Cybersecurity: Top 5 questions to ask a QA vendor

What information to request from QA providers to get confident in the complete security of your software and protect end-user sensitive data? Read about that in the article. 

While moving to an online environment and introducing technologies, companies may face poorly secured systems. This is where cyberattacks become those of the most pressing issues, making businesses vulnerable. It’s estimated the combined cost to fix data breaches will reach $10.5 trillion in 2025. 

What do businesses undertake to avoid taking on high costs? 

It depends. Some hire in-house cybersecurity specialists while others are looking for support from independent vendors — software testing companies. 

Let’s imagine you’ve picked the second option. 

Here are the top 5 questions to ask your QA provider to ensure they will help launch faultless and attack-proof IT solutions. 

Question #1. “What cybersecurity testing approaches and methodologies do you apply?” 

Penetration testing and vulnerability assessments conducted in line with OWASP guidelines are one of the up-to-date cybersecurity approaches. They help simulate hackers’ behavior while identifying the software bottlenecks and mitigating the risk of cyberattacks. 

For instance, with the assistance of a vulnerability assessment guided by the OWASP Web and Mobile Security Testing methodologies, a US-based company overseeing commercial real estate assets in NYC identified critical security weaknesses within its administrative web portal and iOS/Android mobile applications. These flaws included the use of default passwords for the admin panel, unencrypted data transmission, authorization errors, and the exposure of login credentials in logs or local files. Left unaddressed, they could have led to severe security breaches, potentially granting unauthorized access to sensitive business information and compromising the integrity of the company’s digital infrastructure. 

DevSecOps is one more important methodology. It ensures that security is a shared responsibility across all project teams — from the start of the software development life cycle to maintenance. QA engineers mastering it mitigate vulnerabilities early, reducing risks and remediation costs, and identify loopholes such as insufficient authentication, addressing and patching them before the software is released.  

This proactive approach hinders malicious actors from gaining unauthorized access, injecting code, or compromising sensitive data, making IT products resilient against cyber threats from day one. 

Establishing a Secure Software Development Life Cycle is of high importance too. While traditional SDLC focuses on functionality, performance, and delivery, this strategic framework advocates for embedding security every step of the way — from the initial planning phase to deployment and maintenance. To fully reap its multiple benefits, organizations may combine it with shift-left testing. This proactive approach integrates security testing earlier in the development process, ensuring that vulnerabilities are identified before they reach production, reducing remediation costs and improving resilience of IT products. 

Once you have asked what methodologies a QA vendor applies, you will understand what the supplier implements to achieve increased IT product security, reduced QA costs, fixed leaks. 

It’s no more necessary to explain that preventing both minor and major attacks assists in avoiding damaged reputation, compromised customer data as well as financial loss. 

Question #2. “Do you have a cyber incident response plan?” 

They say forewarned is forearmed, so it’s a good practice to think about a response plan in advance and create some actions in case of an emergency to react quickly to malicious usage. 

In line with every possible cybercrime type and level, QA providers develop multiple scenarios to minimize the risks of exploiting the software. 

In 2023, a critical data breach in a widely used file transfer application compromised organizations across the globe. Hackers exploited a previously unknown zero-day vulnerability, allowing them to infiltrate systems and access confidential data. This breach significantly affected multiple industries, including BFSI, government, and healthcare. One notable example was the exposure of nearly 1 million individuals’ health data, highlighting the widespread impact and severity of the attack. 

Cyberattacks are becoming more sophisticated requiring new testing approaches to keep up with the pace of hackers. Make sure the QA provider considers sudden cyber incidents to timely dodge them by introducing continuous security monitoring approach paying attention to trends. 

Question #3. “Do you ensure software compliance with the global safety standards?” 

Working with clients’ sensitive information, range of IT products should comply with global cybersecurity standards (ISO/IEC 27001, PCI DSS, HIPAA, and others). A big deal, as they contribute to: 

• Understanding risk significance and its impact on the system 

• Eliminating data transmission 

• Monitoring suspicious activity and preventing it 

• Enhancing incident response and disaster recovery 

• Building customer trust and business reputation. 

While asking this question, more details on cross-domain expertise help understand which spheres a QA vendor has already worked in. 

By ensuring the app’s compliance with standards, the provider facilitates an IT solution safety as well as customers’ protection from all types of harm, including identity theft. 

For instance, by allowing an external QA provider to conduct a security audit in line with IEC 62304 (Class C), HIPAA, FDA, and OWASP, the company specializing in blood component, therapeutic apheresis, and cellular technologies got insights into software security level, risks, spotted vulnerabilities, and recommendations for secure fixing. 

Another instance involves a European conglomerate with financial, investment, and internet businesses. They were developing a digital payment solution that was needed to meet PCI DSS compliance. They collaborated with an independent QA provider. This partnership enabled them to validate the billing process, assess security resilience, and identify risks related to data loss. Consequently, PCI DSS auditors found no issues with the system or its components. 

Question #4. “Do you have an internal security policy?” 

Clients do trust companies with a well-tuned security policy that reflects: 

• Data protection standards 

• Assessment of business risks 

• Resources and devices used in the workflow 

• Rules for non-disclosing third-party information 

• Continuous real-time security monitoring 

• Access control and authentication  

• Incident response and recovery plan 

• Guidelines on how to establish information security for the enterprises under national and international regulations 

• Internal employee training and awareness programs 

• And more. 

Hackers regularly develop new ways to penetrate the system, which requires a strengthened security policy. If employees don’t meet the safety regulations accepted within the organization, this can aggravate the situation and give cybercriminals an advantage. That is why a credible QA provider has a policy that all specialists follow to avoid data compromise and its leakage. 

Cybercriminals may attempt to steal data not by hacking software but by tricking the organization staff. To address similar problems, some companies develop policies to test their employees for alertness (e.g., by introducing phishing). 

Question #5. “Do you educate your employees on cybersecurity issues?” 

Sometimes, data breaches occur as a result of human errors (lack of expertise, untimely updating, etc.). But the consequences of cybercrimes rapidly spread across intersecting parties while triggering the spillover effect. In 2020, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York claimed that the cyberattack on any of the five most active banks affects 38% of the network because of their interconnectivity. 

Providing employees with additional training helps reinforce their cybersecurity knowledge, learn how to correctly apply innovations related to the cyber environment, improve company awareness of internal security policy updates, etc.  

To prevent cybersecurity crimes within any organization, it’s vital that your employees follow at least the most basic security practices, namely: 

• Never open unfamiliar emails or click on links from unknown senders to avert phishing attempts aimed at stealing login details or infecting systems with malware. 

• Carefully review access settings before sharing confidential information to confirm that only appropriate individuals can view or modify the data. 

• Always lock your computer when stepping away, especially in public or shared environments, to block any unauthorized access. 

• Create strong, one-of-a-kind passwords and turn on multi-factor authentication to strengthen defenses even if a password falls into the wrong hands. 

• Regularly update your software and OSs to fix security gaps that hackers can otherwise take advantage of. 

• Avoid installing unapproved software or connecting unfamiliar USB devices to prevent occurrence of harmful code that threatens the security of the entire network. 

Summing up 

Within highly sophisticated cyberattacks, companies are ready as never to pay greater attention to cybersecurity testing. It helps protect end-user personal data, minimize risks of cyber incidents, and make sure the software complies with cybersecurity requirements across the globe. 

When looking for a QA provider to support you in that, ask some questions on testing methodologies, cyber incidents response plan, safety standards, internal security policy, and in-depth training. 

If you’re ready to take the next step, feel free to reach out to a1qa’s experts to get holistic support on cybersecurity testing.