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11. Test Applications

Testing your product ensures that it works correctly, provides a good user experience, and helps find and prevent errors before it goes into production. Testing also reduces the risk of personal data breaches.

Automate Testing

• Development tests (unit tests, functional tests, etc.) verify that the product works in accordance with specifications. Security tests (fuzzing, vulnerability scanning, etc.) check that the product still works acceptably when used outside normal boundaries and that it does not contain vulnerabilities that could compromise security. Both types of tests are important for your application’s stability and security.

• Implement a continuous integration system so tests run automatically after each change in the source code.

Integrate Testing into Your Business Strategy

• Include the test environment as part of the company’s strategy. The acceptable metrics must be defined jointly by all stakeholders before development begins.

• Examples of relevant metrics:

  • Coverage of tests and their types;
  • Code duplication and its extent;
  • Number of identified vulnerabilities (based on test tools) and their categorization.

Be Careful with Your Test Data!

• “Real” production data must never be used in development and test phases. Using personal data from the production database for test purposes is equivalent to misuse of the data in relation to its original purpose.

• If personal data is used outside production, security risks increase significantly: access to data for unauthorized persons, multiple storage locations, etc.

• Therefore create a dummy dataset that resembles the data your application will handle. This ensures that an unintended exposure does not have consequences for individuals.

• If you need to import existing configurations from production to your test cases, make sure to anonymize personal data that may be present.