Why your IoT Systems Need Security Testing?

The Internet of Things or IoT has swept the realm of technology and become mainstream as far as automation is concerned. Its popularity is attributable to features such as communication between machines, easy usage, and the integration of various devices, enabling technologies, and protocols.

When one talks about smart cities, smart transport, smart healthcare, or smart homes, the role of IoT is paramount.  According to Gartner, the number of connected things courtesy IoT is projected to reach 20.8 billion by 2020. Since IoT is about connected products that communicate with each other and share a huge volume of data, it is vulnerable to security breaches. With greater digitization and a rush towards delivering smart devices to add more comfort to people’s lives, businesses may end up keeping their flanks uncovered. The threats related to cybersecurity, besides threatening the smooth functioning of the digital ecosystem, are putting a question mark on the implementation of the IoT ecosystem.

The future is likely to be driven by smart systems with IoT at their core. Since such systems will witness a huge exchange of data, their security needs to be ensured. Also, as the smooth functioning of such smart systems will hinge on the accuracy and integrity of data, enabling IoT security at every step of the way should be the norm. If statistics are to be believed then around 84% of companies adopting IoT have reported security breaches of some kind (Source: Stoodnt.com.) The resident vulnerabilities in such systems are exploited by cybercriminals to exhibit malicious behavior such as committing credit card theft, phishing and spamming, distributed denial of service attacks, and malware distribution, among others.

How to conduct IoT security testing effectively

The security implications of a vulnerable or broken IoT system can be catastrophic for individuals, businesses, and entities. The devices and the transfer of data within them should be monitored by the implementing agency to check for a data breach. The best ways to conduct IoT security is as follow:

Checking of endpoints: As more devices or endpoints are added to expand the network, more vulnerabilities are created. Since IoT systems are built using devices of different configurations, computing and storage power, and running on different versions and types of operating systems, every such device should be evaluated for safety. An inventory of such devices should be made and tracked.

Authentication: Care should be taken that the vendor-supplied default passwords for specific systems should be dealt with at the beginning. If not, these can be exploited by hackers to take control of the IoT ecosystem and wreak havoc. Moreover, every device in the IoT system should be authenticated before being plugged into the network. This should be made an integral part of the internet of things testing.

Firewalls: The firewall present in the network should be tested for its capability of filtering specific data range and controlling traffic. Also, data aimed at terminating the device to ensure its optimal performance should be tested.

Encryption: Since IoT systems transmit data among themselves they should be encrypted for safety. During testing IoT applications the encryption approach and nitty-gritty should be thoroughly checked and validated. If not, then while relaying the location of assets in the IoT system, the information can be easily read by a hacker.

Compliance: Mere testing of IoT devices is not complete unless compliance with standards like FCC and ETSI/CE is carried out. These regulations and standards have been instituted to validate the performance of the IoT devices based on certain parameters. So, any IoT testing approach should take into account compliance with such regulations.

Why IoT systems should undergo security testing?

The smart devices forming part of the IoT system need to undergo IoT testing (security) to:

Prevent data theft: The unsecured endpoints within the system can leave a trail for hackers to strike but for the IoT device testing solutions. The vulnerabilities can be used to break into the controlling mechanism of the system in order to launch more malicious forms of attacks.

Protect brand equity: When scores of companies are competing with each other to get a pie of the IoT market, a security breach or malware attack can put a brand in jeopardy. With IoT penetration testing, such attacks can be pre-empted with the elimination of vulnerabilities and glitches.

Conclusion

The IoT ecosystem is projected to grow at a humongous pace and scale. Technology companies having an integrated IoT security testing approach are likely to earn a huge chunk of the pie. The approach when executed at regular intervals should be able to help enterprises achieve growth across domains.  

How to Perform Service Virtualization Testing the Right Way

Delivering quality software products quickly to the market is the objective that most enterprises set out for but do not quite achieve to their satisfaction. This is because, in most cases, the system components needed for end-to-end testing and integration are unavailable in the test environment. These services or dependencies such as APIs, third-party applications, and datasets, among others are often conspicuous by their absence. The reasons include the following:

·        Not fully developed, evolving, or under maintenance

·        Beyond the tester’s control – say developed or operated by another company, department, or process

·        Do not possess accurate data to execute the required test cases

·        Not fully available for testing (inconvenient time or in limited capacity)

·        Difficult to provision or configure in a test environment

·        Needed by various teams simultaneously for other purposes

·        Costly to use for regression testing

Thus, even though the development of software products can be expedited with streamlined processes, better communication, and frequent automated testing, the wait for dependencies can throw a spanner in the works. This is because simple unit tests can be performed on sets of codes in isolation but not comprehensive testing and integration in the absence of crucial dependencies. No wonder service virtualization has become the buzzword for enterprises and test specialists to implement.

What is service virtualization testing?

It is a process wherein test specialists can avoid production services and use virtual services to simulate interfaces thereby accelerating testing. Service virtualization allows software testing when crucial dependencies are not available or configured for the purpose. This is done by simulating dependencies and mimicking their behavior in the test environment thereby accelerating the process of integration testing in the SDLC. Thus, key bottlenecks in the testing process are removed and the application under test is pushed forth in the production environment. Therefore, when it comes to the presence of various system components and their need to work in synchrony, a robust service virtualization strategy can fill the gap.  This is done by simulating the responses or behavior of such components to ascertain how they would interact in real-time. Service virtualization testing is particularly useful when developing complex cloud-based enterprise solutions. It speeds up testing, identification of glitches, integration, and delivery of software products and services.

In the Agile/DevOps setup when there is a need to boost test automation, test specialists can undertake service virtualization implementation to aid faster testing, development, and delivery of products in a CI/CD pipeline. Thus, service virtualization can offer the following outcomes or benefits:

·        A robust and comprehensive test environment mimicking an actual production environment.

·        Allowing test specialists to test a software product in a simulated environment, which may be a configured product or test environment.

·        Reducing the cost of testing.

·        With waiting time for critical dependencies reduced, QA teams can easily analyze the behavior of such dependencies in a demo environment.

·        By mimicking the actual product deployment situation the QA team can identify glitches to be experienced by actual users when the product is delivered. As a result, the actual product is remarkably robust and shorn of glitches.

How to perform service virtualization testing the right way

Given the myriad benefits of service virtualization implementation, the process should be performed meticulously.

·        No need to recreate or reinvent: There is no need for a QA specialist to recreate the whole or even a portion of the component or the behavior that is being virtualized. The first step is to create a virtual asset that simulates the behavior of the component by transmitting responses to the order manager. The order manager provisions further automatically without any manual intervention thereby saving significant time.

·        Test with a proper plan: While planning for a service virtualization strategy, the test cases should validate the system instead of the virtual service mimicking the dependent system. For example, the UI testing of a banking application should not be about verifying the system maintaining balance. It should be rather about verifying the transaction involving withdrawal or deposit.

·        No build once and use many times: Since each team will have its own testing objective and requirement, it is better to have separate virtualization even if there is an overlap. Since a virtual service can be built quickly, the QA team can utilize its time in doing analysis rather than in implementation.

·        Train the right people: Since service virtualization involves a paradigm shift in QA, it should be executed by techies rather than manual testers. This is because manual testers, in general, know the core business requirements rather than the technology to achieve the same. So, let traditional testers create test plans and leave the job of building virtual services to the techies.

Conclusion

Service virtualization helps developers to use their own data sets and conduct better testing before sending the codes to the test environment. This ‘shift left’ practice of testing leads to better detection of glitches early on in the development phase. The biggest advantage is about reducing the testing time in the SDLC compared to the traditional method - from weeks to days. Thus, the process delivers better quality software frequently and helps the organization gain competitive advantage.

How ERP Testing Services can help you get the most out of your ERP Applications

Today, businesses have to compete in an unforgiving environment. They need to execute a host of activities including meeting tight deadlines, responding to client or customer issues in real-time, addressing downtime, and delivering superior customer experiences, among others. This can be a tedious exercise given the multi-dimensional approach businesses take to run their day-to-day activities. To infuse agility and efficiency, businesses use ERP systems. These systems bring multiple departments and processes under an integrated umbrella and help stakeholders to get better insights from the available data.

The data-driven approach of an ERP system helps in better planning and optimization of available resources leading to cost savings. However, notwithstanding the advantages of implementing an ERP system, businesses often face several challenges. These include gathering requirements, removal of redundant data, migration of assets, rationalization of processes, and change management, among others. ERP testing helps in addressing such challenges and allows businesses to preempt any malfunction.

What is an ERP system?

An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system helps an organization to integrate and control its core processes such as finance, HR, sales and marketing, administration, manufacturing, and so on. It enables the seamless flow of data and information within the system and sub-systems. An ERP system helps organizations in doing way with repetitive manual work and generates relevant data in real-time for the stakeholders to take suitable decisions. It is only through a rigorous ERP software testing exercise that various processes and their deliverables are validated as per the expected parameters.

Various types of ERP testing services

To ensure the ERP system remains stable, functional, secure, and scalable, a crucial role is played by ERP quality assurance and testing. Some of the commonly used ERP testing processes are:

# Performance testing: This type of ERP QA tests whether the performance of the system is as per expected parameters or not. It identifies the threshold up to which the software can perform in a robust manner. For example, during certain days in a year, the load on the ERP system can be immense. These may include processing payslips for all employees, the last date of submission of investment declarations, and the issuance of hike letters, among others. Unless performance testing is carried out, the functioning of the system when subjected to load conditions cannot be ascertained.

# Functional testing: This type of ERP software testing validates the functioning of each module within the ERP system as per the expectations.

# Security testing: The ERP system deals with a quantum of sensitive business, customer, and client-related data. If such data fall into the wrong hands, the implications can be dire. Moreover, given the rising menace of cybercrime where hackers use several tricks to steal data, an enterprise resource planning testing activity with respect to security can work wonders. It can identify the inherent vulnerabilities, fix them, and make the software robust, secure, and safe.  

# Integration testing: The flow of data across various modules of the ERP system can only be seamless if proper integration has taken place. This can be validated using integration testing wherein both the accuracy of data and functioning of modules are tested.

# Regression testing: Whenever a new feature or module in the ERP system is launched, the same is validated through regression testing. In this type of automated ERP testing, the entire software is not checked but only the specific function, module, feature, or process that has changed.

Best practices to follow to test ERP implementation solutions

·       Proper test planning to be done by collating relevant information of every touchpoint of the organization. This helps in achieving enhanced test coverage.

·       Goal setting to be done in advance to understand the type of testing needed for each module or function. It will also give insights into the team structure, test plans, and resources needed for the test.

·       The test cases for various tests should be identified beforehand to ensure better test coverage. Further, the entire testing process and its results should be documented for further analysis.

·       A proper test lab configured with necessary specifications will help to address any performance issues during testing.

·       The failure reports should be analyzed to understand the kind of defects the ERP system can face during real-time operations.

Conclusion

ERP systems have become the need of the hour for organizations, be it small, medium, or large, to streamline processes, deliver better output, and achieve ROI. However, without proper ERP testing of various modules, achieving the desired objectives can remain a pipedream.

Strengthening your Web Application Security with Software Testing

There has been a move towards building web applications given the rising cost of mobile applications. However, one thing has remained unchanged – of according low priority to web application security testing. The consequences are quick and dire with cybercriminals targeting such applications confidently. Companies like Monsanto, Ebay, and Target, among many others bore the brunt of security breaches. The situation is not getting under control but rather worsening with each passing day.

It appears the hackers are finding it easy to break into applications and databases at will and decamping with the stolen data. If analysed properly, part of the problem seems to lie with the enterprises themselves. Their obsession with releasing web applications quickly and get ahead of the block is leaving vulnerabilities and glitches go unchecked. In fact, software application security testing is often overlooked in favor of app management, code development, and visual design.

So, as an enterprise if your priority is to be commercial with web applications, then web application security testing needs to be the priority and not an afterthought. Let us first understand the consequences of not making dynamic application security testing an integral part of the SDLC.

·       Resident vulnerabilities can remain unchecked, which are exploited by hackers

·       Breaches occur leading to a loss of sensitive customer and business data and information

·       Enterprises may fall foul of regulatory bodies by not complying with mandatory protocols/regulations

·       Enterprises may face lawsuits from affected parties (customers and clients) and served penalties causing huge financial outgo

·       Brand name takes a hit, sometimes irretrievably

To pre-empt your organization from being at the receiving end of such attacks, you should strengthen the security of web applications or for that matter any software during development. Let us understand how by applying a robust application security testing methodology the security of web applications can be strengthened.

Strengthening web application security with software testing

The importance of testing cannot be glossed over any further and should be applied in letter and spirit. This can strengthen your application’ security mechanism and make it impervious to cyber-attacks.

·       Penetration testing to identify the loopholes: You must know how hackers can attack your web application. This will provide you with insights on the ways to strengthen security. So, conduct penetration testing wherein professional QA testers shall attack the application to identify its loopholes or vulnerabilities. However, conduct such a testing in an isolated environment. The security penetration testing can help you learn more about the following:

o   Cross-site scripting

o   Cross-site request forgery attacks

o   SQL injection attacks

o   Broken authentication

o   Insecure deserialization

·       Keep a backup: It is always a good idea to keep a backup of your data. So, post any cyber-attack scenario when you need to have your website go live once again, the backup data will come in handy. No need to describe the scenario where there is no backup and a malware attack strips everything clean leaving the organization tottering on the brink.

·       Implement DevSecOps: With DevOps implementation, enterprises aim at building a CI/CD pipeline where both Development (along with QA) and Operations work in close coordination and collaboration. This can be further strengthened with DevSecOps where ‘Sec or Security’ is made part of the whole system. Enterprises need to mandatorily follow a culture wherein security becomes everyone’s responsibility and not just of the QA team. As an application security testing strategy employees should scrupulously follow the Risk and Compliance manual and do not inadvertently divulge password or other details.

·       Encryption is a must: Any web application has several APIs connecting various modules to third-party applications. These can be the entry points for hackers to get into the application and siphon off sensitive business and customer information. So, all conduits for data transmission within and outside the application should be encrypted. The same can be verified through software application security testing.

·       Use SSL Encryption or HTTPS: Use SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) or TSL (Transport Layer Security) protocol to encrypt information in your login pages. These can protect sensitive information such as debit/credit card numbers, login details, or social security numbers, among others from falling into the hands of hackers. In addition, many browsers flag certain websites or web applications without HTTPS as insecure thereby preventing potential users from accessing them.

Conclusion

The security testing of web applications is of prime importance, like any other software, as it will help enterprises to secure their deliverables and earn trust from the end customers. In the competitive world of business, it is trust that will keep any company in good stead vis-à-vis its equation with customers and competitors.

Debunking the Common Regression Testing Myths

With customer experience driving enterprises towards delivering better quality products, they are going the Agile-DevOps way. In this, any product or service needs to be continuously upgraded to meet the changing realities of the day. The realities may include the following:

·       Advent of new technologies that have the potential to increase efficiency, quality, and productivity

·       Changing customer preferences about products or specific features of any product

·       New and better quality products being brought to the table by the competitors

·       The products need to comply with the new security or industry guidelines

·       The products should be workable across devices, browsers, or operating systems, and their updates

Therefore, while in pursuit of Continuous Integration and Delivery (CI and CD) goals as required by Agile and DevOps, the product needs to be updated periodically. While this is a good practice, for it ensures the product remains trendy and technically superior, it can be challenging as well. The updates to one part of the software or the whole software can trigger unlikely changes. These changes can affect the smooth functioning of the software or introduce glitches. So, on one side, the software is updated in consonance with the market or customer demand, on the other, it fails to deliver the best customer experience. To pre-empt such a situation from developing, the QA team performs software regression testing.

What is regression testing?

It is a type of testing that ensures the functionality of an application is not affected by a fix or change made in that application. When a tested software undergoes a fix or update, which does not necessarily affect the whole software, the QA team does not test all the modules. Instead, only a few test cases are executed ensuring adequate test coverage. Any regression testing in software testing can be a fit for test automation due to the overwhelming number of repetitive tests to be conducted.

Benefits of regression testing

QA regression testing accrues a number of benefits for the QA team. These include

·       Ensuring any changes (enhancements or bug fixes) made to the application or a specific module of the application do not affect the tested code

·       Improving the overall quality of the product and making it trendy and customer friendly

·       Reducing the testing time as only a limited area of the software is tested

·       Identifying the bugs or glitches causing the issue and fixing them

·       Helping to implement a Continuous Integration (CI) setup. Here a build triggered by a code is tested automatically in the form of an automated regression testing

Debunking the common myths about regression testing

With time, some myths have gained credence in the minds of QA testers related to regression testing.

Limited testing of functionalities may not be a good idea: Here, instead of testing the already tested codes, only a specific area/feature/functionality of the software is tested. And since the entire software is not tested, the glitches triggered by the fixes or updates in one part of the application may not be identified. This is where the QA specialists need to be meticulous with their planning.

Automation is mandatory to plan any regression testing strategy: Since repeated testing of the already tested code (not the whole application) is done in such type of testing, automation is preferred to save time. However, this does not mean that manual testing can be completely replaced. It is helpful to get a human insight into testing, which automated testing may not always offer. Also, test automation requires proper maintenance of test scripts and test cases lest they deliver the wrong outcome. Further, in cases where quick fixes are needed, manual testing can do the necessary QA regression testing since test automation may take time to setup.

Regression testing lasts long: Any automated regression testing can check and recheck the codes, which no manual checking can accomplish in a reasonable period. Since the scope of testing is small, the testing need not take ages to complete.

Regression testing is not obligatory: This is often put forth by enterprises that give precedence to ‘faster time to market’. However, doing away with regression testing services can backfire as any quick fix to an already tested product can trigger changes elsewhere. And without identifying and fixing those changes (read inclusion of glitches or bugs,) the final product will not be of superior quality.

Conclusion

Notwithstanding the above-mentioned myths, the need for regression testing has become mandatory given the frequent updates received by software applications. It helps QA specialists to do away with any unfavourable changes to the application and delivers the best possible user experience.

What is Software Testing Advisory - Taking a Deep Dive

To implement digital transformation successfully, enterprises should leverage software testing advisory services to ensure testing is metrics-driven, efficient, follows Agile and DevOps, and looks at things from a fresh perspective.

With enterprises embarking on digital transformational journeys or makeovers by adopting state-of-the-art technologies and methodologies, they have to countenance myriad forms of disruptions. The market and customers demand high-quality products and quick resolution of issues (if any), which can only be achieved through QA consulting. Enterprises, in order to remain competitive, may seek software testing advisory services. This is to ensure their value chain is streamlined, bottlenecks are removed, productivity improved, and efficiency enhanced. To deliver market-friendly products of top quality, enterprises need to operate at their peak efficiency levels. It is only by applying test advisory services that enterprises can acquire deep QA knowledge and transform their value chain effectively. So, let us first understand what software testing advisory is all about.

What is software testing advisory?

It is an advisory given by the test assessment services to enterprises that need to improve the quality of their processes, products, and services. The former do so by assessing the testing requirements of enterprises, streamlining their value chain, and proposing a quality roadmap for them. This is of utmost importance as achieving business growth by enterprises is directly proportional to their quality of products and services. To make everything fall into place enterprises need the right testing strategy, infrastructure, tools, and skillsets. The ATS consultants can build and implement innovative, distributive, secure, and adaptive testing infrastructure by leveraging new technologies. The focus of creating any test advisory framework is to address any evolving challenges – from competitors, shifting customer preferences, or emerging technologies/methodologies.

How software test advisory services help – an analysis?

• Evaluating processes with a fresh perspective: It is often the case that businesses are not aware of any shortcomings in their processes, which may lead to the development and delivery of substandard quality of products or services. This aspect is also a result of their strong belief about the infallibility of their processes or human resources. A third-party QA consulting company can assess the whole thing (SWOT analysis) from a fresh perspective, identify loopholes, and suggest measures to address them. And while doing so, they may not be overawed by the reputation or experience of the human resources running the processes.
• Establishing metrics-driven QA and test governance: QA is all about testing the code against expected outcomes based on some fixed parameters. It also involves the execution of test automation by writing test scripts and using variables. If the actual data for executing such tests are difficult to come by in real-time, then virtualization can be of help. The objective is to test and validate each set of code for as many variables as possible. It allows prompt identification of glitches, which manual testing cannot achieve.
• Implementation of Agile and DevOps: The inadequacies of the waterfall method of testing have led to the adoption of Agile and DevOps methodologies. However, most enterprises may not be in a position or have the wherewithal to implement these methodologies. This is where the test advisory services can suggest measures in terms of streamlining processes, building a quality culture, and responding to customer feedback, among others. The whole testing paraphernalia should ensure the products so delivered are updated continuously by following a CI/CD pipeline.
• Improving skill competencies, integrating tools, and enhancing operational efficiency: In the DevOps scheme of things of which quality engineering is an integral part, the skills of developers and testers often overlap. In other words, a developer should have the knowledge of testing and vice-versa. The combined skillset would offer insights into resources working for the twin disciplines (development and testing) and help them gain a better perspective about each other. The test transformation services would look into the skillsets of people manning the processes, suggest training needs and testing tools, and measures to optimize resources. By implementing such measures, enterprises can enhance their operational efficiencies thereby accelerating the time-to-market.
• Upholding business reputation and adhering to compliance requirements: Security has emerged as a serious concern for enterprises developing software products. The rising cases of cybercrimes and their impact on businesses and end-customers mean security should have a holistic rather than a piecemeal approach. The advisory services have a job at hand in guiding enterprises to strengthen security testing. The implementation of DevSecOps is the need of the hour wherein every employee within the organization understands the importance of adhering to security measures. In addition, enterprises should adhere to various compliance and regulatory requirements. These help to generate trust among end-customers besides dealing with any censure, penalties, or lawsuits should some breach takes place.

Conclusion

The changing dynamics of business means enterprises have to stay ahead of the competition curve. This can be done by improving productivity, quality of products/services, removing operational bottlenecks, responding to customer feedback, integrating technologies, and many more. To ensure these, engaging software testing advisory services can be of great help.