Static Application Security Testing Overview
With the growing number of cybersecurity threats, you must ensure that your software is protected against potential vulnerabilities and threats. One of the most beneficial practices is to use static application security testing (SAST).
What You Need to Know
Static application security testing is a type of software test used for inspecting and analyzing code to identify security vulnerabilities. Software security tools — such as static code analyzers — scan your code as it’s being written to identify potential weaknesses, errors and bugs. These kinds of tools are invaluable to software developers, as they are able to detect the most prevalent and common software security vulnerabilities.
How It Works
In the simplest terms, static application security testing works by having a static code analyzer check your code for design and coding flaws that could make your software vulnerable to security vulnerabilities. During this inspection, the static code analyzer will identify security issues, including programming errors, unsensitized input processing and vulnerable constructs.
Problems That It Solves
In general, static application security testing has been designed to solve three main software development problems:
- 1. Detecting source-code vulnerabilities. The most significant benefit of using a static application security testing tool is identifying software security issues early on in development when they are easier (and less costly) to fix.
- 2. Eliminating late diagnostics. A common cause of massive technical debt is late diagnoses of problems in the source code. However, by using a static application security testing tool, you are able to easily diagnose the vulnerabilities and errors in your code.
- 3. Enhancing root-cause analysis. With a static application security testing tool, you receive notifications that pinpoint the exact location of vulnerabilities and errors in your code.
To learn more about static application security testing and how it can help ensure the security of your software, please visit: https://www.perforce.com/blog/kw/what-is-sast?utm_source=content-syndication-devops&utm_medium=content-syndication&utm_campaign=kwk-global-2021-wtl-demo&utm_content=what-is-sast