Finance companies have two priorities when it comes to banking applications that aren’t always easy to align.

From one perspective, banks and other monetary administration associations need to guarantee that they test versatile applications completely to convey an incredible client experience. Mobile testing is essential for meeting their high-quality standards. As a result, banks place a high value on the services of banking app testing companies.

However, conventional methods of mobile testing do not always align with the objectives of finance companies, which must comply with extremely stringent security requirements.

Fortunately, there is a way to square this circle so that mobile applications can be tested thoroughly and safely. Utilizing an air-gapped testing environment is the solution. This article describes the characteristics of such an environment and the advantages it offers finance companies in particular.

An air-gapped versatile testing climate is one where architects can run tests without associating gadgets or applications to outside networks in any capacity. A local area network (LAN) that is completely disconnected from the internet is used for all testing. If desired, the LAN can also be disconnected from other business-operated internal network resources.

Air-gapped testing environments offer important security advantages to banks and other highly regulated businesses. They make sure that mobile tests won’t be affected by security issues that are elsewhere in a bank’s IT infrastructure. They also make it less likely that a vulnerability in the company’s IT estate or an internet-borne attack could be used as a way for bad guys to get to sensitive data stored on banking mobile apps or devices during testing.

To put it another way, if your testing environment is completely disconnected from the network, it is almost immune to security issues that come from elsewhere.

In this way, air-gapped testing provides a level of security assurance that cannot be achieved in any other manner. As a result, air-gapped testing is a priority for bank app testing companies. Engineers may attempt to isolate mobile testing environments from other resources using tools like firewalls or virtual private networks, but attackers may be able to bypass those vectors. Ultimately, the only way to guarantee the highest level of security during mobile testing is to completely disconnect.

When creating air-gapped testing environments, banks and other similar organizations frequently face the problem that software testing platforms frequently do not provide the same level of performance for air-gapped testing as they do for cloud-based testing environments, which are the preferred testing infrastructure for businesses with less stringent security requirements.

Thus, finance organizations might end up exchanging test inclusion and meticulousness for security – which is an issue if they have any desire to streamline the client experience while likewise expanding security.

However, there are some exceptions. Businesses should make sure that the air-gapped implementation of a mobile testing solution supports the following essential features before selecting one:

  • The capacity to use AI/ML automation to carry out accessibility and performance tests. Organizations run the risk of delivering software that falls short of user expectations because they were unable to test it thoroughly without these tests.
  • Permission to disconnect completely, if desired. When users require it, air-gapped testing services ought to be able to set up LANs that are completely disconnected from any other network to ensure the highest possible level of security.
  • Support for automation without scripts. Another feature that helps businesses get the most out of mobile testing but is sometimes unavailable with air-gapped testing is scriptless automation.
  • Ability to run UI tests. Businesses shouldn’t have to sacrifice UI quality assurance to use air-gapped testing because user interface (UI) tests are also essential for improving application quality.

To put it simply, businesses ought to guarantee that air-gapped tests will provide them with the same features and functionality as a standard test cloud. This way, security won’t become a hindrance to performance or quality.

Air-gapped testing with Zero Compromising 

Air-gapped testing is an excellent security enhancement. Because of this, air-gapped tests are especially useful in industries like finance, where security requirements are extremely high and businesses are constantly inspected by adversaries for vulnerabilities that they can take advantage of.

However, test functionality should not be sacrificed in favor of air-gapped testing. It is essential to ensure that your on-premises testing environment has the same features as an online mobile testing solution when developing an air-gapped testing strategy. That is the only way to simultaneously guarantee security and quality.