What is the process for testing software for data breaches?

Here is a general process for testing software for data breaches: Define Scope & Objectives Threat Modeling Vulnerability Assessment Penetration Testing Code Review Data Encryption & Access Controls API Security Testing Security Configuration Review Incident Response Testing User Education & Awareness Compliance Check Documentation Review Regular Updates & Patch Management Final Report & Remediation Regularly repeating these steps, especially after significant changes to the software or its environment, is crucial to maintaining a strong security posture. Continuous monitoring & improvement are key elements in safeguarding against evolving security threats.

Analyze the software architecture, design, code, configuration, and dependencies to understand how attackers might exploit them. Consider common threats like malicious insiders, hackers, malware, phishing, and social engineering.

It is important to have a defined list of all data types that will be collected by the software and to categorize them by sensitivity which is correct for the particular country where the software is used, since regulations and how much some of the data is sensitive is not something universal for all of us, not even universal within the same continent sometimes. If as a developer you are not into security, you should at this stage connect with security colleagues that can help you with sensitivity categorisation and can help you with instructions what exactly needs to be implemented to protect the data in the unique case, e.g. encryption for the data that needs to be transmitted or masking when particular things should't be visible, etc.

Adding automated risk assessment by logging or using alarms would help you to prevent possible leaks when adding a new data endpoint at the development or deployment stages. Having a rule-based authorization control and checking if there is a rule or not for a new endpoint is possible in middlewares or in similar components before exposing the endpoint.

For testing purposes you can always leverage one of the tools, but what I have found very valuable is having 4 eye-check where one of your peers is looking into the code and checking for potential issues. The benefit of 4 eye check is that you get a fresh perspective on it but it is still someone who has the context and the requirements and it's not just a general tool. Because in particular cases tools can be a bit too general and not consider the context why something is potentially work around and a fix of something else with a higher severity.