What is Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST)? Complete Guide

What is Dynamic Application Security Testing, DAST, or Dynamic Application Security Testing, is a relatively new type of application security testing. It offers many benefits to businesses that are looking for more advanced forms of protection against cyber-attacks. The goal of this blog post is to give you an introduction to the different types advantages and disadvantages of DAST so that you can determine if it’s right for your business needs.

What is Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST)

DAST is an application security testing technique that allows businesses to gain visibility into the state of their applications’ security before they are attacked. DAST involves executing your web-based code within a sandbox where it can be scanned for vulnerabilities by automation tools or manual penetration testers.

Once detected, these flaws can then be remediated using widely available vulnerability management platforms like Veracode, Astra’s Pentest, and more. Instead of waiting until after a breach occurs and having to deal with data loss or damage, you will have the opportunity to identify any issues beforehand so that proper measures can be taken to avoid falling victim.

Read Also: 5 Tips to Improve Your Web Business Management

DAST – What Is Its Importance?

DAST is important for businesses because it can help them identify vulnerabilities that they may not know about. When the application goes through normal use, these defects are likely to come out and expose themselves in one way or another. If you’re unsure whether your company should invest in DAST testing,

Here are some of its most common benefits:

• Provides More Visibility into Security – As mentioned before, companies tend to make mistakes when developing their software (inadvertently creating security flaws). With DAST technology, organizations get increased visibility which helps them find issues early on so that damage control measures can be put into place before any data loss occurs.
• Increases Efficiency by Identifying Problems Earlier – The earlier a vulnerability is identified within an organization’s software, the less costly it is to fix. Not only that but many times these vulnerabilities can be identified and fixed without any negative impact on the user experience or functionality of the application.
• Helps Prevent Breaches – According to a study by Verizon, about 60% of data breaches are due to some sort of vulnerability in the software. By using DAST technology, businesses can find and fix these vulnerabilities before they cause any harm.

What Is Automatic And Manual DAST?

DAST can be broken into two major categories: manual and automatic.

1. Manual DAST

Manual DAST involves having a human performing the software penetration testing of the application on their own to find any security vulnerabilities that may arise.

While this provides some unique insight, it is both time-consuming and difficult as testers need to manually identify issues within the code by themselves without access to additional tools or information sources such as threat intelligence feeds.

This makes finding problems very tedious and slow so they often don’t go through every line of source code like an automated tool would be able to do in less than half the time.

2. Automatic DAST

With automatic testing, there’s no longer a need for manual labor since you are essentially allowing your software to be tested by a machine. This type of testing is perfect for identifying vulnerabilities that may be difficult to find manually (such as cross-site scripting and SQL injection flaws).

Also Read: SQL Database: Reasons to Use & Mistakes to Avoid

Additionally, it also allows businesses to test more applications in less time which can save them money in the long run!

Advantages And Disadvantages Of DAST

Many advantages come with using DAST technologies; however, there are also some disadvantages as well. Here’s what you need to know about each:

Advantages of DAST

There are several benefits associated with implementing or investing in an automated security testing solution like this one! Some of these include:

• • Cost Efficiency – With SAST solutions (like Veracode), companies can save time by repairing vulnerabilities before their product goes into production. This means less wasted labor costs later on due to fixing problems that could have been prevented.
  • Improved Security – By finding and fixing vulnerabilities in the software code, businesses can improve the overall security of their applications. This also helps to protect against data breaches which can be costly not only financially but also from a PR standpoint.
  • Ease of Use – Unlike some other types of security testing solutions, DAST is relatively easy for developers and testers to use. They don’t need any specialized training or knowledge to get up and running with it quickly.
  • Helps Prevent Breaches – According to a study by Verizon, about 60% of data breaches are due to some sort of vulnerability in the software. By using DAST technology, businesses can find and fix these vulnerabilities before they cause any harm. In addition to the benefits mentioned above, DAST testing provides two more significant advantages for businesses.Many industries have strict regulations and compliance requirements around data security and privacy, such as HIPAA in the healthcare industry or PCI DSS for payment card processing. DAST testing helps businesses comply with these standards by identifying vulnerabilities in their software and implementing appropriate security measures to protect sensitive data.
  • Furthermore,  DAST testing is a cost-effective way for businesses to identify vulnerabilities in their software compared to other testing methods.It doesn’t require the same level of expertise or resources as other testing methods, such as penetration testing or source code review, which can be expensive and time-consuming. DAST testing can be automated, making it a more efficient and affordable way for businesses to ensure the security of their software applications.
  • Ease of Use – Unlike some other types of security testing solutions, DAST is relatively easy for developers and testers to use. They don’t need any specialized training or knowledge to get up and running with it quickly.

  • Another significant advantage of DAST testing is its ability to detect vulnerabilities in real time. As applications become more complex and sophisticated, it becomes more challenging to identify and fix potential security flaws before they cause harm.

    DAST testing provides a real-time assessment of an application’s security posture, allowing businesses to identify and remediate vulnerabilities as soon as they are discovered. This quick response time helps businesses to stay one step ahead of potential cyber threats, which is particularly critical in today’s digital landscape.

    Furthermore, DAST testing can be integrated into an enterprise’s DevOps processes, allowing for continuous and automated security testing throughout the application development lifecycle. This integration ensures that security is built into the application from the beginning and is not an afterthought.

    By incorporating DAST testing into DevOps, businesses can prevent potential security flaws from ever reaching production environments, saving time, effort, and money in the long run. Probely, a cloud-based DAST solution, is an excellent example of a tool that can be seamlessly integrated into DevOps workflows, allowing for continuous and automated security testing.

  • Disadvantages of DAST
  • However, nothing is perfect, and automated security testing tools like this come with their own set of disadvantages as well:
  • False Positives – One potential issue with using a SAST solution is that it may generate false positives. These are instances when the tool identifies a security issue in code, but it doesn’t pose any threat to your program or data at all. This can be extremely frustrating for developers because they will need to manually check these issues by hand and remove them before moving forward with production development.
  • False Negatives – On the other end of the spectrum, DAST tools could also miss vulnerabilities that do exist within your application’s source code. Not only could this result in critical bugs slipping through deployment, but it may cause some users’ personal information to get compromised as well if their system is breached.

Conclusion: DAST

Having read this article, we hope the basics of DAST have been simplified and adequately explained for the benefit of every person who wants to audit their company’s cyber security.

The article has also detailed what manual and automated DAST is, along with the advantages and disadvantages of making use of it for your security testing purposes.