Detecting anomalies by container testing : a survey of company practices and typical tools

Abstract

Software testing is an integral part of any software process, but with the increasing interest and use of software containers, it is, unfortunately, being overlooked. With the growth and popularity of software containers, more and more security issues and concerns are arising. This thesis is about the process of detecting anomalies by testing containers and was done as a survey of company practices and typical tools. The aim was to get an overview of what the current approaches are and what might be areas that should be improved upon. This research validates some observations from other research and makes a contribution by showing what is the status of how companies currently test software containers. As a result, it can be concluded that the survey answers demonstrate how important testing truly is, the rise of interest and use of containers, security and vulnerability issues in software containers, and the varying ways of testing containers. There is no consensus on how testing is or should be accomplished, with advances being mainly driven within companies instead of academic research. Based on findings from the survey and literature, there is further beneficial research to be done regarding security and vulnerability aspects in software containers and in the development of general good practices on how testing software containers should be accomplished.