Application Security Testing (AST) tools are critical to cybersecurity. They help developers and security professionals identify and address vulnerabilities in software applications throughout the software development lifecycle (SDLC). These tools automate finding weaknesses in code that attackers could exploit.

Here's a breakdown of AST tools in the context of cybersecurity:

Why are AST tools essential?

• Proactive Security: AST tools shift security left, meaning they find vulnerabilities early in the development process, making them cheaper and easier to fix.

• Reduced Risk: By identifying and remediating vulnerabilities, AST tools mitigate the risk of successful cyberattacks that could lead to data breaches, financial loss, and reputational damage.

• Compliance: Many industries have security standards and regulations (e.g., PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR). AST tools help organizations comply with these requirements.

• Improved Code Quality: AST tools improve security and enhance the overall quality of code by identifying coding errors and bad practices.

Types of AST Tools:

• Static Application Security Testing (SAST): These tools analyze source code, byte code, or binaries without executing the application. They excel at finding vulnerabilities like SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and buffer overflows.

• Pros: Early detection and comprehensive code coverage.

• Cons: Can produce false positives and may need help with complex applications.

• Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST): These tools test the running application, simulating attacks to identify vulnerabilities in the application's behavior and responses.

• Pros: Good at finding runtime vulnerabilities, fewer false positives than SAST.

• Cons: It can be slower than SAST and may miss vulnerabilities not triggered during testing.

• Interactive Application Security Testing (IAST): These tools combine elements of SAST and DAST, analyzing code while the application is running. They provide real-time feedback and more accurate vulnerability identification.

• Pros: High accuracy and detailed vulnerability information.

• Cons: Can be more complex to implement.

• Software Composition Analysis (SCA): These tools analyze the application's components and libraries to identify known vulnerabilities in open-source and third-party code.

• Pros: Helps manage risks associated with open-source components quickly and efficiently.

• Cons: May not identify vulnerabilities in custom code.

Key Takeaways:

• AST tools are essential for building secure applications in today's threat landscape.

• Different AST tools have different strengths and weaknesses, so organizations often combine tools to achieve comprehensive coverage.

• Integrating AST tools into the SDLC through DevSecOps practices allows for continuous security testing and faster remediation of vulnerabilities.

ThreatNG, with its comprehensive suite of external attack surface management, digital risk protection, and security ratings capabilities, can significantly enhance application security testing by providing a holistic view of an organization's security posture and associated risks. Here's how:

1. Complementing AST with External Perspective:

• Identifying Shadow IT: ThreatNG can discover unknown web applications, cloud services, and online code repositories associated with the organization, which might need to be noticed by traditional AST tools focused on internal applications. This helps expand the scope of security testing and ensures comprehensive coverage.

• Uncovering External Threats: ThreatNG's continuous monitoring of the dark web, social media, and other sources can identify potential threats like compromised credentials, data leaks, and ransomware attacks targeting the organization's applications. This information can be used to prioritize and focus AST efforts on the most critical vulnerabilities.

• Assessing Third-Party Risks: ThreatNG's supply chain and third-party exposure analysis can identify vulnerabilities in external libraries and components used by the organization's applications. This information can be fed into SCA tools to enhance their effectiveness and ensure the security of the entire software supply chain.

2. Working Together with AST Tools:

• Enriching Vulnerability Data: ThreatNG's domain intelligence, social media monitoring, and sensitive code exposure analysis can provide valuable context to vulnerabilities identified by AST tools. This helps prioritize remediation efforts and understand the potential impact of each vulnerability.

• Guiding DAST Efforts: ThreatNG's discovery of exposed APIs, development environments, and web application firewalls can help DAST tools focus their testing on the application's most critical and exposed parts.

• Validating SAST Findings: ThreatNG's dark web monitoring and known vulnerability databases can help validate SAST findings and confirm the potential exploitability of identified vulnerabilities.

3. Leveraging ThreatNG's Investigation Modules:

• Domain Intelligence: Helps identify potential subdomain takeovers, vulnerable certificates, and misconfigured DNS records that could expose applications to attacks.

• Social Media: Identifies social engineering attempts, phishing campaigns, and brand impersonations that could compromise application security.

• Sensitive Code Exposure: Uncovers exposed credentials, API keys, and configuration files in public code repositories that could be used to compromise applications.

• Search Engine Exploitation: Identifies sensitive information, vulnerable servers, and publicly exposed credentials that could be exploited to attack applications.

• Cloud and SaaS Exposure: Discovers misconfigured cloud services, unsanctioned SaaS applications, and exposed data buckets that could put application data at risk.

• Online Sharing Exposure: Identifies sensitive information shared on code-sharing platforms that could be used to attack applications.

• Sentiment and Financials: Provides insights into the organization's reputation and financial stability, which can influence the prioritization of application security efforts.

• Archived Web Pages: Uncovers historical vulnerabilities and outdated code that could still be present in current applications.

• Dark Web Presence: Identifies compromised credentials, leaked data, and attack plans targeting the organization's applications.

• Technology Stack: This provides a comprehensive view of the organization's technologies, which can help tailor AST efforts to specific frameworks and platforms.

Examples:

• ThreatNG identifies a subdomain takeover vulnerability through its Domain Intelligence module. This information can be used to prioritize DAST testing of the affected subdomain and prevent potential attacks.

• ThreatNG discovers API keys that are exposed in a public code repository through its Sensitive Code Exposure module. This information can be correlated with SAST findings to identify vulnerable code paths and prioritize remediation efforts.

By combining ThreatNG's external perspective and comprehensive investigation capabilities with traditional AST tools, organizations can achieve a more holistic and practical approach to application security testing, ensuring the security of their applications in today's dynamic threat landscape.