Fault Injection
Fault injection is a testing technique that deliberately introduces faults into a system to evaluate its robustness, fault tolerance, and error handling capabilities.
“The process of intentionally adding a defect to a component or system to determine whether it can detect and possibly recover from it.”
(Definition reproduced from the ISTQB Glossary. Copyright belongs to ISTQB.)
View the complete ISTQB GlossaryWhat is Fault Injection?
By simulating failures, testers verify that the system detects faults, recovers appropriately, and continues operating safely when possible.
Controlled simulation: Faults are introduced intentionally under controlled conditions.
Reliability evaluation: Measures how the system responds to failures.
Recovery verification: Confirms fault detection and recovery mechanisms work correctly.
Real World Example
A regulated product team is preparing a release where Fault injection appears in reviews, test design conversations, or defect triage rather than as an isolated glossary word.
The risk is that the team treats Fault injection as interchangeable with nearby ISTQB terms. That makes test scope blurry and can lead to weak evidence for the release decision.
The tester anchors the discussion in the official definition, asks where the concept appears in the product, and designs examples that show the difference between Fault injection and similar ideas.
The page becomes useful in practice because Fault injection is connected to a specific testing decision, not memorized as a detached definition.
Practice Questions
Question 1
Which statement BEST describes Fault injection in the context of ISTQB terminology?
Question 2
A tester needs to explain Fault injection to a non‑technical stakeholder. Which approach is MOST appropriate?
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