What is SAST?
Static Application Security Testing abbreviated as SAST is a technology used to identify vulnerabilities at the early stages of the software development lifecycle (SDLC).
The SAST tool has access to the source code and checks for any common misconfiguration. It also checks whether the code adheres to the coding guidelines without executing it hence it is classified as white box testing.
SAST can be integrated into SDLC. Fixing the vulnerabilities can be less expensive as they are found in the early stage of the life cycle. SAST has higher false positives comparatively.
In modern days SAST has been integrated with CI/CD pipeline in order to automate the process and help developers to do safe and error-free coding hence it is used in the early stage of the DEVSECOPS pipeline before the application is deployed. Since it is used in the early stage of the life cycle any vulnerability can be remediated easily and at a faster phase thus not affecting the flow of the pipeline.
What is DAST?
Dynamic Application Security Testing abbreviated as DAST is used to identify vulnerabilities in the running application. It is black box testing and is done at the later stage of the SDLC. DAST gives low false positives and is used to find runtime vulnerabilities.
DAST is not integrated into SDLC. Fixing the vulnerabilities found by DAST tool can be expensive as they are found in the later stage of the software development lifecycle.
DAST uses fault injection techniques to test the web apps dynamically for vulnerabilities such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS) and also identifies security misconfiguration. Since it is done in a later part of the SDLC often it consumes time or is simply pushed to the next cycle.
What is IAST?
Interactive Application Security Testing abbreviated as IAST is a new technology designed to address the shortcomings of SAST and DAST.
As SAST and DAST are old technologies and had problems working on some new frameworks, IAST was designed to overcome these drawbacks, and also it is faster than the other two technologies.
IAST can be used to do both code analysis and to check runtime vulnerabilities. IAST gives low false positives and can be integrated into SDLC.
IAST is a grey box testing it is faster than SAST and DAST as it gives live updates, it does this by placing an agent within the web application which does the testing and analysis in real-time.
What is RASP?
Run-Time Application Security Protection abbreviated as RASP is similar to IAST in the way that it works inside the application. RASP is not a testing tool it is a security tool. RASP is capable of controlling the application execution, detecting and preventing real-time attacks.
It uses an agent inside the application to analyze the traffic. RASP not only identifies attacks and alerts them but also takes action against those attacks in real-time.
eg, If a bad request is being sent by a malicious actor RASP not only reports the incidents and alerts the admin but also takes actions such as terminating the session or blocking the user or IP address.
SAST and DAST go hand in hand that is both technologies complement each other, As SAST is used to find vulnerabilities in the source code at the early stage of the software development life cycle and allow developers to correct them which reduces time and cost. Similarly, on the other hand, DAST is used to find runtime vulnerabilities without analyzing the source code at the later stages of the software development life cycle. Using both of these technologies together gives a greater level of security and minimizes time and cost.
Comment on your favorite SAST, DAST, and IAST tools that you use. Also do check our other posts on cyber and AI here.
Follow us on Instagram for the latest updates in Cybersecurity and AI.
Comments