Access Control

1. Is there a defined standard for login names/passwords?

2. Are good aging procedures in place for passwords?

3. Are users locked out after a given number of password failures?

4. Is there a link for help (e.g., forgotten passwords?)

5. Is there a process for password administration?

6. Have authorization levels been defined?

7. Is management sign-off in place for authorizations?

Disaster Recovery

1. Have service levels been defined. (e.g., how long should recovery take?)

2. Are fail-over solutions needed?

3. Is there a way to reroute to another server in the event of a site crash?

4. Are executables, data, and content backed up on a defined interval appropriate for the level of risk?

5. Are disaster recovery process & procedures defined in writing? If so, are they current?

6. Have recovery procedures been tested?

7. Are site assets adequately Insured?

8. Is a third party “hot-site’ available for emergency recovery?

9. Has a Business Contingency Plan been developed to maintain the business while the site is being restored?

10. Have all levels in organization gone through the needed training & drills?

11. Do support notification procedures exist & are they followed?  

12. Do support notification procedures support a 24/7 operation?

13. Have criteria been defined to evaluation recovery completion / correctness?

Firewalls

1. Was the software installed correctly?

2. Are firewalls installed at adequate levels in the organization and architecture? (e.g., corporate data, human resources data, customer transaction files, etc.)

3. Have firewalls been tested? (e.g., to allow & deny access).

4. Is the security administrator aware of known firewall defects?

5. Is there a link to access control?

6. Are firewalls installed in effective locations in the architecture? (e.g., proxy servers, data servers, etc.)

Proxy Servers

1. Have undesirable / unauthorized external sites been defined and screened out? (e.g. gaming sites, etc.)

2. Is traffic logged?

3. Is user access defined?

Privacy

1. Is sensitive data restricted to be viewed by unauthorized users?

2. Is proprietary content copyrighted?

3. Is information about company employees limited on public web site?

4. Is the privacy policy communicated to users and customers?

5. Is there adequate legal support and accountability of privacy practices?

Data Security

1. Are data inputs adequately filtered?

2. Are data access privileges identified? (e.g., read, write, update and query)

3. Are data access privileges enforced? 

4. Have data backup and restore processes been defined?

5. Have data backup and restore processes been tested?

6. Have file permissions been established?

7. Have file permissions been tested?

8. Have sensitive and critical data been allocated to secure locations?

9. Have date archival and retrieval procedures been defined?

10. Have date archival and retrieval procedures been tested?

Monitoring

1. Are network monitoring tools in place?

2. Are network monitoring tool working effectively?

3. Do monitors detect

-          Network time-outs?

-          Network concurrent usage?

-          IP spoofing?

4. Is personnel access control monitored?

5. Is personnel internet activity monitored?

-          Sites visited

-          Transactions created

-          Links accessed 

Security

Administration

1. Have security administration procedures been defined?

2. Is there a way to verify that security administration procedures are followed?

3. Are security audits performed?

4. Is there a person or team responsible for security administration?

5. Are checks & balances in place?

6. Is there an adequate backup for the security administrator?

Encryption

1. Are encryption systems/levels defined?

2. Is there a standard of what is to be encrypted?

3. Are customers compatible in terms of encryption levels and protocols?

4. Are encryption techniques for transactions being used for secured transactions?

-          Secure socket layer (SSL)

-          Virtual Private Networks (VPNs)

5. Have the encryption processes and standards been documented?

Viruses

1. Are virus detection tools in place?

2. Have the virus data files been updated on a current basis?

3. Are virus updates scheduled?

4. Is a response procedure for virus attacks in place?

5. Are notification of updates to virus files obtained from anti-virus software vendor?

6. Does the security administrator maintain an informational partnership with the anti-virus software vendor?

7. Does the security administrator subscribe to early warning e-mail services? (e.g., www.cert.org or www.icsa.net)

8. Has a key contact been defined for the notification of a virus presence?

9. Has an automated response been developed to respond to a virus presence?

10. Is the communication & training of virus prevention and response procedures to users adequate?

Tools

Has a load testing tool been identified?

Is the tool compatible with the environment?

Has licensing been identified?

Have external and internal support been identified?

Have employees been trained?

Number of Users

Have the maximum number of users been identified?

Has the complexity of the system been analyzed?

Has the user profile been identified?

Have user peaks been identified?

Have languages been identified?, i.e. English, Spanish, French, etc. for global wide sites

Have the length of sessions been identified by the number of users?

Have the number of users configurations been identified?

Expectations/

Requirements

Have the response time been identified?

Has the client response time been identified?

Has the expected vendor response time been identified?

Have the maximum and acceptable response times been defined?

Has response time been met at the various thresholds?

Has the break point been identified been identified for capacity planning?

Do you know what caused the crash if the application was taken to the breaking point?

How many transactions for a given period of time have been identified (bottlenecks)?

Have availability of service levels been defined?

Architecture

Has the database campacity been identified?

Has anticipated growth data been obtained?

Is the database self-contained?

Is the system architecture defined?

·       Tiers

·       Servers

·       Network

Has the anticipated volume for initial test been defined – with allowance for future growth?

Has plan for vertical growth been identified?

Have the various environments been created?

Has historical experience with the databases and equipment been documented?

Has the current system diagram been developed?

Is load balancing available?

Have the types of programming languages been identified?

Can back end processes be accessed?

Resources

Are people with skill sets available?

Have the following skill sets been acquired?

·         DBA

·         Doc

·         BA

·         QA

·         Tool Experts

·         Internal and external support

· Project manager

· Training

Time Frame

When will the application be ready for performance testing?

How much time is available for performance testing?

How many iterations of testing will take place?

Test Environment

Does the test environment exist?

Is the environment self-contained?

Can one iteration of testing be performed in production?

Is a copy of production data available for testing?

Are end-users available for testing and analysis?

Will the test use virtual users?

Does the test environment mirror production?

Have the differences documented? (constraints)

Is the test available after production?

Have version control processes been used to ensure the correct versions of applications and data in the test environment?

Have the times been identified when you will receive the test data (globally) time frame?

Are there considerations for fail-over recovery? Disaster recovery?

Are replacement servers available?

Have back-up procedures been written?

Data

Does the application write to the database properly?

Does the application record from the database correctly?

Is transient data retained?

Does the application follow concurrency rules?

Are text fields storing information correctly?

Is inventory or out of stock being tracked properly?

Is there redundant info within web site?

Is forward/backward cashing working correctly?

Are requirements for timing out of session met?

Presentation

Are the field data properly displayed?

Is the spelling correct?

Are the page layouts and format based on requirements?

(e.g., visual highlighting, etc.)

Does the URL show you are in secure page?

Is the tab order correct on all screens?

Do the interfaces meet specific visual standards(internal)?

Do the interfaces meet current GUI standards?

Do the print functions work correctly?

Navigation

Can you navigate to the links correctly?

Do Email links work correctly?

Functionality

Is the application recording the number of hits correctly?

Are calculations correct?

Are edits rules being consistently applied?

Is the site listed on search engines properly?

Is the help information correct?

Do internal searches return correct results?

Are follow-up confirmations sent correctly?

Are errors being handled correctly?

Does the application properly interface with other applications?

Environment

Are user sessions terminated properly?

Is response time adequate based upon specifications?