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Call is out to bring security testing into the QA process


By Robin "Roblimo" Miller
April 18, 2008 — 
SAN MATEO, Calif. — Testing the security of software applications should be part of the process of developing the software, not an afterthought. But one security analyst says that’s easier said than done.

Danny Allan, an IBM security researcher, made the case for advancing security research for software applications at the Software Test & Performance Conference April 16.

Allan argued, citing Gartner research, that while 75% of IT attacks are targeted at applications, 90% of IT security spending goes to securing the network, not the applications.

For instance, 86% of Web application attacks use cross-site scripting, Allan explained, which allows an attacker to inject malicious code through a Web application and potentially subvert access controls.

Heading off cross-site scripting or other vulnerabilities requires testing the security of the application at the same time that developers are testing the functionality of the application, he said. Security should be integrated into the quality assurance phase of development and security defects should be logged along with other defects discovered in the process. Regression testing, used to determine how changes in a program may create bugs, should also be used to reveal security bugs.

“Security issues are nothing more than code quality issues,” Allan emphasized.

Yet at least one conference attendee said some organizations are set on a traditional process of developing the software, then testing it for security, and are hard to change.

“I’m the first one to talk about it,” said David Craft, a security analyst with the California Employment Development Department, which distributes unemployment benefits in the state.

“Security needs to be deeper in the process,” Craft said, but to others in his department, “It’s all brand new.”

Microsoft’s WCF Security Guidance Project is also developing a set of best practices that include security testing of applications using Windows Communication Foundation, a .NET-based programming framework. The project’s home page is hosted by the company’s CodePlex Web site.

The WCF 3.5 Security Guidelines, released this month, offer tips for developing and maintaining the security of .NET applications, according to a blog posting by J.D. Meier, a Microsoft software engineer.

“Customers find the guidelines help them cut through a lot of information and take action,” Meier wrote.

If organizations continue to test security features only after the application has been completed, said IBM’s Allan, “We will always be chasing a train that has long ago left the station.”

The Software Test & Performance Conference, held April 15-17, was hosted by BZ Media Inc., which also publishes SD Times.


Related Search Term(s): IBM, QA testing


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