IT Baseline Protection Manual - The Information Warfare Site

Safeguard Catalogue - Organisation Remarks
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go beyond IT baseline protection and can not normally be carried out for
standard software as the source code is not disclosed by the manufacturer.
Functionality tests are intended to prove that the test is in accordance with the
specification. Using penetration tests, it is intended to determine whether
known or assumed weaknesses can be exploited in practical operation, for
example by attempts to manipulate the security mechanisms or by bypassing
security mechanisms by manipulation at the operating system level.
The way the results are to be secured and evaluated should be stipulated,
particularly as regards repeating tests. It should be clarified which data should
be kept during and after the test.
Creating test data and test cases
The preparation of tests also includes the creation of test data. Methods and
procedures should be stipulated and described in advance.
A number of test cases in accordance with the testing time must be created for
each test. Each of the following categories should be taken into consideration.
Standard cases are cases which are used to test whether the defined functions
are implemented correctly. The incoming data are called normal values or
limit values. Normal values are data within the valid input area, limit values
are threshold data.
Error cases are cases where attempts are made to provoke possible program
error messages. The input values which should cause a predetermined error
message to occur in the program are called false values.
Exceptional cases are cases where the program has to react differently than to
standard cases. It must therefore be checked whether the program recognises
these as such and then processes them correctly.
Examples:
- If the input parameters can be between 1 and 365, tests are to be carried out
with false values (e.g. 0 or 1000), the limit values 1 and 365 and with
normal values between 1 and 365.
- An appointment planning program should take national holidays into
consideration. A special case is when a certain day is a holiday in all states
except one. The program must then react appropriately for this state and
this day.
In the event that it is too time-consuming or difficult to create test data,
anonymous actual values can be used for the test. For reasons of
confidentiality, actual data must be made anonymous. It should be ensured
that these anonymous data do not cover all limit values and exceptional cases,
these having to be created separately.
Beyond the test data, all types of possible user errors should be taken into
consideration. Particularly difficult are all user reactions which are not
planned in the program sequence and which are thus not correctly rejected.
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IT-Baseline Protection Manual: Oktober 2000