Why Application Security should be your top priority and what you can do about it?

Web or mobile applications are ruling our lives. From paying utility bills, playing games, and browsing on social media to booking movie and airline tickets and receiving news-feeds, applications are here to stay. According to statistics, the annual downloads of applications in the year 2020 is likely to touch 258 billion (Source: app-scoop.com). What does this imply? Our lives are going to be increasingly driven by digital applications. These bring in their wake attributes like convenience, ease of navigation, speedy delivery, and security, among others. However, the last one, ‘security’, has turned out to be a challenge of sorts with cyber threats growing incessantly.

Today, cyber threats have assumed menacing proportions with alarming consequences - for individuals, enterprises, and governments alike. These have evolved with advanced technologies and the propensity of users to remain indifferent. Cyber threats are just lurking behind the IT infrastructure waiting to exploit the built-in vulnerabilities. So, how does one remain vigilant and preempt such an eventuality? The answer lies in conducting a robust and time-bound application security testing. It ensures the timely detection of any vulnerability, breach, or risk, thereby allowing the organization to mitigate it.

It is not that only a certain size or kind of business becomes a victim of cybercrime. Everyone using the digital ecosystem is vulnerable. So, as we go about expanding our digital capabilities, we must also lay equal emphasis on strengthening the security framework. This can be done by conducting routine software application security testing in the SDLC. Further, as the Internet of Things (IoT) revolution slowly but steadily envelops the digital landscape, there is a concurrent increase in cybersecurity scare. The biggest challenge to have emerged is identifying the weak nodes among the billions of interconnected IoT devices.

Planning and running an application security testing exercise can have challenges (and vulnerabilities) such as:

l  Presence of threats like SQL injections and cross-site scripting

l  Lack of a proper strategy for application security testing

l  Not using the right dynamic application security testing tools

l  Inadequate tracking of the test progress

l  Reduced scope of testing due to the pressure of time and speed

l  Inability to build the right team and plan

l  Failure to adhere to the established security protocols

l  Absence of an application inventory. The same would have tracked expired SSL certificates, mobile APIs, and added domains, among others

How to build a robust application security testing methodology

The threat from hackers is real as enterprises have become wary of falling prey to their shenanigans. Statistically, cybercrime is expected to cost a global loss of around $6 trillion annually by 2021 (Source: Annual Cybercrime Report of Cybersecurity Ventures.) Also, hackers have been found to attack every 39 seconds or 2,244 times a day on an average as per a survey by the University of Maryland. Hence, web and mobile application security testing should be accorded the highest priority. Let us understand the process to build an effective strategy.

# Analyze the software development process: Many-a-times the processes drawn for building software can have gaps or weak links. These can bring a smile on the faces of hackers. Thus, testers should scrutinize or analyze the development cycle to identify the gaps or vulnerabilities.

# Create a threat model: Post analyzing the development process, prepare a threat model to understand the data flow through the application. This way, testers can identify the problem areas or defective locations in the process.

# Automate: The testing of applications comprises steps that are iterative in nature. These mundane tasks can tie human resources, which otherwise could have been used to execute other critical tasks. So, to improve efficiency and better identification of glitches, the testing process should be automated. By running automated test scripts, testers and developers can examine the source code to identify vulnerabilities. Thereafter, the same can be mitigated before actual deployment.

# Manual testing not to be dispensed with: Even though manual testing receives a lot of flak when it comes to the identification of errors, they can be effective as well. This is due to the fact that automated tools working on a script can miss certain errors that are not accounted for in the script. This is where manual testing can help by leveraging human expertise.

# Fixing metrics: The vulnerabilities in an application can only be ascertained when the features and functionalities are tested against a set of metrics. These help enterprises to focus on specific areas and improve risk management.

Conclusion

Cyber threats have emerged as key concerns for enterprises or organizations. They can have damaging consequences when it comes to factors like trust and customer experience. By undertaking static or dynamic application security testing, enterprises can address such issues and truly harness the benefits of an advanced digital ecosystem.

What are the best testing tools for 2020?

Digitalization, although a blessing in every sense of the word, can have its basket of thorns as well. This refers to the hacking activities using measures like phishing or introducing elements like ransomware, viruses, trojans, and malware. Globally, security breaches have caused an annual loss of $20.38 million in 2019 (Source: Statista.com). Also, cybercrime has led to a loss of 0.80% of the world’s GDP, which sums up to around $2.1 trillion in 2019 alone (Source: Cybriant.com).

With a greater number of enterprises and entities clambering onto the digital bandwagon, security considerations have taken a center stage. And since new technologies like AI/ML, IoT, and Big Data, are increasingly making inroads into our day-to-day lives, the risks associated with cybercrime are growing as well. Further, the use of web and mobile applications in transacting financial data has put the entire digital paraphernalia exposed to security breaches. The inherent vulnerabilities present in such applications can be exploited by cybercriminals to siphon off critical data including money.

To stem the rot and preempt adverse consequences of cybercrime, such as losing customer trust and brand reputation, security testing should be made mandatory. Besides executing application security testing, every software should be made compliant with global security protocols and regulations. These include ISO/IEC 27001 & 27002, RFC 2196, CISQ, NIST, ANSI/ISA, PCI, and GDPR.

Thus, in the Agile-DevSecOps driven software development cycle, security testing entails identifying and mitigating the vulnerabilities in a system. These may include SQL injection, Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), broken authentication, security misconfiguration, session management, Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) or failure to restrict URL access, among others. No wonder, penetration testing is accorded high priority when it comes to securing an application. So, to make the software foolproof against malicious codes or hackers, let us find out the best security testing tools for 2020.

What are the best security testing tools for 2020?

Any application security testing methodology shall entail the conduct of functional testing. This way, many vulnerabilities and security issues can be identified, which if not addressed in time can lead to hacking. The tool needed to conduct such testing can be both open-source and paid. Let us discuss them in detail.

·         Nessus: Used for vulnerability assessment and penetrating testing, this remote security scanning tool has been developed by Tenable Inc. While testing the software, especially on Windows and Unix systems, the tool raises an alert if it identifies any vulnerability. Initially available for free, Nessus is now a paid tool. Even though it costs around $2,190 per year, it remains one of the popular and highly effective scanners to check vulnerabilities. It employs a simple language aka Nessus Attack Scripting Language (NASL) to identify potential attacks and threats.

·         Burp Suite: When it comes to web application security testing, Burp Suite remains hugely popular. Developed by PortSwigger Web Security and written in Java, it offers an integrated penetrating testing platform to execute software security testing for web applications. The various tools within its overarching framework cover the entire testing process. These include tasks like mapping & analysis and finding security vulnerabilities.

·         Nmap: Also known as the Network Mapper, this is an open-source tool to conduct security auditing. Additionally, it can detect the live host and open ports on the network. Developed by Gordon Lyon, Nmap does its job of discovering host and services in a network by dispatching packets and analyzing responses. Network administrators use it to identify devices running in the network, discover hosts, and find open ports.

·         Metaspoilt: As one of the popular hacking and penetration testing tools, it can find vulnerabilities in a system easily. Owned by Rapid7, it can gain ingress into remote systems, identify latent security issues, and manage security assessments.

·         AppScan: Now owned by HCL and developed by the Rational Software division of IBM, AppScan is counted among the best security testing tools. As a dynamic analysis testing tool used for web application security testing, AppScan carries out automated scans of web applications.

·         Arachni: As a high-performing open source and modular web application security scanner framework, Arachni executes high-quality security testing. It identifies, classifies, and logs security issues besides uncovering vulnerabilities such as SQL and XSS injections, invalidated redirect, and local and remote file inclusion. Based on the Ruby framework, this modular tool can be instantly deployed and offers support for multiple platforms.

·         Grabber: Designed to scan web applications, personal websites, and forums, this light penetration testing tool is based on Python. With no GUI interface, Grabber can identify a range of vulnerabilities such as cross-site scripting, AJAX and backup files verification, and SQL injection. This portable tool supports JS code analysis and can generate a stats analysis file.

·         Nogotofail: Developed by Google, this testing tool helps to verify the network traffic, detect misconfigurations and TLS/SSL vulnerabilities. The other vulnerabilities detected by Nogotofail are SSL injection, SSL certificate verification issues, and MiTM attacks. The best attributes of this tool include being lightweight and easy to deploy and use. It can be set up as a router, VPN server, or proxy.

·         SQL Map: This free-to-use security testing tool can support a range of SQL injection methodologies. These include Boolean-based blind, out-of-band, stacked queries, error-based, UNION query, and time-based blind. This open-source penetrating testing software detects vulnerabilities in an application by injecting malicious codes. Its robust detection engine helps by automating the process of identifying vulnerabilities related to SQL injections. The tool supports databases such as Oracle, PostgreSQL, and MySQL.

Conclusion

Testing the security of applications or websites has become a critical requirement in the SDLC. This is due to the growing threats from cybercriminals who are adopting every possible means to hoodwink the security protocol or exploit the inherent vulnerabilities in a system. The only insurance against such a growing menace is to make security testing a responsibility for every stakeholder in the SDLC and beyond.

What benefits do Quality Engineering Services bring to businesses?

With Information Technology disrupting the entire global landscape, individuals, enterprises, and entities are embracing digital transformation in a big way. And in this pursuit of transformation, enterprises are updating their legacy systems and migrating some (or all) of their products, services, or databases to platforms like the cloud. Amidst such disruptions, software (system or application) has emerged as the key for enterprises to remain relevant and competitive. However, the software can often end up with bugs or glitches, thus adversely impacting its performance. Also, a glitch-prone software can dilute the user experience and render the brand ineffectual.

Digital technologies, in addition to disrupting the business ecosystem, is impacting the IT environment considerably. Interestingly, the entire thrust of digital transformation is towards obtaining better customer experiences. The latter can, however, get impacted when the software or system does not function to its optimum thanks to the presence of glitches or bugs.

So, how does one ensure the software leaving the development and testing pipeline to be quality compliant? The answer lies in following a robust quality assurance service. However, in the shift-left testing approach, since the focus is on identifying and mitigating errors early on in the build stage, there could be chances of errors slipping through. With DevOps being embraced by enterprises to achieve faster release of glitch-free software, the focus has come to quality engineering. According to this, enterprises should work towards preempting the presence of glitches instead of finding (and mitigating) them later.

How QA has evolved due to the new digital challenges

As enterprises across industry verticals are embracing digital transformation to increase efficiency, there are opportunities and challenges galore. With the advent of quality engineering services, enterprises can look at the below-mentioned outcomes.

·         DevOps and Agile driven shift in priorities and strategies

·         Getting access to devices, new technologies, and form factors

·         Integrate new technologies with the legacy systems and overhaul them

·         Better integration between development and testing teams

·         Incorporate user feedback mechanism into the build and test pipeline

·         Increase the use of automation in testing

·         Training resources in alignment with the requirements

·         Maximizing the scope of testing within budget constraints

How a quality engineering strategy can help matters?

As opposed to traditional QA processes, quality engineering services involve analyzing the design of a product and working with the development and operations teams. These aim at managing the development, operation, and maintenance of IT systems, architecture, and frameworks to obtain a superior quality standard. In enterprise quality engineering, every stakeholder is made part of the planning, development, and delivery pipeline.

Shift-left and strengthen right: With the change in business priorities and technologies such as IoT, AI, and SMAC, among others, the world of QA is facing transformation. So, in shifting left and strengthening right, the software quality engineering services cover a few aspects. These include test and analytics-driven development, virtualization, security testing, API testing, continuous automation, and performance engineering to manage quality.

Agility: Automation has emerged as the key requirement to meet the goals of Agile and DevOps. By implementing test automation in the shift-left driven development and testing pipeline, glitches can be identified and mitigated early. It also enhances the quality coverage of software products across multiple channels. Moreover, test automation can offer advanced analytics and reporting mechanism to predict bugs or defects in the test environment. Thus, the impact on user experience can be reduced drastically and the business made more agile and responsive.

Business value: Leveraging digital quality engineering can help enterprises in offering glitch-free products tailored to customer requirements. This can add to their business value due to reduced defects, faster processes, and minimum user acceptance testing efforts.

Improved security: Vulnerabilities in IT systems and networks have become a cause for concern. The rising graph of cybercrime and the potential threat it poses for businesses and their end-customers need to be tackled head-on. Leveraging a quality engineering strategy in the form of DevSecOps can focus on enhancing security and making the software hack-proof.

Conclusion

Enterprises should leverage the latest tools, technologies, and methodologies to develop quality products or services. As the presence of defects or bugs can hit the user experience and thereby the brand value, implementation of quality engineering should be prioritized. The ultimate aim should be to achieve rapid delivery of quality products or services and reduce the cost of operations. A robust quality engineering strategy can deliver SLA-driven and outcome-based quality-compliant products or services in real quick time.

Why is DevOps so important for this decade?

In a world driven by technology, quality has become paramount. This is because glitch-prone software can render the performance of systems ineffective causing adverse consequences - both for the users and enterprises. To mitigate glitches, enhance user experiences, and bring about a holistic improvement in processes, DevOps methodology needs to become mainstream. It can address issues such as missed release deadlines, risky releases, and long release cycles. As a third-generation development methodology, DevOps is an extension of Agile and aims at overcoming challenges of culture, collaboration, and automation. Further, if you seek to deliver applications continuously, reduce waste, and establish a quick feedback mechanism, then DevOps is the way to follow.

In DevOps testing, the collaboration between development and operations teams is aimed at achieving an integrated build environment with quality at the core. DevOps quality assurance helps to reduce the release cycle time, the number of defects during the build, delivery, and maintenance phases, cost of ownership and operations, and accelerate the time to market.

What is DevOps?

This methodology is designed to improve collaboration between the development and operations teams through the automation of processes. The outcomes aimed at are build, test, and deliver software quickly and consistently. In DevOps transformation, a large project is broken into smaller independent building blocks. This means if any glitches are found they can be remedied locally without impacting the entire value chain.

DevOps transformation is about extending Agile in the build cycle to achieve continuous delivery at minimal risk. However, achieving transformation would depend on a host of factors. These include business and IT requirements, type of technology used, work culture, and the structure and processes of the organization.

Benefits DevOps testing services can accrue for enterprises

In a technology-driven IT landscape where user experiences shape the growth trajectory of enterprises, DevOps testing can act as an insurance of sorts. The insurance can be against releasing glitch-prone software, causing software breaches and bad user experiences, or loss in brand value. Also, in the IoT-driven digital environment consisting of a host of embedded software, glitches can play havoc with the lives of people and organizations. For example, if the navigation software in an aircraft contains a glitch, the pilots can misread the instructions causing the aircraft to crash. Again, if the software within a diagnostic tool has some erroneous codes, the readings can lead to wrong diagnosis and treatment.

·   Faster time-to-market: DevOps test automation takes forward the application of Agile principles leading to faster development and frequent delivery of software. In this decade where customers would be spoilt for choices and new technologies making inroads into the applications, DevOps can deliver greater user experiences.

·   Better collaboration: In a growing competitive environment, teams operating in silos are a misfit. DevOps implementation would entail the breaking down of such silos and improving transparency. There should be more focus on collaboration, communication, and integration of teams whether operating locally or globally. This can lead to better agility and an environment where everyone in the SDLC would be responsible to meet the quality and delivery timelines.

·   Early detection and correction of glitches: Since DevOps testing is an extension of Agile, it involves automation-driven shift-left testing. Since every code is tested during the build stage itself, glitches, if any, are identified quickly and corrected. This is in sharp contrast to the waterfall method where glitches are identified later in the process. And they entail a lot of effort, time, and cost for correction.

·   Security: Arguably the most important element in software development, testing, and delivery pipeline as it carries serious implications. With cybersecurity scare on the rise and hackers seemingly pitting themselves one step ahead, security has become everyone’s business. So, be it logging into the systems or ensuring proper user authentication, established security protocols should be followed by everyone in the development and delivery pipeline. This is where DevSecOps methodology can mandate the use of security testing in every stage of the SDLC. This is of prime importance as any lingering vulnerability in the build can be exploited by cybercriminals at any phase of the project.

Conclusion

As the decade is likely to witness a significant use of IoT devices and an increased focus on automation, DevOps testing as a process becomes critical. It ensures software glitches are identified and eliminated quickly and a robust feedback mechanism is established. Thus, enterprises will have no choice but to implement DevOps transformation and stay competitive.

How to make your software failure-free using Software Reliability Testing

When the entire global digital landscape is underpinned on the reliability or performance of software, the role of software reliability testing becomes critical. In the metrics of gauging performance, reliability is often pegged above efficiency owing to the following reasons:

·         The lack of product reliability can be telling on the brand value of a company. This may lead the end-users to shy away from buying the software, thus impacting sales.

·         For critical systems like navigation control in an aircraft or an embedded software in a medical device, any system failure can have serious consequences.

·         An inefficient system can be improved by working on small sections of the program suite. However, an unreliable system can be difficult to improve as the glitches leading to such unreliability are not localized but distributed throughout the suite.

·         Inefficient systems can lead to delays and have their own sets of issues. However, the consequences of unreliable systems can be more telling on their immediate surroundings or the people handling them.

·         Inefficient programs can take a long time to execute. This may help programmers or users to find out the issues and remedy them. However, unreliable systems may not sound any alarm until it is too late. For example, a design flaw in an aircraft may not be visible during testing but can manifest itself in the form of a crash.

·         Executing each function fully at least once.

·         Reducing the interaction between functions.

·         Checking the new functionality for its quality and accuracy.

·         Identifying bugs that could get into the system after the new addition or modification.

Since reliability is a critical factor when it comes to the execution of software, software reliability testing needs to be pursued in right earnest. However, let us first understand what software quality testing in terms of validating reliability is all about.

What is software reliability testing?

Reliability testing as a part of software quality assurance services ensures consistent performance and functioning of the software. This means the software should render fault-free performance in a given environment and time period. Importantly, the end-users tend to believe in the outcome of any software. They mostly have blind faith in the performance of software, which may lead to unforeseen consequences. For example, a glitch-prone banking software can be hacked into by cybercriminals with disastrous results. However, users do not brook such a possibility while using the software. Thus, software quality testing becomes the key to ensuring their trust.

How to make your software failure-free courtesy software testing services?

The reliability of the software can be assured by executing a number of tests as detailed below:

·         Feature testing: This type of software testing services check the features and functionality of the software. It tests if the application runs according to the expected outcomes. Also, it checks the interoperability of the software with other components and environments. The test comprises the following activities -

·         Regression testing: This type of testing is done when a new version of the software is added to the build. This validates the new version to be free of any glitches. The activities associated with this type of testing are as follows.

·         Load testing: This type of testing checks whether a particular functionality works to its optimum when subjected to the highest workload. The test ensures the software responds within a minimum time, say 5 seconds, to the user commands. If this test is not conducted, then the system can crash abruptly or suffer from latency. This can lead to frustrating user experiences and creating a negative impression of the brand.

·         Security testing: Given that a large number of software is dealing with sensitive personal and business information, security testing has become integral to reliability testing. It relates to identifying the vulnerabilities and preventing any unauthorized access. Also, the testing checks if the software complies with the industry-accepted rules, standards, etc. This is more apparent with software that deals with banking and financial transactions.

Conclusion

The reliability of software is arguably the most important facet of any software application. Also, it is relatively costly than other forms of testing thus necessitating proper test management. As the complexity of software increases with each passing day, software quality engineering can play a key role in driving reliability. Reliability testing can go a long way in ensuring better user experiences and maintain the competitive edge of businesses.

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The use of Automated Testing in a CI/CD Pipeline?

The rigors of the market and changing user preferences have focused on the need for developing quality applications. Since quality can be a relative term changing across processes and based on numerous in-situ parameters, methodologies like Continuous Improvement or Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) become important. In other words, any software needs to be upgraded continually based on user feedback and market trends. Enterprises are increasingly embracing Agile and DevOps to build new products and services within short turnarounds. However, such speedy development cycles can lead to the release of bug-infested software. This is due to the fact that both developers and testers get less time to validate all the quality parameters. Moreover, it is often observed that developers and testers focus on activities/elements like code repository management, integration, and CI servers. Surprisingly, automated testing services are often not on the list of developers notwithstanding the demand for quick release cycles and increasing complexity of software.

What is automated testing?

It involves the testing of software codes using scripts, frameworks, and tools. Here, preconfigured tests are executed to validate the features and functionalities of software against a given set of parameters. At the end of testing, the automated testing framework prepares a detailed report of the test including the glitches found.

Let us understand what benefits automated application testing brings to the table vis-a-vis the CI/CD pipeline.

Why the CI/CD pipeline needs automated testing services?

A software needs periodic upgrades to remain aligned with the market needs and technology changes. A robust continuous integration and testing mechanism can ensure quick feedback on the changes. It helps to identify glitches quickly before the product hits the market. To enable the same, automated testing solutions should be harnessed. These can provide stakeholders with accurate information on the inherent risks thereby helping them to take informed decisions. By implementing a robust test automation strategy wherein various tests are run continually, the resultant product turns out to be glitch-free and delivering superior user experience.

Benefits of using an automated testing strategy in CI/CD pipeline

With the complexity of software applications increasing and delivery schedules reducing, it has become imperative to validate their functionalities across devices, operating platforms, browsers, and networks. This is where an automated testing strategy can help in the following ways -

• Quicker tests: Since CI/CD pipeline requires speed and a minimum turnaround time, automation testing can validate various aspects of the software quickly than say, manual testing. Also, automated tests can be run for any number of times and not let glitches go undetected.
• Faster regression tests: The CI/CD process involves receiving speedy feedback from the users. The impact of changes made in the software can be validated better by using automated testing. Also, such testing can run in parallel, thereby shortening the execution time.
• Consistency: No software should have anomalies, especially during the execution of continuous integration. Automated testing can identify the glitches or anomalies present in the software and ensure a consistent performance. Also, it ensures expectations are met until the product is finally released. 
• Efficient release of software updates: Frequent software updates can face challenges in removing bugs in a continuous delivery pipeline. Thus, the risk of bug infested build can increase thereby impacting the end-user experience. Automated testing can take care of such occurrences and streamline the delivery process.
• Agility: In a continuous integration and delivery pipeline, the technology, frameworks, and configurations should be amenable to changes based on the business requirements. In the absence of an automated testing framework, it would be virtually impossible to implement and validate such builds in the expected time frame. Also, it would amount to being inefficient if the QA team must wait to rewrite or reconfigure the test suites. Since test automation can reconfigure the test suites automatically, crucial build time can be saved.
• Better product visibility: Tests such as interface or unit testing can deliver greater visibility about the product at any given point in time. Test automation can provide instant feedback for developers in the CI/CD pipeline so that the latter can administer a quick-fix to the build later.

Conclusion

Software developers and testers can start small when it comes to implementing the CI/CD pipeline. As you gain experience in writing test suites and automation, the challenges that come with the job can be used as a learning phase. The benefits will soon become apparent as they go about following the best technical approach and using the right framework. In a fast-growing digital landscape, automated testing services shall be your best bet in ensuring faster release of glitch-free products.

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