The AppSec Landscape
Navigating today's AppSec landscape requires a strategic blend of tools. From SAST to ASPM, each acronym plays a critical role in securing your applications. Understanding these core tools is the first step towards a robust security posture.
SAST (Static Application Security Testing)
Analyzes source code pre-deployment, pinpointing vulnerabilities early. Crucial for 'shift-left' security, preventing flaws before runtime.
SCA (Software Composition Analysis)
Scans open-source dependencies for known vulnerabilities and license issues. Complements SAST, focusing on third-party code risks.
DAST (Dynamic Application Security Testing)
Simulates real-world attacks against running apps, finding vulnerabilities missed pre-deployment. Essential for runtime security and validating SAST/SCA findings that are often noisy.
IAST (Interactive Application Security Testing)
Combines SAST and DAST, analyzing code during runtime. Provides more precise, context-aware vulnerability detection, bridging static and dynamic analysis. Can come with overheads in instrumentation and application performance.
WAF (Web Application Firewall)
Filters and blocks malicious web traffic, protecting applications from common exploits. Focuses on network-level protection.
RASP (Runtime Application Self-Protection)
Monitors and blocks malicious behavior in real time, protecting running apps from attacks. Acts as a last line of defense, complementing WAF.
ADM (Application Detection and Response)
A combination and evolution of RASP and WAF, detecting and responding to attacks. Provides advanced telemetry and automated security actions.
EASM (External Attack Surface Management)
Discovers and monitors external-facing assets, identifying potential attack vectors. Proactively reduces risks by securing your internet footprint.
ASM (Attack Surface Management)
Expands EASM, managing all assets, internal and external, vulnerable to attack. Provides a comprehensive view of your entire attack surface.
ASPM (Application Security Posture Management)
Aggregates security data from all tools, providing a holistic view of application security. Automates workflows and enhances overall risk visibility. Many gather several of the above mentioned tools in one solution but often the aggregation is via integrations.
Shift-Left
The concept of integrating security practices early in the development lifecycle (SDLC). 'Left' refers to the lefthand side of how we usually illustrate the SDLC. Aims to prevent vulnerabilities before production and forms the foundation of DevSecOps.
DevSecOps
Embeds security throughout the development and operations pipeline, fostering collaboration and continuous security. Extends 'shift-left' to the entire SDLC.
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Securing your AppSec attack surface
The modern attack surface
Your attack surface is a sprawling mess that extends far beyond your core applications. The rate of how fast it's evolving is also accelerating. Traditional security tools often overlook shadow IT, forgotten subdomains, and other external assets. This development also makes it difficult to scale AppSec initiatives such as DAST. Deploying scans can turn into throwing them at everything. Not only is this expensive and wasteful, it will drown your team with irrelevant findings.
Prioritizing risk and scanning
Attack Surface Management (ASM) is essential for discovering and monitoring all exposed assets. A subcategory, External Attack Surface Management (EASM), focuses on Internet-facing assets. These tools provide critical visibility into potential attack vectors. EASM can not only expose hard-to-find vulnerabilities but also give insight on where to deploy deep scanning. This lets you take a proactive approach to mitigating risks like subdomain takeovers. At the same time, it guides you on where to run black-box scanning for best coverage.
Prioritizing risk and scanning
Attack Surface Management (ASM) is essential for discovering and monitoring all exposed assets. A subcategory, External Attack Surface Management (EASM), focuses on Internet-facing assets. These tools provide critical visibility into potential attack vectors. EASM can not only expose hard-to-find vulnerabilities but also give insight on where to deploy deep scanning. This lets you take a proactive approach to mitigating risks like subdomain takeovers. At the same time it guides you where to run black-box scanning for best coverage.
Detectify's continuous monitoring and actionable insights
Detectify provides continuous monitoring and scalable testing, ensuring you have complete coverage of your evolving attack surface. With Detectify in your toolbox, you can stay ahead of potential threats and scale security with confidence.
DevSecOps & Shift-Left: Building security in, not bolting it on
The DevSecOps imperative: Proactive security
DevSecOps and shift-left security are critical paradigms for building secure applications. 'Left' refers to the lefthand, Dev, side of the often-used software development lifecycle (SDLC) diagram. By integrating security practices early in the SDLC, you can prevent vulnerabilities before they reach production, saving both time and resources.
The tooling challenge: Enabling effective DevSecOps
For a successful implementation of DevSecOps an organisation should consider their DevOps maturity. DevOps aims to integrate Software Development (Dev) with IT Operations (Ops). This approach to culture, automation, and design integrates security as a shared responsibility. For the toolbox, choices must match the processes of the organization and its DevOps maturity. Interoperability, ease of implementation, and quality of results are relevant success criteria. An example can be how actionable the findings from a DAST tool are for developers and how these can feed back into the CI/CD pipeline. Streamlining this process is key to maintaining development velocity without sacrificing security.
The runtime reality
While striving for shift-left, it's crucial to remember that runtime testing remains essential. There are many vulnerabilities that only surface in production environments. Having a holistic approach is key to a successful DevSecOps program. The Detectify platform automates continuous real-world, payload-based attacks. We build tests based on three sources of threat intelligence. Our internal security researchers cover complex threats such as the pioneering research into subdomain takeovers. Crowdsource, our community of elite ethical hackers providing tests for severe zero-days and n-days. Alfred, our AI scouring the interwebs for threat intel, prioritizing and building tests for relevant n-days.
Building a Best-of-Breed AppSec Strategy
A common headache in many security programs is the sprawling toolbox. One concept that can mitigate this is Application Security Posture Management (ASPM). ASPM is an approach that unifies your security data for a comprehensive view. The premise as a strategy sounds great. The reality is rarely as simple. Even if there might be a single platform, you end up with a bundle of services duct-taped together with subpar integration. Or, half-baked platforms that make up for gaps with integrations or repackaged open-source tools for the sake of 'checking the box'. The result can be gaps in your application attack surface coverage. Instead, consider ASPM as a strategic approach and decide which aspects need a best-of-breed tool. Of course, best-of-breed tools need to excel in their specialism, ease of use, and interoperability.
Detectify delivers superior quality through unparalleled payload-based testing and threat intelligence from elite hackers and AI. With Detectify, you can build your AppSec strategy on a foundation of true security excellence.
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Surface Monitoring
2 apex domains with continuous monitoring for the whole trial period for broad attack surface coverage and testing.
Application Scanning
5 scan profiles (domains or subdomains), with unlimited scans per scan profile for deep application testing where it matters most.
Continuous coverage 24/7
Discover and monitor your modern tech stack with daily insights about every exposed asset.
Unique crawling and fuzzing engine
That goes beyond the capabilities of a “traditional” DAST scanner.
Accurate results that save time
99.7% accuracy in vulnerability assessments with 100% payload-based testing.
Ethical hacker expertise in 15 minutes
Research from Crowdsource, our community of 400+ ethical hackers, allows you to discover the latest undocumented security vulnerabilities.
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President
Small Business
“Detectify is a powerful tool that every business should have”
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