Software testing is experiencing a transformative evolution. With the release of its inaugural 2025 State of Software Assurance Report, TrustInSoft, in collaboration with Ferrous Systems and Hitex, sheds light on how engineering teams are adapting to new demands in critical systems.The report reveals a pivotal shift from traditional reactive testing toward a proactive stance aimed at proving bugs are impossible altogether.
Gone are the days when memory safety was just a best practice. Today, it is an essential component in the development of mission-critical systems. Whether safeguarding a powertrain controller or an aerospace flight system, safety measures are being integrated right from the outset.
The report underscores the limits of traditional testing tools. Developers are frustrated by false alarms and undetected bugs. The industry is now demanding tools with exhaustive coverage, path sensitivity, and formal guarantees, ushering in a new golden standard of certainty and precision.
Once the domain of academia, formal methods such as exhaustive static analysis and mathematical verification are gaining ground. As regulatory pressures increase and systems become more complex, these methods are being adopted not just to comply with standards but to redefine them.
With Rust gaining momentum where safety and performance meet, the challenge lies in its coexistence with legacy C and C++ code. This blending of languages creates risks, often exposing shortcomings in current test pipelines, something the report captures in detail.
Industry standards continue to push software teams toward traceable and auditable testing processes. It's a shift beyond mere documentation, emphasising the importance of mathematical assurance tools.
“This year’s report sets a baseline,” says Caroline Guillaume, CEO of TrustInSoft. “We’re seeing a pivot from detection to prevention. Teams aren’t just asking if software works, they’re asking whether it can fail at all. That mindset shift will define the next decade of software assurance.”
Download the complete 2025 State of Software Assurance Report here.