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The Impact of Standards on Test Automation

Modern products and services are highly dependent upon the development and application of standards. Without the presence of and adherence to standards, software and systems could not interoperate – every piece of technology, down to basic nuts and bolts and nails used in construction, would be artisanal, raising costs and limiting utility.

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Government Mandates for Open Source Security

In response to the increasing pace of major breaches, ransomeware attacks, network outages and wide-reaching system and application crashes, Government regulators are acting to safeguard individual citizens and businesses. Opinions differ as to the actual impact of open source on security and uptime, but no one would argue that improving the quality and security of all code benefits users, integrators and developers.

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OpenTAP in Education: UCSC Students Automate OpenTAP Forum with AI

Every year for the last four, Keysight has collaborated with faculty at the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) Baskin Engineering School to sponsor senior projects in test automation. This year, one of those projects focused on leveraging LLMs (Large Language Models) to improve the timeliness of responses to questions on the OpenTAP Forum.

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OpenTAP and Security Testing IV - Wireless Security

Wireless network security testing involves evaluating the security measures and protocols of a wireless network to identify vulnerabilities and ensure the network is protected against unauthorized access and attacks. The testing process typically includes several steps and techniques, and so benefit greatly from test automation with OpenTAP

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OpenTAP and Security Testing III - Penetration Testing

Penetration testing (a.k.a. "pen testing") plays a crucial role in identifying and mitigating security risks. It helps organizations strengthen defenses, protect sensitive data, and improve overall security posture. By leveraging test automation in general and OpenTAP in particular in penetration testing, organizations can improve the efficiency, accuracy, and effectiveness of their security testing efforts, helping them identify and remediate security vulnerabilities before they can be exploited by attackers.

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Trends in Test Automation

Test automation, like the technology and products it targets, is in a state of constant change.

MarketsAndMarkets reports that the global test automation market size is expected to grow from USD 24.7 billion in 2022 to USD 52.7 billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 16.4%. To accompany the pace of the ever-changing testing landscape, you should be familiar with the latest test automation trends.

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OpenTAP and Security Testing II - Vulnerability Assessment

This second blog in our series on using OpenTAP for security testing, we take a deep dive into Vulnerability Assessment.

A software vulnerability describes a weakness or flaw in a software system that can be exploited by attackers to compromise the security of the system, its data, or its users. Vulnerabilities can exist in various components of software, including operating systems, drivers, applications, libraries, and firmware.

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OpenTAP and Security Testing I - The Role of Test Automation

Cybersecurity sits at top of mind for IT professionals and these days, even for device manufacturers.  Cybersecurity testing includes a range of assessments and evaluations that focus on various aspects of security posture. These tests help identify vulnerabilities, weaknesses, and potential threats in systems, networks, and applications.

This first blog in a series calls out the various types of cybersecurity testing and how and if OpenTAP can facilitate and control each.

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OpenTAP and the Internet of Things

Test automation and the Internet of Things (IoT) are distinct but interconnected domains The relationship between the two primarily lies in how test automation can be used to ensure the quality and reliability of IoT devices and systems.

In complementary fashion, modern intelligent, connected test instruments share attributes with other IoT edge devices – sensor-centric mono-functionality, remote access and control, cloud-based analytics, etc. – and so themselves participate in the Internet of Things.

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Test Automation, AI and ML

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are bringing new functionality to applications across information technology. Projects like ChatGPT that employ large language models, and various image creation engines garner popular attention, but AI and ML have potential to enhance test and test automation in myriad ways.

This blog explores complementary aspects of enhancing test and test automation with artificial intelligence and machine learning, in particular, how AI and ML can enhance test and test automation.

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Building and Running OpenTAP on ARM-based Systems

This blog demonstrates how hosting the OpenTAP test automation engine itself on ARM-based systems is a relatively straightforward task. Since OpenTAP is built with .NET, it enjoys the hardware abstraction provided by the Microsoft application framework, with very few hardware-specific dependencies or idiosyncrasies. As examples, the blog shows how to target an Apple M1 host running Ubuntu Linux, an ARM64-based Raspberry Pi system, and an M1 Pro-based MacBook Pro running MacOS.

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The Importance of Collaboration in Testing and Test Automation

Testing and test automation usually conjure visions of software and hardware under test on a test bench in a lab or on a production line. The involvement of human actors can seem quite secondary and distant from executing test plans and running through test steps.

In practice, test engineering is a very human endeavor: humans design the systems under test, specify testing criteria, implement test code and evaluate test results. And they don't perform these tasks in isolation.

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