigned externally hosted events at all.
Reading Key User Details
At the top of a non-affiliated user's profile, you'll be able to see the following key details about them:
1 - Name and Avatar [1]
2 - User Alias [2]
3 - Email [3]
4 - Affiliation Status Chip [4]
Reading a Non-Affiliated User's Score Overview Bar
A user's score overview bar comprises of a number of scores and metrics related to their performance in events on the platform. When viewing a user's profile, you'll be able to see their:
1 - FifthDomain Score [1]
The FifthDomain Score is a combined weighted sum of a user’s Success, Efficiency, and Speed scores, with Success carrying the highest weightage.
Your view of a non-affiliated user's FifthDomain Score is based on their performance in all events they have participated in platform-wide, including any events from outside your organisation.
2 - Success Score [2]
The Success Score measures a user’s ability to capture flags, taking into account points earned for solved challenges relative to overall points available.
Your view of a non-affiliated user's Success Score is based only on their performance in assigned events hosted by your organisation. Any performance in events outside from your organisation will not count.
3 - Efficiency Score [3]
The Efficiency Score measures a user’s ability to score points in challenges while minimising the number of attempts made.
Your view of a non-affiliated user's Efficiency Score is based only on their performance in assigned events hosted by your organisation. Any performance in events outside from your organisation will not count.
4 - Speed Score [4]
The Speed Score reflects a user’s quickness in completing challenges within the allocated time for an event.
Your view of a non-affiliated user's Speed Score is based only on their performance in assigned events hosted by your organisation. Any performance in events outside from your organisation will not count.
Reading a Non-Affiliated User's Cyber Skills Cortex
The Cyber Skills Cortex is a diagram which maps out the cyber skills a user has demonstrated in their assigned competitions and assessments, against FifthDomain's Cynaptic Skills Adaptor Framework.
What is the Cynaptic Skills Adaptor Framework?
The Cynaptic Skills Adaptor Framework maps all of the challenges on the FifthDomain platform to the following three components - Professional Specialties, Skills, and Proficiency levels. When a challenge mapped to a certain Professional Specialty and Skill is solved by a user, their Cyber Skills Cortex diagram will showcase that they have demonstrated that Professional Specialty and Skill (at the set Proficiency level of the challenge).
What are Professional Specialties?
Professional Specialties are grouping units within the Cynaptic Skills Adaptor Framework which group all cyber skills demonstrable on the platform to overarching high-level cyber work specialisations.
Each challenge on the platform is mapped to one of six Professional Specialties. A single challenge cannot be mapped to multiple Professional Specialties.
📖 A quick overview of each of the six Professional Specialties is below:
Intelligence: Cyber work which relates to the collection of information on the open or dark web outside of one's own network. This can include removing friendly information as an Operational Security (OPSEC) measure.
Penetration: Cyber work which relates to gaining unauthorised access and ability to make modification to a system.
Protection: Cyber work which relates to hardening one's own systems, identifying system configurations that protect from threats, and finding vulnerabilities.
Detection: Cyber work which relates to searching systems, sources, and information points to detect events, and identifying and moderating a comprehensive list of relevant observables.
Engineering: Cyber work which relates to building Security Operation Centre (SOC) technologies in order to make technologies better and faster.
Investigation: Cyber work which relates to the analysis of artefacts to derive Indicators of Compromise (IOCs), and reveal a full behaviours and capabilities.
What are Skills?
Each Professional Specialty is made up of Skills. Skills, as per the Cynaptic Skills Adaptor Framework, are a more granular set of abilities and knowledge related to a more specific area within cybersecurity. For example, the Log Analysis (LA) Skill is mapped to the Detection Professional Specialty.
There are currently approximately 30 Skills demonstrable on the platform, each mapped to one of the six Professional Specialties in the Cynaptic Skills Adaptor Framework.
Each challenge on the platform can be mapped to multiple Skills within the single Professional Specialty that it is mapped to. As an example, a Detection challenge may be mapped to the Log Analysis (LA) and Traffic Analysis (TA) Skills. However, it cannot be mapped to Skills outside of the Detection Professional Specialty.
What are Proficiency Levels?
Proficiency levels, per the Cynaptic Skills Adaptor Framework, determine a user's level of ability in a particular Skill on the platform. There are five proficiency levels that users can demonstrate on the platform. These are modelled from the Dreyfus Model of Skills Acquisition, and are described below:
📖 A quick overview of the Cynaptic Skills Adaptor Framework Proficiency Levels (drawn from the Dreyfus Model of Skills Acquisition):
Level 1 (Novice): Demonstration of a basic but incomplete understanding of a concept, and a mechanistic approach requiring supervision for relevant work completion.
Level 2 (Advanced Beginner): Demonstration of a working understanding of a concept, and a perception of required actions as steps. Those at this level can an complete simpler tasks independently.
Level 3 (Competent): Demonstration of a good working and background understanding of a concept, with contextual awareness. Those at this level are capable of independent work to an acceptable standard.
Level 4 (Proficient): Demonstration of deep understanding of a concept, complete with a holistic view of required actions. Those at this level consistently achieve high standards when performing relevant work.
Level 5 (Expert): Demonstration of authoritative and/or deep holistic understanding of a concept, complete with intuitive handling of routine relevant matters. Those at this level excel effortlessly when performing relevant work.
Each challenge on the platform is assigned one of the five proficiency levels within the Cynaptic Skills Adaptor Framework. Solving a challenge which tests a particular Skill at a particular proficiency level indicates that the solving user is able to demonstrate that Skill at that proficiency level.
What is the Cyber Skills Cortex?
The Cyber Skills Cortex is a cyber skills map that conceptually mimics the structure and shape of the human brain. The diagram shows which Skills a user has demonstrated, which Professional Specialties they align to, as well as which proficiency levels they have demonstrated Skills in.
The Cyber Skills Cortex is made up of six sections, with one section for each of the six Professional Specialties within the Cynaptic Adaptor Skills Framework.
Within the Cortex, each Professional Specialty has been subtly grouped in pairs according to similar functions.
The two Professional Specialties on the upper section [1] of the Cortex (Intelligence and Penetration) are grouped together on the Cortex as they both relate to interacting with external devices, systems, information sources to achieve an outcome.
The two Professional Specialties on the middle section [2] of the Cortex (Protection and Detection) are grouped together on the Cortex as they both relate to systems administration and operational work.
Finally, the two Professional Specialties on the lower section [3] of the Cortex (Engineering and Investigation) are grouped together on the Cortex as they both relate to assembling and disassembling systems, artefacts, and their accompanying information.
Each Professional Specialty section on the Cortex is made up of its relevant Skills. Each Skill is allocated a dedicated row on the Cortex (each row contains five squares), with one square for each of the five proficiency levels demonstrable for each Skill (these squares are called Skill-Proficiency squares). The row of numbers at the top of the Cortex diagram represent the five proficiency levels.
There are two sets of proficiency levels on the Cortex, each increasing in level from the central spine of the Cortex, and dividing the Cortex into a left and right section. The set of proficiency level numbers on the left of the Cortex span from the centre to the left, and the set on the right span from the centre to the right.
How might I use the data in a non-affiliated user's Cyber Skills Cortex?
Viewing a non-affiliated user's Cyber Skills Cortex may be useful for the following:
Talent Identification: As the Cortex provides insights into the cyber skills of any users who participate in an organisation's events, it may be valuable for talent identification. By viewing non-affiliated user profiles, managers can spot potential candidates for future collaboration or recruitment initiatives.
Customised Event Planning: Understanding the skill profiles of non-affiliated participants can help in tailoring future events to suit the skill levels and learning needs of target participants, enhancing the overall value and appeal of events.
Community Building: By analysing the skillsets of event participants, event hosts can identify areas of common interest or skill gaps within the community. This information can guide the development of community-focused initiatives or specialised events aimed at building skills.
Feedback and Improvement: The skills data from non-affiliated users can offer valuable feedback on the effectiveness and reach of an organisation's events. This can inform improvements in event content, structure, and delivery, making them more relevant and beneficial for a wider audience.
How do I read a user's Cyber Skills Cortex?
A user's Cyber Skills Cortex shows all the cyber skills they have demonstrated on the FifthDomain platform across all the assessments and competitions they have participated in.
Understanding Blank vs Filled Skill-Proficiency Squares
All Skill-Proficiency squares that a user has not demonstrated a relevant challenge solve in will be blank on their Cortex diagram.
Once a challenge has been solved in an assessment or competition, the Skill-Proficiency square relevant to that challenge should be filled in with a number and colour.
The number in a Skill-Proficiency square shows how many unique challenges (mapped to that specific Skill-Proficiency square) a user has solved. For instance, if a user has solved 6 unique challenges mapped to the Log Analysis (LA) Skill at the Level 1 (Novice) proficiency level, their Skill-Proficiency square for Level 1 (Novice) Log Analysis (LA) will contain the number 6 inside it.
Note that solving the same challenge across different events will only count as one solve in the challenge's relevant Skill-Proficiency square (each unique challenge will only show up in the count once).
The intensity of the colour in a Skill-Proficiency square is also determined by the number of relevant challenge solves demonstrated. The darker the colour of a square, the more unique challenge solves relevant to that square a user has solved. Each time a challenge is solved, its relevant Skill-Proficiency square will darken by one shade.
Activating Tooltips over Skill-Proficiency Squares
To view more details about a specific Skill-Proficiency square, simply hover your mouse over it. Upon hover over a square you will be able to see the following details:
Full Skill Name
Proficiency Level
Total Solves
Last Solve
In the example below, hovering over the square [1] for SOC Tech Deployment (TD) at the Level 1 (Novice) level activates a tooltip [2] which spells out the full name of the Skill (i.e. expanding from the acronym "TD"), the proficiency level of the square being viewed, the total number of solves achieved for Level 1 SOC Tech Deployment challenges, and the date, month, and year of the most recent relevant solve.
Understanding Links between Proficiency Levels for a Skill
It is important to note that demonstrating a Skill at a higher proficiency level is considered in the logic of the Cortex diagram to also contribute to one's ability to demonstrate the same Skill at lower proficiency levels.
Therefore, note that solving a challenge at a proficiency level higher than Level 1 (Novice) will also contribute to increased colour shade intensity of relevant mapped Skills at lower proficiency levels.
For instance, solving a Level 3 (Competent) Intrusion Detection (ID) challenge will lead to the Level 3 (Competent) Intrusion Detection (ID) Skill-Proficiency square deepening by a shade. Simultaneously, solving this challenge will also cause the Level 1 (Novice) and Level 2 (Advanced Beginner) Intrusion Detection (ID) Skill-Proficiency squares to also deepen.
Due to this logic, Skill-Proficiency squares will always be visually displayed as darker from the central spine of the Cortex, to lighter towards the left and right sides.
Understanding Skills Degradation over Time
Skills naturally degrade over time without consistent application and/or practice - the logic of the Cyber Skills Cortex takes this into account. Skill-Proficiency squares will lose their number value and colour intensity after a certain period of time. The number of months until degradation of a Skill-Proficiency square occurs depends on proficiency.
📖 Note: The list below outlines how Skill-Proficiency square number value and colour shades will lose their intensity according to their proficiency levels:
Level 1 (Novice) squares will lose their number value by 1, and colour intensity by 1 shade every 2 months.
Level 2 (Advanced Beginner) squares will lose their number value by 1, and colour intensity by 1 shade every 3 months.
Level 3 (Competent) squares will lose their number value by 1, and colour intensity by 1 shade every 5 months.
Level 4 (Proficient) squares will lose their number value by 1, and colour intensity by 1 shade every 8 months.
Level 5 (Expert) squares will lose their number value by 1, and colour intensity by 1 shade every 13 months.
As an example, if a user has solved 5 x Log Analysis (LA) challenges at Level 5 (Expert), their Level 5 LA Skill-Proficiency square would have the number 5 inside it, and the square would be five shades deep. If the user had solved 2 of these challenges 13 months ago, and 3 of them less than 13 months ago, then, when the user next logs in (assuming they have not solved any further Level 5 LA challenges), their Level 5 LA Skill-Proficiency square would have the number 3 inside of it, and the square would be 3 shades deep.
This is because 13 months have passed since the user last solved the first 2 Level 5 LA challenges, so skills degradation will have taken place. After this degradation occurs, the only way for the user to go back to having the number 5 in their Level 5 LA square (as well as having the square be 5 shades deep) is for them to solve an additional 2 x LA Level 5 challenges, keeping skills degradation at bay.
Understanding Most Aligned Specialty and Top Skills Demonstrated
Underneath a user's Cyber Skills Cortex diagram, you will be able to view their Most Aligned Specialty [1], and their Top Skills Demonstrated [2].
A user's Most Aligned Specialty is calculated using a formula which takes into account the proficiency levels of challenges they have solved within a Professional Specialty, as well as the number of unique Skills demonstrated (via relevant challenge solves) within each Professional Specialty.
A user's Top Skills Demonstrated are the Skills in which they have demonstrated the highest number of relevant solves across the proficiency levels.
Toggling between the Solved and Unsolved Cortex Tabs
By default, a user's Cortex will be in the Solved [1] tab view. To view their unsuccessful challenge attempts, click the Unsolved [2] tab.
Navigating the Unsolved Cyber Skills Cortex Tab
Clicking the Unsolved tab will update the user's Cyber Skills Cortex to display all Skill-Proficiency squares where they have unique unsuccessful challenge attempts. In other words, every challenge they unsuccessfully attempt (and do not end up solving) will appear in the Unsolved view of their Cortex (in the relevant Skill-Proficiency square).
Compared to the Solved tab view, which marks solved challenges as blue on a user's Cyber Skills Cortex, unsolved challenges are reflected in the Unsolved tab in red.
The logic of viewing a user's Unsolved tab is the same as the Solved tab, except you will be viewing unique unsuccessful challenge attempts, rather than unique successful challenge solves.
Using the Cyber Skills Cortex Time Period Filter
The Time Period Filter section contains a slider that enables you to filter your view of a user's Cyber Skills Cortex to a specific time period in the past.
The leftmost side [1] of the slider represents Week 1 of October 2023. This is when the FifthDomain Cynaptic Skills Adaptor Framework was released to the platform, and is the earliest week available for you to view skills demonstrated/attempted.
The rightmost side [2] of the slider represents the current week and year.
💡 Remember: if you use the Time Period Filter while on the Solved tab, you will be able to see successful challenge solves accumulated during the selected point(s) in time. If you use the Time Period Filter while on the Unsolved tab, you will be able to see unsuccessful challenge attempts accumulated during the selected point(s) in time.
Interacting with a User's Performance Triangle
The Performance Triangle is a diagram which visually maps out a user's Success, Efficiency, and Speed scores. The Success, Efficiency, and Speed scores they have demonstrated on the platform are each mapped to one of their Performance Triangle's three corners. Together, they will form a blue triangle. There will also be a grey triangle displaying the Performance Triangle made up of the average Success, Efficiency, and Speed scores of affiliated users within the organisation, allowing you to compare the user you are viewing with the average performance metrics of other affiliated users.
📖 Note: the performance metrics shown in the user's Performance Triangle will be the same as those shown in their Score Overview Banner.
Using the Performance Triangle Time Period Filter
You can use the time period slider above the Performance Triangle to filter your view of a user's Performance Triangle to a specific time period in the past. Simply drag the slider nodes to the period you wish to view.
Viewing a User's Assigned Events
The Assigned Events section contains a list of all events (courses, competitions, assessments) that the user whose profile you are viewing has assigned. You can type in the search bar to find specific events quickly.
For each event that has been assigned to this user by your organisation, you will be able to see the following details:
The event name [1]
The event organiser name [2]
This will always be your organisation's name.
Event type-specific tags [3]
For courses, there will be a tag listing the number of modules in the course;
For assessments, there will be a tag identifying whether the assessment is a team or individual-based assessment, as well as a tag identifying the duration of the assessment, and;
For competitions, there will be a tag identifying whether the competition is a team or individual-based competition.
A progress meter or rank [4]
For courses, progress is based on percentage completion of each part within the course - e.g. 20% Complete;
For assessments, a rank will be shown based on points achieved - e.g. 1/43;
For competitions, a rank will be shown based on points achieved - e.g. 1/43.
A status chip and timestamp [5]
A View button [6]
Clicking View will take you to the Insights page of the relevant event.
You won't be able to see if non-affiliated users have been assigned events by organisations other than your own. Any participation by non-affiliated users in Externally Hosted Events will not count toward your view of their profile (aside from their FifthDomain score).
