Testing
Using production data in test environments is one of the most common compliance violations in software engineering — and one of the easiest to prevent. Test data masking and anonymization are the tools that let your QA team work with realistic data while keeping regulators and auditors satisfied. This guide explains
Testing
SOC 2 is a certification that enterprise customers increasingly require before signing a contract. For SaaS companies, a SOC 2 Type II report is often the difference between winning and losing six-figure deals. Yet most engineering teams treat SOC 2 preparation as a documentation exercise managed by compliance consultants
Testing
PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) governs any organization that stores, processes, or transmits cardholder data. Version 4.0, released in 2022 and mandated from March 2025, introduced significant changes to how testing requirements are structured — moving from point-in-time assessments toward continuous monitoring and testing. The
Testing
Building healthcare software means operating under HIPAA's Technical Safeguards — a set of required and addressable implementation specifications that directly govern how your application must behave. Unlike other compliance frameworks that are largely process-oriented, HIPAA's Technical Safeguards translate almost entirely into testable application behaviors. A HIPAA
Testing
GDPR has been in force since May 2018, yet data protection authorities across Europe continue to hand out record fines. In 2023 alone, Meta received a €1.2 billion penalty. The gap between "we think we're compliant" and "we can prove we're compliant&
IaC Testing
Compliance frameworks like CIS Benchmarks contain hundreds of controls. Auditing them manually—or trusting that your IaC applied them correctly—is a recipe for drift. InSpec turns benchmark requirements into executable tests that run after provisioning and on a schedule. Here's how to go beyond the sample profiles
Security Testing
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) requires public companies to maintain accurate financial reporting and demonstrate effective internal controls. For software teams, SOX compliance translates to specific IT General Controls (ITGCs) that can — and should — be automated. SOX and IT General Controls SOX Section 404 requires management to assess and attest
Security Testing
The NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) provides a flexible structure for managing cybersecurity risk. Unlike FIPS 140 or SOX, the CSF is not prescriptive — it describes outcomes, not specific controls. This makes it adaptable but also harder to test against. This guide maps CSF functions and categories to concrete automated tests.
Security Testing
FIPS 140-2 (and its successor FIPS 140-3) defines security requirements for cryptographic modules used in federal systems. If your application handles sensitive government data or pursues FedRAMP authorization, you need to use FIPS-validated cryptographic modules. Testing verifies your code actually uses them. What FIPS 140-2/3
Security Testing
FedRAMP (Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program) is the U.S. federal government's standard for cloud service security. If your product serves federal agencies, FedRAMP authorization is required. The security testing requirements are among the most rigorous in any compliance framework — and a significant portion can be automated.