Why Is Software Quality Assurance A Must To Tackle Cyber Security Threats?
The growing digitization initiatives taken by individuals, groups, businesses, organizations and governments have turned the world into a global village. Internet usage has facilitated a seamless flow of information and has benefited arguably every conceivable sector of human activity. Just a click on a search engine and the specific information pops up for the user. Information technology has not only helped traditional businesses to improve productivity, reduce redundancies/rework, and enhance efficiency and quality, but has spawned a host of new businesses as well. The growth of digital or mobile companies with a digital interface such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Apple amongst others bear testimony to the phenomenon of digitization.
Information Technology has created new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Big data analytics, Internet of Things (IoT) or Cloud Computing to help human activity. So far so good! However, everything is not hunky dory as it may appear, for there is a flipside to the whole internet revolution as well. This is related to the rising threat of cybercrime where unscrupulous individuals, groups, organizations and even governments manipulate the digital ecosystem to carry out their nefarious agenda.
Impact of cyber crime
Higher incidences of cybercrime have made many people wary of the internet or use a software connected to it. The growing threat of viruses, trojans, malware, ransomware, phishing, and hacking means software quality assurance is no longer a fancy idea to be discussed in seminars, but get it implemented effectively. The very fact that web or mobile applications carry sensitive individual or business information is a reason enough for cyber criminals to target them.
According to industry estimates, cybercrime costs the global economy up to $500 billion a year and has been projected to touch a whopping $2 trillion by the year 2019 (Source: Forbes.) Furthermore, cybercrime encompasses a large canvas that is not limited to defrauding individuals or businesses with money or information alone, but even more sinister. A huge number of software with an interface to the internet seem to have become a leaking sieve. The sieve is harnessed by criminals of all hues such as terrorists, drug cartels, human traffickers and more. They use the unsecured digital ecosystem to launder money and carry out their vicious agenda. With unsecured software becoming an easy target for cyber criminals, companies are at a greater risk of losing the trust of customers, brand value, and revenue.
Regulatory agencies
To strengthen cyber security and to ensure greater compliance, there exists a host of security mandates such as GDPR, FDIC, GLBA, HIPAA, HITECH, NCUA, OCC and PCI DSS. Companies should maintain an extra vigil to meet the regulations or face severe censure or penalties in case there is a security breach. In fact, according to the GDPR provisions effective from May 25, 2018, an organization has to cough up 20 million Euros or 4% of its annual revenue, whichever is higher in case sensitive customer information is leaked. No wonder the impact of such steep penalties can make a company go out of business. Thus, more the reason why software quality assurance should be made an integral part of the SDLC or implemented in a company where IT services run the show.
What is software quality assurance?
The process involves a set of activities to ensure the quality of a software through auditing, testing, and training. The auditing and testing activities are all about identifying the vulnerabilities in a software or its interface with the hardware or network. The training is about sensitising the people to follow cyber security protocols. Once the vulnerabilities/glitches/bugs are identified, the same are worked upon to enhance the quality of software on a continuous basis. The process of software product testing involves various types of testing such as functional, usability, performance, integration, security etc.
How can software product testing help?
Quality validation: When users buy a software they put an intrinsic faith in its quality. The quality can be related to aspects such as the software’s functionality, usability, performance and most importantly, security. If the software happens to use sensitive customer information such as card details, it is all the more important that the software comes with an assurance of quality. This is where software application testing can help in validating the quality of software as per the above mentioned parameters.
Secures the software against vulnerabilities: An unsecured software can be a recipe for inviting hackers or cyber criminals. Hence, any software product testing strategy should identify the glitches and plug them against intrusive vectors such as malware, viruses, trojans, bots etc.
Builds a quality culture: A quality assurance process, besides validating the software for quality, creates a quality culture where everyone in the organization becomes responsible to ensure the quality of software during the entire SDLC and beyond.
Improves ROI: The software product testing method can throw up inadequacies in the development, operation and delivery processes of a company. The QA process identifies the metrics that every code and by consequence, function or process of a company should adhere to. Thus, knowing the areas of improvement, the stakeholders can work towards streamlining the processes and functions of the company. This can help in improving productivity, reducing waste, and enhancing the delivery mechanism?—?all leading to a better user experience. When customers are assured of the quality of software and are reasonably satisfied with the quick feedback mechanism, the business benefits.
Conclusion
The threat of cyber security and its dire consequences have forced businesses to adopt quality assurance of their products and services. It is only by following robust QA strategies that businesses can build trust about the software and comply with the mandates of the regulatory bodies.