The Reports of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated: How DAST Is Reinventing Itself

A recent post on Boring AppSec touted the diminishing value of Dynamic Application Security Testing tools.

However, contrary to this post and despite the rapid pace of technological advancements that often renders many solutions obsolete, some DAST solutions have adapted and remain more relevant than ever in 2023.

Adapting to development velocity: Seamless Integration in the Development Pipeline

To meet the increasing demand for faster deployment, developer-centric DAST has adapted by integrating itself seamlessly into the software development lifecycle (SDLC). Shifting left and testing earlier in the pipeline offers significant time and cost savings through timely detection and remediation. Solutions like Bright go even a step further – we’ve integrated our scanner into the unit testing phase, revolutionizing the whole process by testing applications very early in the SDLC. 

Indeed, AppSec professionals, regardless of how good they are, cannot scale nearly at the rate of dev-centric DAST due to the very high ratio of developers to AppSec professionals and the increased demand due to frequent deployments by development. 

Therefore, instead of AppSec professionals testing each and every scan, with a dev-centric DAST, AppSec can provide governance, guidance and validation while developers can manage incremental scans early in the dev lifecycle, analyze the results presented in a dev-friendly way and remediate vulnerabilities based on clear remediation guidelines. Developers can also self-onboard with minimal AppSec assistance and immediately deliver comprehensive results. 

This enables organizations to scale their application testing endlessly across different platforms without skipping a beat. This saves countless hours of work, and with it, money – plus, it allows for AppSec professionals to focus on more pressing issues beyond analyzing each and every deployment.

Minimizing False Positives

One challenge DAST (and many other AppSec solutions)faced is the prevalence of false positives. Many tools have been designed with only the AppSec professional in mind and without regard for minimizing false positives, which easily overwhelm developers and puts additional pressure on AppSec professionals to triage them. However, modern DAST solutions are purpose built for both AppSec and developers minimizing false positives, enabling developers to focus on building and developing instead of sifting through misleading information.

Detecting Business Logic Vulnerabilities

As demand for detecting business logic vulnerabilities increases, many application security testing tools struggle to meet this challenge. Modern DAST, however, is capable of identifying these vulnerabilities across both WebApps and APIs by emulating a hacker’s behavior and testing every possible user flow until it uncovers the vulnerability. This advanced capability sets solutions such as Bright apart from other DAST solutions, allowing for a more thorough security analysis.

Language-Agnostic Testing

Unlike other application security testing tools, DAST is not language-dependent. This versatility allows it to accommodate diverse and dynamic development teams, keeping track of security features regardless of programming language differences. This ensures that no application is left untested, providing comprehensive protection across the organization.

Empowering Security Champions

The concept of security champions is still relatively new and underdeveloped. As the industry continues to grow and more security champions emerge, their role in supporting developers and bridging the gap between AppSec and development becomes increasingly important. By providing training and resources for these champions, organizations can further enhance their security posture and streamline the integration of DAST into the development process.

In conclusion, DAST’s ability to adapt and provide a simple, developer and AppSec friendly solution that effectively detects vulnerabilities without false positives ensures its continued relevance in the cybersecurity landscape. As organizations recognize the value of robust and flexible security testing tools, the resurgence of DAST will only continue to gain momentum.

Key Benefits of Modern DAST:

1. Fast, seamless integration into the development pipeline through early SDLC integration (SecTester)
2. Capable of detecting business logic vulnerabilities
3. User-friendly, low-maintenance, and developer-centric approach
4. Security champions can bridge the gap between AppSec and development
5. Minimizes false positives, avoiding unnecessary distractions for developers
6. Language-agnostic, accommodating diverse programming languages
7. Efficiently tests APIs, ensuring comprehensive security coverage

Legacy DAST is dead, LONG LIVE MODERN DAST!