Security Testing and Mitigation Strategies – Questions & Answers
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Functional testing includes ad hoc and exploratory testing, focusing on verifying software behavior without predefined scripts. For applications with multiple modules developed by different teams, integration testing ensures all components work securely across tiers. Security testing should be integrated during the test phase of the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) to validate protections before deployment. To confirm security measures function as intended, functional security testing is essential. Additionally, threat modeling helps organizations proactively identify potential attacks and vulnerabilities, guiding secure application design and reducing overall risk. This comprehensive approach strengthens software resilience throughout development.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What are the two types of functional testing?
Ad hoc testing, exploratory testing
These testing methods verify that application features work as intended, often without formal test cases, to uncover unexpected issues.
2. Your software application includes multiple software modules coded by different developers. You want to be able to test them together as a group. What type of security testing is best suited for testing your application across multiple tiers?
Integration testing
Integration testing checks how different modules or tiers interact, ensuring they work securely and correctly as a whole.
3. In which stage of the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) should security testing be performed?
Test
The test stage is where implemented features undergo functional, integration, and security validation before release.
4. You are ready to test the security implementations in your app to see if they work as designed. What type of testing should you perform?
Functional testing
Functional testing verifies that security features, like authentication or encryption, function as intended.
5. You wish to help your organization by identifying attacks and vulnerabilities that could affect your application. What technique can you use to help influence your app’s design and help reduce risk to your organization?
Threat modeling
Threat modeling identifies and analyzes potential security threats early, shaping the design to reduce risks.