Software businesses cannot ignore cybersecurity if they don’t want to face fines from regulators, unhappy customers and damages to their reputation. This article explains how to incorporate cybersecurity testing into test management and why a disciplined culture across development, testing, and QA teams matters.
Andrian Budantsov, Founder and CEO, Hypersequent
In 2025, the global cost of cybercrime is projected to reach $10.5 trillion, with recent research from Allianz noting that cybersecurity incidents are now one of the leading risks for companies of all sizes. As such, software firms are under ever-increasing pressure to secure their products.
While software companies should have a rigorous test management framework in place to ensure that their programs are functioning correctly, it’s vital that they incorporate cybersecurity testing into these processes.
Building a culture of responsibility
Ultimately, creating secure software requires companies to have a culture of responsibility and continuous improvement within the organization. People must genuinely care about their products and the people who use them. Creating this culture begins with leadership and strong management, ensuring that everyone is aware of the importance of what they do and takes pride in their work.
Putting strong processes in place that allow teams to work together in an efficient and rationalized way will help build this sense of responsibility. Professional, motivated developers, DevOps engineers, testers and team leaders are vital for reaching business objectives and protecting customers.
What a strong test management framework looks like
A strong test management framework involves having an organized test case library and streamlined workflows, with clear roles and responsibilities set out so everyone knows who is responsible for testing what. Teams should agree on testing cycles so everyone knows exactly when tests will run.
Traceability is what distinguishes a genuinely mature engineering organization. Every requirement links to its test cases, every execution links to its results, and every defect ties back to the requirement it threatens. If a customer story changes, you know at once which tests need to move with it; if a bug slips through, you see exactly which promise to users is now at risk.
The same mindset drives risk-based testing. Not all code carries the same weight. Areas that hold customer data, handle money, or keep the service online get deeper, earlier scrutiny, while low-impact corners wait their turn. By shining a light on the riskiest paths first, teams shorten feedback loops and keep the backlog honest.
Finally, a strong test management process delivers clear, actionable feedback so everyone knows what to improve for the next release. From this feedback, they can determine whether it’s safe to ship now – or whether they must pause to troubleshoot first.
Surfacing issues – and applying the fix – is an essential part of ensuring the security of any application. Testers often focus on functionality and overlook the fact that a defect may be a vulnerability, yet unaddressed bugs frequently become entry points for attackers.
Looking through the cybersecurity lens
A robust test-management process is important for many reasons, but teams also need a Shift Left mindset – thinking about security from the first line of code onward. Whether security is integrated into the main Quality Assurance (QA) flow or handled on a dedicated track, teams must stay alert to new threats and attack vectors, such as those highlighted in the OWASP Top 10. Early attention is the only way to design tests that mirror real-world risks.
Alongside this, teams should apply threat modeling to map out how an attacker might exploit weaknesses before they even reach testing. By charting potential attack paths, you design tests that focus on the most critical, realistic threats.
And there’s a useful – and memorable – acronym they can use to help them retain this focus on security: CIA. In this context, this has nothing to do with spies and intelligence agents. It’s all about the three pillars of security breaches – Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability. Some vulnerabilities may lead to sensitive customer data being compromised, affecting the confidentiality of end users. Others may lead to criminal elements being able to corrupt the data a business relies on, compromising integrity. Others still might give bad actors the chance to take key services offline, affecting availability.
The importance of regression testing
In software development, every update brings the risk of breaking something that used to work. If the thing that no longer works opens up a vulnerability, then the consequences could be severe – compromised users, unhappy customers, and costly fixes to apply.
That’s why it’s important that companies aren’t just testing the new functionalities and features that are introduced in a new version of their software. Regression testing is the process of checking that updates haven’t unintentionally caused an issue that impacts the stability or security of the application. Including regression tests in your framework helps catch vulnerabilities before they harm users or break trust. It’s one of the foundational ways to safeguard both your software and your reputation.
Risks of insufficient cybersecurity testing
All of these outcomes would be disastrous for a business, especially those in regulated industries. It would also be very bad for any software partner that caused them to be exposed. A new directive that will soon apply in the EU, the Product Liability Directive 2024/2853 (PLD 2024), means that any software company whose product is found to be ‘defective’ – including through lax cybersecurity – will need to have comprehensive test management processes in place and keep extensive records of their testing if they have any hope of mounting a defense.
Depending on the scenario, software companies may find themselves investigated for compliance failures, and having to pay compensation to users or steep fines. In very severe cases they may lose their license, or need to make management changes. What’s more, they will also suffer a blow to their reputation, affecting their existing client relationships and making it harder to win new business.
Takeaway: Cybersecurity is too important to neglect
Software companies that hope to avoid regulatory penalties, dissatisfied customers, and reputational damage cannot afford to neglect cybersecurity. By building a culture of professionalism, centered on strong test management processes, they can give themselves the best possible chance of avoiding trouble. But those that fail to take cybersecurity seriously could very well destroy the business that they’ve worked so hard to create.
About the Author
Andrian Budantsov is the CEO of Hypersequent and the creator of QA Sphere. With over two decades in software development, Andrian established a domain registration business before co-founding Readdle in 2007, serving as CTO until 2022. During his tenure, Readdle’s apps like Spark Mail garnered over 200m downloads and numerous awards. He was also CTO for Fluix, Readdle’s B2B division. In 2023, Andrian formed Hypersequent, developing advanced software testing tools with a commitment to quality, team building, and market-driven product development.
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