Boost your DevSecOps with Dynamic Application Security Testing to find and fix vulnerabilities in running web applications. Learn how DAST integrates seamlessly into your development workflow.
DevSecOps, which implies Development, Security, and Operations, refers to integrating security into the software development process. DevOps has surged in popularity as organizations seek to accelerate software development as operations teams rapidly and frequently build, test, and deploy applications in a DevOps environment.
Traditionally, security has slowed this process, but DevSecOps emphasizes integrating security into development to ensure secure software delivery at high speed. Integrating security into the development process helps maintain a strong security posture by making security a constant and essential component of the workflow. DevSecOps focuses on automating security testing and embedding it within the development cycle to identify and address security issues early. In the software development landscape, DevSecOps helps bolster application security and quality. Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) is a key tool of this approach, enabling continuous and precise security tests of running applications.
Armed with a working knowledge, let’s explore effective ways to leverage Dynamic Application Security Testing and strengthen your DevSecOps initiatives.
What is Dynamic Application Security Testing?
DAST is an application security testing approach that assesses a running application during runtime to identify vulnerabilities. DAST tools don’t directly access source code; instead, they detect vulnerabilities by simulating real-world attacks, effectively performing automated penetration testing or pen tests on your web applications. Penetration testing helps identify vulnerabilities and enhance security measures by proactively detecting flaws that could lead to security breaches and ensuring compliance with data security regulations.
DAST scanners detect various security vulnerabilities, such as SQL Injection, Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), and Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF), without accessing the application’s source code. By simulating these attacks, DAST assesses if the application is vulnerable during runtime, reflecting how external attackers might exploit these issues.
Key Characteristics of Dynamic Application Security Testing
External Viewpoint
DAST tool assesses applications from an external viewpoint, simulating an outsider’s perspective without needing access to source code. This is valuable for testing third-party applications and components.
Simulated Attacks
DAST tools perform simulated attacks on applications similar to those conducted by pen testers to identify deviations from expected outcomes, revealing potential vulnerabilities that attackers could exploit. These simulated attacks help identify security flaws in the application, allowing developers to address them early in the development lifecycle.
Goal-Oriented Approach
DAST’s main objective is to find security vulnerabilities that attackers could exploit to breach an application. It emphasizes simulating real-world scenarios and potential attack vectors to identify these weaknesses.
Importance of DAST Tools in DevSecOps
DAST scans running code for vulnerabilities from an outsider’s perspective and can be utilized at various phases throughout the SDLC. It helps identify security risks before production, allowing for prioritization and fixes.
HCL AppScan DAST is a robust dynamic application security testing solution that empowers security professionals and pen testers to conduct comprehensive security assessments. It utilizes a best-of-breed scanning engine to automatically explore and evaluate web applications and APIs. This penetration testing tool, streamlines the triage process by delivering actionable insights with detailed descriptions of identified vulnerabilities, enabling efficient prioritization of security risks.
Effortless Integration and Workflow Optimization
AppScan seamlessly integrates with your development tools through plugins for Jenkins, Azure DevOps, GitHub, and more, or via community plugins and SDKs. This lets you trigger scans right from your CI/CD pipeline or even within your IDE, much like unit tests.
Streamlined Scans for All Skill Levels
Whether you’re new to DAST or a seasoned security professional, AppScan has you covered. Pre-configured workflows simplify the process for beginners, while advanced configuration options cater to complex security requirements.
Boost Efficiency with Automation
Automate repetitive security tasks using AppScan’s APIs, SDKs, CLIs and webhooks, freeing up development time. Incremental scanning focuses on code changes, and targeted scans based on recorded traffic ensure you’re only testing what’s relevant, saving time and resources.
Fine-Tune Scans for Optimal Results
Customize scans with test optimization features, predefined security policies and exclusions. Control scan depth to strike the perfect balance between thoroughness and speed, ensuring your DAST scans are efficient and effective.
Benefits of DAST Tools in DevSecOps
- DAST identifies issues that can only be detected by analyzing an application’s behavior during execution, providing insights that static analysis alone cannot offer.
- By simulating real-world attack scenarios, DAST delivers insights from an attacker’s viewpoint, allowing you to identify and address potential vulnerabilities.
- DAST thoroughly examines the entire application stack—APIs, web interfaces, and third-party components—offering a comprehensive understanding of the application’s security landscape.
Role of DAST in the DevSecOps Pipeline
Developers are now expected to take on more security responsibilities, but they often lack the tools to spot vulnerabilities in their code early on. This can lead to delays when security teams step in later in the process. To solve this, organizations are equipping developers with security tools from the get-go.
Developers need DAST tools that are easy to use and help them write secure code. HCL AppScan offers solutions that seamlessly integrate DAST into developer workflows, enabling checks, fixes, and validation throughout the development lifecycle.
Let’s explore the best times to incorporate DAST tools into application testing within a DevSecOps framework.
Continuous Integration and Delivery Phase
The application is built, tested, and deployed to a staging environment in this phase. Integrating DAST tools into the CI/CD pipeline ensures automated security testing.
Testing and Deployment Phase
During this phase, applications are tested in a staging environment to verify business requirements and security. Continuous DAST testing is crucial here, as new vulnerabilities may emerge during deployment.
Production Phase
In this phase, applications are deployed and monitored for performance and security issues. Continuous DAST testing in this environment ensures ongoing security and resilience against potential vulnerabilities.
Maintenance Phase
During the maintenance phase, the application is updated to fix security issues. DAST testing should be carried out frequently to detect and address any new vulnerabilities. Maintaining access is crucial to monitor and update the application for new vulnerabilities continuously.
However, automation is essential for DevSecOps to reach its full potential. Automating DevSecOps enables developers, IT operations teams, and security engineers to collaborate seamlessly and scale their efforts across the entire software development lifecycle. It transforms security into a shared responsibility among these teams, providing them with the necessary tools to ensure secure code and configurations. Developers gain access to self-service security tools to address vulnerabilities independently and foster cross-team skill development.
This approach removes human bottlenecks and enhances visibility across the software development lifecycle, enabling swift root cause analysis and action and ensuring high-speed delivery of secure, high-quality products.
Embedding DAST Tool into DevSecOps Workflow
To achieve successful implementation of DAST tools, it is crucial to understand the testing process and adhere to these best practices.
A comprehensive security strategy also involves the use of various pen testing tools. These tools are essential for tasks such as port scanning, application scanning, and network penetration. Penetration testing tools are essential for identifying and enhancing security measures. They are categorized into five distinct groups to address different targets effectively.
Define Testing Scope
Identify the applications, APIs, and endpoints to test and establish clear objectives, such as finding vulnerabilities or meeting compliance standards.
Configure DAST Tools
Customize DAST tools to your application’s needs by setting scanning policies, configuring authentication, and targeting areas for thorough testing.
Incorporate DAST with IAST
To achieve security coverage, help identify vulnerabilities, reduce false positives, and resolve issues faster, integrate DAST with interactive application security testing (IAST) approach. Learn how:
Real-Time Vulnerability Detection with IAST
The IAST agent seamlessly integrates into your IDE, actively identifying vulnerabilities as you write and test code. This empowers you to address issues immediately, preventing them from escalating into major problems down the line.
Precise Issue Identification with Call Stack Visibility
The IAST agent enhances DAST by offering call stacks for detected vulnerabilities. This allows you to pinpoint the exact code location responsible for the issue, streamlining the remediation process.
Conclusion
Choosing the proper dynamic application security testing tool can significantly improve your organization’s capability to identify, mitigate and manage security vulnerabilities. HCL AppScan offers essential features to strengthen your application’s security strategy. Try the HCL AppScan DAST free trial today and experience the difference firsthand.