Survey Reveals Security Is an Afterthought When Live Data Is Used to Test
Business Applications
DETROIT and TRAVERSE CITY, Mich., Dec. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A
survey released today by Compuware Corporation (Nasdaq: CPWR) and the
Ponemon Institute showed an overwhelming majority of organizations surveyed
risk compromising critical information by using actual customer data for
the development and testing of applications.
The Insecurity of Test Data: The Unseen Crisis report found that 62
percent of companies surveyed use actual customer data instead of disguised
data to test applications during the development process. Of those
companies using actual customer data, 89 percent use customer files and 74
percent use customer lists. Examples of the live data often used include
employee records, vendor records, customer account numbers, credit card
numbers, Social Security numbers and other credit, debit or payment
information.
While organizations may think that test data is immune from privacy
threats because testing occurs in a non-production environment, these
environments are less secure than production environments. Testing data may
be exposed to a variety of unauthorized sources including in-house testing
staff, consultants, partners and offshore personnel. In fact, 52 percent of
respondents outsourced their application testing, and 49 percent of those
respondents shared live data with the outsourced organization.
"For many organizations, large customer data files represent an easy,
cheap source of data to use when testing applications, but this process
introduces a huge element of risk to the challenge of maintaining the
integrity of sensitive information, particularly when third parties and
offshore resources are involved," said Dr. Larry Ponemon, Chairman and
Founder, Ponemon Institute. "This study points to a need for greater
awareness and accountability over how sensitive data is used within
organizations. Common practices as they relate to all uses of live data
must be evaluated to assess risk, and safeguards implemented to ensure data
security."
The Insecurity of Test Data: The Unseen Crisis found that half of the
companies using actual customer data for testing purposes do not take steps
to protect that information. Other significant findings included:
-- 50 percent of respondents have no way of knowing if the data used in
testing had been compromised.
-- 41 percent of respondents reported they do not protect live data used
in software development.
-- 38 percent of respondents were unsure if live data their organization
used for testing or development had been lost or stolen.
-- 26 percent of respondents said they did not know who was responsible
for securing test data, 26 percent believed the development
organization was responsible and 21 percent said the testing
organization was responsible, suggesting no clear ownership for
sensitive test data.
"Few people realize how much is at risk during the development and
testing of applications," said John Williams, Senior Vice President,
Product Solutions, Compuware. "All commercial organizations -- not just
health care and financial institutions -- have an obligation to protect the
privacy of consumer data. To eliminate the test data security risk, an
increasing number of our clients are using our Test Data Privacy solution
that provides them with an automated, repeatable process for creating safe
and effective test data."
The Insecurity of Test Data: The Unseen Crisis study, conducted between
July 2007 and August 2007, used a proprietary web-based survey platform
with the results derived from the responses of 897 IT professionals with an
average of ten years experience. The survey was commissioned by Compuware
Corporation and fielded by the Ponemon Institute.
To obtain the white paper, The Insecurity of Test Data: The Unseen
Crisis, that summarizes the survey findings and provides a thorough
discussion of the implications of these results, please go to
http://www.compuware.com/dataprivacypaper .
Compuware Corporation
Compuware Corporation maximizes the value IT brings to the business by
helping CIOs more effectively manage the business of IT. Compuware
solutions accelerate the development, improve the quality and enhance the
performance of critical business systems while enabling CIOs to align and
govern the entire IT portfolio, increasing efficiency, cost control and
employee productivity throughout the IT organization. Founded in 1973,
Compuware serves the world's leading IT organizations, including more than
90 percent of the Fortune 100 companies. Learn more about Compuware at
http://www.compuware.com .
About the Ponemon Institute
The Ponemon Institute(C) is dedicated to advancing responsible
information and privacy management practices in business and government. To
achieve this objective, the Institute conducts independent research,
educates leaders from the private and public sectors and verifies the
privacy and data protection practices of organizations in a variety of
industries. Visit the Ponemon Institute at http://www.ponemon.org for more
information.
Press Contact
Sean M. Patrick, Compuware Communications and Investor Relations,
313-227-5594, sean.patrick@compuware.com
Mike Spinney, Ponemon Institute, 978-597-0342, mspinney@ponemon.org
For Sales and Marketing Information
Compuware Corporation, One Campus Martius, Detroit, MI 48226,
800-521-9353, http://www.compuware.com
SOURCE Compuware Corporation
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Related links:
http://www.compuware.com
http://www.ponemon.org
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/112310.html/
CONTACT:
Sean M. Patrick of Compuware Communications
and Investor Relations, +1-313-227-5594,
sean.patrick@compuware.com; or Mike Spinney of Ponemon Institute,
+1-978-597-0342, mspinney@ponemon.org
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