Chapter 40 — Verification laboratory II
Lesson map
Lesson 40 published. Map, example, EX118.
flowchart TD
N0["Learning outcomes"]
N1["40.1 End-to-end tests"]
N2["40.2 Simulated attacks"]
N3["40.3 Fixing and retesting"]
N4["40.4 Evidence for the dossier"]
N0 --> N1 --> N2 --> N3 --> N4
N4 --> EX["Worked example"]
EX --> Q["Exercise EX118"]
Logical drawing
flowchart LR
N0["Learning outcomes"]
N1["40.1 End-to-end tests"]
N2["40.2 Simulated attacks"]
N3["40.3 Fixing and retesting"]
N4["40.4 Evidence for the dossier"]
N0 --> N1 --> N2 --> N3 --> N4 --> Q["EX118"]
[Learning outcomes]
|
v
[40.1 End-to-end tests]
|
v
[40.2 Simulated attacks]
|
v
[40.3 Fixing and retesting]
|
v
[40.4 Evidence for the dossier]
|
v
[Worked example] --> [Exercise EX118]
Learning outcomes
You will (1) verify controls end to end; (2) test detection with simulated attacks; (3) record results for an evidence dossier.
40.1 End-to-end tests
In the second verification laboratory, Lindiwe tests controls from event to response. She plants a synthetic password-guessing burst and follows it through: the measure flags the account, the alert reaches the on-call analyst, the analyst locks the account and the ticket records each step with times. Prof. Hale explains that end-to-end testing finds handover failures between tools and people that individual component tests miss. The whole chain completes in eleven minutes in the synthetic test, and she records the time taken at each step.
40.2 Simulated attacks
With written authorisation, Lindiwe runs simulated attacks in a test environment that mirrors Saltmarsh's network: a phished account creating a forwarding rule, a bulk download from the customer portal and a change of delivery address an hour before dispatch. She checks which controls detect each. The forwarding rule now triggers an alert, after the gap found in validation was fixed. The bulk download alert fires late because its threshold is too high. The address-change alert fires as designed, within two minutes of the change.
40.3 Fixing and retesting
Lindiwe lowers the bulk download threshold using the synthetic history from the integration chapter, then reruns the simulation. The alert now fires within minutes. She records both results, before and after, so the evidence dossier shows the improvement and its cause. Prof. Hale notes that recording failures and fixes together is more convincing than showing only final passing results, because it demonstrates that testing actually influenced the controls. She also adds the bulk download case to the permanent test set used after every configuration change.
40.4 Evidence for the dossier
Lindiwe collects all test records: plans, authorisations, inputs, outputs, timings and fixes. She stores them with checksums and an index. She plans to use them in the evidence dossier in her final year, where each claim about Saltmarsh's security must point to specific evidence. She learns that a well-organised test record makes later assurance work faster and more credible. Prof. Hale reviews the index and asks her to add a short description of each test's purpose, so readers unfamiliar with the controls can understand why each test was run and what a pass or failure means.
Worked example
Lindiwe tests guessing detection end to end, simulates three attacks, fixes a late bulk-download alert and retests, and stores all records for the dossier.
Synthetic case. Tests are synthetic.
Errors and limits
Showing only final passing tests hides how controls were improved.
Exercises
- EX118 — End-to-end steps. Name one step followed end to end. Rubric: 3 = analyst locks the account;; 2 = one;; 1 = vague;; 0 = none.
- EX119 — Late alert. Which alert fired late? Rubric: 3 = bulk download;; 2 = partly correct;; 1 = other;; 0 = none.
- EX120 — Before and after. Why record results before and after fixing? Rubric: 3 = shows the improvement and its cause;; 2 = partly correct;; 1 = vague;; 0 = none.
Continue studying — lesson 40 (chapter 40 of 50)
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