Secure Your Apps with Dynamic Application Security Testing
Numerous studies have shown how organizations that take advantage of Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) are much less likely to experience a data breach or malware attack in the future. In this blog post, we will discuss the benefits and drawbacks of Dynamic Application Security Testing, as well as provide a checklist for getting started with Dynamic Application Security Testing in your organization.
What is Dynamic Application Security Testing?
Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) is a service that provides ongoing and continuous analysis of an organization’s web applications throughout the SDLC. DAST tools use techniques such as Dynamic Analysis, Static Code Analysis, and Manual Penetration Testing to identify vulnerabilities in the application.
Why would I want to use it?
Dynamic Application Security Testing is a great way to proactively harden the security of your web applications. Dynamic Analysis allows for testing against not only known vulnerabilities but also zero-day and emerging threats that may be missed by static application scanners and manual penetration tests.
Dynamic Application Security Testing detects bugs and can be caught much earlier than traditional methods such as manual penetration tests after deployment when it’s too late in most cases. Dynamic Analysis will allow you to find all types of problems – from data validation issues like SQL injection or cross-site scripting (XSS), to more complex problems including insecure direct object reference exposures within API endpoints where token authentication has been bypassed allowing an access token to directly control another user session without proper checks. Dynamic Analysis will help to find these problems before they go live on production systems where, if exploited, could lead to a costly data breach or malware attack. Performing regular IT security audits may assist you in identifying weak points and vulnerabilities in your IT infrastructure, verifying existing security procedures, ensuring regulatory compliance, and more.
How does DAST work?
Dynamic Application Security Testing works by scanning your web application in a virtualized sandbox, looking for vulnerabilities. Dynamic Analysis is done through manual penetration testing or automated security tests that are executed when changes are made to the source code of the applications being tested. Dynamic analysis can help identify any problems with much less effort than would be required during an assessment after deployment when it’s too late in most cases.
DAST requires extensive use of APIs and other developer-facing tools which allow dynamic scanners to take control of targeted endpoints within an application, emulating actual client behavior while interacting directly with server-side objects such as databases, files, etc., allowing them to emulate user actions on various pages within the app without visiting those pages in order to validate whether or not the same issues would exist if a user visited the pages. Dynamic Analysis is only available for certain types of applications, including web apps built on .NET and Java/Javascript stack technologies with public APIs that are accessible over the internet. Dynamic analysis can also be used to test mobile apps as long as they have an emulator installed that allows dynamic security scans to emulate client behavior against backend services hosted by your organization.
What are the benefits of using DAST?
Dynamic Application Security Testing provides the most accurate results by being able to test your web application. Dynamic analysis looks for vulnerabilities in applications using techniques such as Dynamic Analysis, Static Code Analysis, and/or Manual Penetration Testing.
Dynamic Analysis is part of the Dynamic Application Security Testing Ecosystem. The dynamic analysis provides valuable results about how vulnerabilities can be exploited by simulating real hacking conditions, including emulating hackers misusing API endpoints to hijack user sessions or access sensitive data. Dynamic application security testing allows you to find issues before they go live on production systems when it’s too late in most cases.
Dynamic Application Security Testing finds more problems faster with less effort required – something which could only happen after going live anyhow.
Who uses it?
Dynamic Application Security Testing can be used by organizations of any size. Dynamic Analysis is best suited for large enterprise applications with APIs and backend services exposed online to support mobile & SaaS apps, which allows dynamic scanners to test the security controls in place on these systems remotely before they are deployed live or accessible from a production website. Dynamic application security testing provides greater visibility into how vulnerabilities within web applications could potentially be exploited by hackers, allowing developers to fix them much earlier in the SDLC process when it’s still easy and less costly to make corrections compared with after deployment when it’s too late. The dynamic analysis finds more problems faster with less effort required – something that would only happen after going live anyway. Dynamic Application Security Testing is highly recommended as part of a comprehensive application security program. Dynamic Application Security Testing is not just about finding vulnerabilities, it’s also crucial to track the status of remediation activities and measure how effective your organization is at fixing issues when they are identified.
Conclusion:
The internet is full of hackers and security flaws, which means that any company should be spending time on how they can protect themselves. Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) will help you find bugs in your application so that you’re able to fix them before the hacker does. DASTs are an important tool for understanding what vulnerabilities exist within your applications so that you can eliminate them as quickly as possible.
