IOT IOTIOT TESTT The Internet of Things is one of today’s most promising technologies. Gartner says that over 6.4 billion IoT devices will be incorporated in 2016, and that number will grow to 20 billion by 2026. Businesses are integrating IoT to build robust applications and keep pace with the growing digital world. The climb in the number of connected devices brings security threats and challenges for software testers. Challenges Of IoT Testing and Ways To Overcome Them: 1. Software-Hardware Interconnection Every IoT device has its own software and hardware. With such variance, it is impossible for software testers to test all the components. Plus, there are several sensors and the communication gateway that create a dependency in terms of data transfer and the environment. Therefore, the tangling of various hardware and software makes IoT testing arduous. Solution The only way testers can address this challenge is to focus on the most popular devices and operating systems to test. Once you understand it, you can execute sanity testing to verify the functionality of the IoT applications. 2. Diversity in Device IoT is not restricted to one device; there is a range of devices belonging to diverse platforms. Testers must have a robust testing strategy and should have a good knowledge of architecture to ensure we configure the software and devices under testing with the correct version. However, sometimes IoT devices are connected to third party services. Testing may fail if these third-party services fail or change. Solution Testers can easily overcome this problem by having a clear understanding of different operating systems, IoT architecture, applications, and firmware. Adopting an automated testing approach can easily and automatically detect when third party services change and cause any failure. 3. IoT Security and Privacy Threat With over 65-70% of IoT devices vulnerable to security threats, testing for security flaws is a crucial activity. Conforming applications and devices against the prescribed security standards is crucial. Testers need to ensure that the data is appropriately encrypted to avoid any loophole. Solution The team should perform effective pen testing and vulnerability scans to discover security loopholes. Application code reviews defend the apps against security threats like malware, SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and buffer overflow attacks. 4. Problem with Network Smart devices often experience problems with network infrastructure, such as unreliable network hardware, overburdened WiFi channels, and worse internet connections. We must test IoT devices across varied conditions to guarantee that they function properly without losing crucial data. Solution IoT testers must use network virtualization to emulate varied network conditions of load, connectivity, and stability. Follow effective approaches in your testing to avoid any bottleneck in the long term. 5. Communication Protocols At present, IoT devices use various communications protocols to work with controllers. Some of the most common protocols are: Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP) Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) However, Message Queuing Telemetry Transport performs well in low bandwidth and high latency situation hence is the most popular protocol. Solution Testers must know about the pros and cons of all protocols. QA Team can use APIs to automate the process but test automation has its own challenges. The software testing tools you are using should also support these protocols. It is also significant for any enterprise to choose a reliable service provider who can collectively address these challenges. ImpactQA has developed an exceptional IoT testing strategy to deal with any challenges associated with validating IoT apps.