Parasoft, an automated software testing authority for developers, today teamed up with interactive cybersecurity training company HackEDU to develop a service aimed at helping organizations train developers and testers on the latest threats and security best practices.

Application security is a paramount issue in the software industry as more and more products are part of an online ecosystem. Every change made can open up potential security vulnerabilities. Given the rapid pace of software updates set by DevOps and agile development processes, that has become a daily issue.

Coupled with Parasoft’s context-aware automated testing software, HackEDU’s training is intended to give developer teams the knowledge needed to reach to security-related alerts as they arise and allow them to mitigate vulnerabilities before they go into production environments.

“The reason why the industry has insecure software today is that most software developers don’t understand the principles of application security,” said Arthur Hicken, evangelist for Parasoft. “Parasoft provides the tools that testers and developers need to secure their software. A partnership with HackEDU brings vital training and knowledge to your team, giving them the necessary skills to harden your application against today’s threats.”

In 2017 the average data breach cost North American enterprises $1.3 million, according to a report from Kaspersky Lab. For small businesses, which don’t have the same depth of funding to blunt losses, that could be devastating and the average cost per attack on these businesses in 2019 was $200,000.

More than half of all small businesses suffered data breaches in 2019, and about 60% of all small businesses hit by a breach go out of business within six months, according to Experian. To avoid such a fate, the developer community and businesses rely on training and tools to secure software development lifecycles.

That means having HackEDU’s interactive training available within the testing tools themselves, such as those built by Parasoft, provides the most effective way for developer teams to address security challenges, according to the company.

“HackEDU and Parasoft’s partnership helps give developers just-in-time training: the right training, when they need it, and in their own development environment,” said Jared Ablon, chief executive of HackEDU. “This helps busy development teams focus on training that is most relevant to them and to eliminate known vulnerabilities directly at the source.”

When Parasoft’s context-aware automated testing discovers a security vulnerability, the addition of HackEDU’s encyclopedic security knowledge then helps the developer understand how to fix the issue. It also helps ensure that the problem does not arise again by providing hands-on training in the subject so that if the same security issue can be avoided in the future.

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