The purpose of compliance testing in the retail industry is to address regulatory compliance challenges specific to the retail domain. Compliance testing in CTC is critical in safeguarding customer data, ensuring fair business practices, and maintaining trust in the retail sector. By adhering to regulatory requirements, we protect their customers' information, mitigate risks, and uphold the integrity of their retail software systems.
The key objectives of compliance testing in the retail sector include the following:
Payment Card Security: Compliance testing ensures that retail software adheres to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), which focuses on protecting cardholder data during payment transactions. It verifies that the software securely processes and stores payment card information implements encryption and maintains the necessary security controls. E.g. PCI Compliance.
Data Protection and Privacy: Compliance testing addresses data protection and privacy regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other regional data protection laws. It ensures that customer data is collected, processed, and stored in compliance with applicable regulations, protecting customer privacy and providing adequate consent mechanisms.
Consumer Protection: Compliance testing in the retail industry verifies that software systems adhere to consumer protection laws and regulations. It ensures fair business practices, accurate pricing, transparent refund and return policies, and compliance with advertising and marketing guidelines, e.g. Personal Information and Protection of Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).
Inventory and Supply Chain Compliance: Compliance testing may include aspects related to inventory management, supply chain transparency, and product traceability. It ensures that the software accurately tracks inventory, maintains compliance with labelling requirements, and provides visibility into the origin and authenticity of products.
Reporting and Auditing: Compliance testing ensures that retail software can generate the necessary reports and audit trails to demonstrate compliance with regulatory requirements. It verifies that the software can provide the required information for regulatory inspections, internal audits, and other compliance-related activities.
Types
Legally Mandatory Testing: Performed by an external or any government-approved agency to get a proper certification to proceed with the legal operations of the organization. In case of failure, actions are taken against the organisation, e.g., retracting government contracts, fines, payment of damages, issuing public notifications, etc. E.g. AODA Compliance mandates for WCAG.
Internal Testing: These tests are conducted solely for caution in the management to validate the performance and efficiency of products, services, and processes.
Voluntary Testing: A third-party organization with authority to perform compliance testing may be invited to validate or certify the performance.
Other Obligatory Testing: Stakeholders, external independent organisations, or the head office of a company might demand mandatory compliance testing. If there is a failure to provide the right standards, there may be risk of losing business or damaging the reputation or even in a lawsuit.
Tools & Technology
The choice of tools and technology for compliance testing in the retail industry may include compliance management systems, data protection tools, payment card security scanners, and auditing tools. These tools help assess the software's compliance with regulations related to data security, payment processing, consumer rights, and other retail-specific requirements.
UTAF (Unified Test Automation Framework) for automated tests
qTest: A test management tool that facilitates the organization and tracking of test cases and results
Other tools that can be explored for POC & subsequent adoption:
Lynis: An open-source security auditing tool that can detect vulnerabilities and configuration flaws.
Anchore Engine: Anchore is a tool to help with discovering, analyzing and certifying container images.
OpenSCAP: Tools to assist administrators and auditors with assessment, measurement and enforcement of security baselines.
Zluri: A SaaS management platform that helps to stay secure and compliant with ISO 27001, SOC 2, GDPR, etc.
Mend.io: Open source license compliance.
Helix QAC & Klocwork to comply with coding standards and compliance mandates.
Process
Compliance testing is like an audit, it doesn’t follow any specific testing methodology. It just assesses the current process and provides improvement points.
Collect the required details and documents regarding standards, norms, regulations, and other relevant criteria.
Assess the existing processes, norms, and standards to identify and detect any deviations or flaws.
Generate a report with all the information regarding the flaws and deviations.
Implement the improvement measures and then re-verify the compliance of the system. The organization can even get certification for being compliant.
Standards
There are recognized set standards developed by professional bodies or government agencies used as a point of reference for compliance testing across organizations. However, companies can also set their own standards to define how their products or services should perform when launched. With regards to standards set by professional bodies, below are organizations that usually set standards used in different sectors:
Examples
Checking the User Access rights / Copyrights
Assessing the Program change control procedures
Verifying the program documentation & procedures within
Checking the follow-up of exceptions
Reviewing the logs
Software license audits
Checking compatibility of open source codebase
Shift-Left in Compliance Testing
Open source dependencies in the codebase comes with licenses with its own set of terms and conditions. By Shift-Left Compliance testing, such vulnerabilities can be identified and addressed well ahead of the release. Failure to identify such risks in time may lead to removal of a code component, jeopardizing exclusive ownership over a proprietary code, or even facing infringement claims by the legal department.
Ensure components selected by developers comply with legal and security policies, preventing downstream compliance problems.
Ensure adherence to secure coding standards to prevent, detect, and eliminate errors that could compromise software security, e.g. CERT CWE, OWASP, DISA STIG, IEC 62443, etc.
Continuous monitoring of code during check-in to provide a deeper level of confidence and commitment to established open source policies.
Best Practices
Hire professionals who have the knowledge, experience and understanding of Compliance.
Make everyone in the team aware of the risks and impacts of being non-compliant.
Document the whole process for future reference.
Perform internal audits and check compliance.
Form an action plan to fix those compliance issues.
CTC References
EPCL | Compliance Documentation (Epsilon PeopleCloud Loyalty Platform)
ESF | Compliance Documentation (eComm Store Fulfillment)
