Ramona Schwering

It's a (testing) trap! - Common testing pitfalls and how to solve them

What if your end-to-end tests could find security holes before a hacker does? Learn to write tests that simulate common attacks and secure your application from the inside.

It's a (testing) trap! - Common testing pitfalls and how to solve them
#1about 5 minutes

Using automated tests as a line of defense

The "Plants vs. Zombies" game is used as an analogy to frame automated tests as a protective measure against security threats.

#2about 4 minutes

Focusing on the top three OWASP security threats

The OWASP Top 10 project is introduced, focusing on broken access control, cryptographic failures, and injection as key vulnerabilities to test for.

#3about 3 minutes

Writing test cases for various injection attacks

Practical code examples demonstrate how to write automated tests to detect cross-site scripting (XSS), CSRF, and SQL injection vulnerabilities.

#4about 2 minutes

Testing for Content Security Policy (CSP) headers

Configure Cypress to check for the presence and correctness of Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to prevent certain types of injection attacks.

#5about 1 minute

How to test for broken access control issues

Cover authentication flows with dedicated tests, including negative test cases for invalid credentials, to prevent unauthorized access.

#6about 1 minute

Verifying encryption and cryptographic standards in tests

Cypress automatically fails tests on non-HTTPS sites, providing a built-in check for basic cryptographic failures like missing SSL/TLS certificates.

#7about 1 minute

Complementing tests with automated security scanning tools

Beyond writing test cases, use tools for static analysis (SAST), dynamic analysis (DAST), and dependency scanning to find vulnerabilities you might not know about.

#8about 4 minutes

Implementing a strategic workflow for security testing

Adopt a repeatable process that involves learning your app's vulnerabilities, creating a test plan, writing targeted tests, and integrating them into your CI/CD pipeline.

#9about 2 minutes

Key takeaways for effective security test automation

Test automation is a powerful complement to other security measures, simple test cases are highly effective, and all testing types can be utilized.

#10about 1 minute

Q&A: How to increase team awareness for security tests

Frame security tests as a "messenger" that automates vigilance, saving developers cognitive load and protecting user trust by catching issues early.

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