Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) Services

We Combine DAST Tools with Penetration Testing for Comprehensive Coverage

Outstanding experience with Blue Goat, from the project start to finish. They are passionate about securing software. Easy to read reports with tangible remediation guidance.
DAST Testing Services
Robert Woods
Sr. QA Manager

Steps to Schedule Your DAST:

DAST and Penetration Testing Services

Our Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) includes a gray box (authenticated) penetration test. This reduces false positives and expands coverage for a comprehensive test.

DAST Overview

At Blue Goat Cyber, our Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) service is at the forefront of ensuring comprehensive application security. We understand that safeguarding applications, whether they are web-based or custom-built, is paramount.

With DAST, we delve deep into the heart of your applications, simulating real-world scenarios. Our expert team meticulously logs into the application to perform rigorous testing to uncover vulnerabilities that could jeopardize your data and user trust.

Our DAST service isn’t limited to web applications; it covers a wide spectrum of applications, including custom-built ones. 

Experience peace of mind knowing that your applications are fortified against vulnerabilities and threats with Blue Goat Cyber’s DAST service.

Our premier DAST service is meticulously designed to safeguard your applications from the inside out, providing an external viewpoint to identify vulnerabilities that attackers could exploit. Leveraging the latest in security testing technologies, our DAST solutions offer unparalleled depth and breadth in vulnerability detection, covering critical security risks including, but not limited to:

  • Comprehensive Coverage of OWASP Top 10: Our DAST service thoroughly tests for the OWASP Top 10 Web Application Security Risks, a benchmark for web application security. This includes critical vulnerabilities such as Injection flaws, Broken Authentication, Sensitive Data Exposure, and more, ensuring your applications are fortified against these prevalent threats.

  • Expansive Testing for Web Vulnerabilities and Exploits: We delve deep into the complexities of web security by identifying and testing for a wide range of web vulnerabilities and exploits:

    • SQL Injection (including Blind, Inference, Classic, Compounded)
    • OS Command Injection (Informed, Blind)
    • Server-Side Code and Template Injection
    • Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), both Reflected and Stored
    • DOM-based Vulnerabilities, both Reflected and Stored
    • File Path Traversal/Manipulation
    • External/Out-of-Band Interaction
    • HTTP Header, XML/SOAP, LDAP Injection
    • Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
    • Open Redirection and Header Manipulation
    • Server-Level Issues, and more.
  • In-Depth Focus on CWE / SANS Top 25 Programming Errors: Our services extend to cover the Critical Weakness Enumeration (CWE) / SANS Top 25 Most Dangerous Software Errors, addressing key programming errors that could lead to serious vulnerabilities such as:

    • Memory Buffer Operations Restrictions
    • Improper Input Validation
    • Information Exposure
    • Out-of-bounds Read/Write
    • Improper Authentication
    • Incorrect Permission Assignment
    • Unrestricted File Upload
    • Deserialization of Untrusted Data
    • Improper Privilege Management, and more.

Our dynamic approach not only uncovers currently exploitable vulnerabilities but also provides insights into potential future threats, allowing for proactive remediation and security enhancements. Our DAST service simulates real-world attacks without needing source code, offering a realistic perspective on an application’s security posture as it would appear to an external attacker.

Blue Goat’s Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) Service is expertly designed to strengthen the security posture of your applications by identifying vulnerabilities in a running application, simulating real-world attacks similar to those performed by malicious actors. Unlike Static Application Security Testing (SAST), which reviews source code, our DAST service evaluates your application in its operational state, uncovering issues that only become visible when executed. This approach is critical for catching security flaws that could be missed during static analysis, ensuring a comprehensive defense strategy aligned with secure software deployment practices.

Methodology

Our DAST methodology is thorough and proactive, focusing on a live review of your application to ensure no vulnerability is left untested:

Scoping and Planning: The process begins with a detailed definition of the DAST scope, concentrating on the live versions of applications and components pivotal to your business. Collaborative discussions with your team help tailor our approach to suit your specific deployment environment and operational nuances.

Threat Simulation and Intelligence Gathering: We simulate cyber-attack scenarios to identify potential vulnerabilities and prepare an effective testing strategy before testing. This step is crucial for ensuring that our DAST efforts are both focused and encompassing.

Vulnerability Identification: Using state-of-the-art DAST tools, we execute automated and manual tests against your running applications, identifying vulnerabilities that attackers could exploit. Our testing covers a wide array of security issues, including those highlighted by the OWASP Top 10, tailored to the operational context of your applications.

Analysis and Prioritization: Each detected vulnerability undergoes a rigorous analysis to assess its severity and potential impact on your application’s security. This enables us to prioritize the findings, promptly addressing the most critical issues.

Reporting and Recommendations: Our comprehensive report delivers a detailed overview of identified vulnerabilities, their implications, and prioritized recommendations for remediation. Our goal is to provide actionable insights for immediate improvement of your application’s security posture.

Integration with Deployment Processes

A distinctive advantage of our DAST service is its integration into your deployment processes. By identifying and mitigating vulnerabilities in live applications, we help streamline your security efforts without disrupting ongoing operations or deployment schedules. This proactive approach secures your applications and complements continuous deployment and DevOps practices, facilitating secure and efficient application updates.

Benefits of Blue Goat’s DAST Service:

  • Real-World Security Assessment: Simulating attacks on live applications provides a realistic assessment of your application’s defense capabilities against actual cyber threats.
  • Comprehensive Vulnerability Coverage: DAST identifies runtime issues such as authentication problems, session management flaws, and operational misconfigurations, offering a broad security perspective.
  • Cost-Effective Security: By catching vulnerabilities in live applications, our DAST service helps avoid the high costs associated with post-deployment fixes and potential security breaches.
  • Supports Regulatory Compliance: Ensuring your live applications are secure aids in compliance with industry standards and regulations, reducing the risk of penalties and legal issues.

Choose Blue Goat for Advanced DAST Solutions

Selecting Blue Goat’s DAST Service means partnering with cybersecurity experts to enhance your application security through dynamic testing. Our strategic, real-world approach to identifying vulnerabilities equips your organization with the knowledge and solutions to fortify your digital assets against evolving threats. Engage with Blue Goat to secure your applications with cutting-edge DAST methodologies.

Blue Goat’s Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) Service is an essential solution tailored to enhance the security of your applications by identifying vulnerabilities in a live, running state. This service is pivotal in ensuring your applications meet industry standards and significantly elevates your cybersecurity posture. Our comprehensive service package culminates in a detailed deliverable that offers actionable insights and promotes compliance, establishing a solid security foundation for your deployed applications.

Comprehensive Report

At the core of our service is the in-depth DAST report, meticulously crafted to analyze the security of your application in its operational environment. This report is designed to be accessible and actionable for all organizational levels, fostering a universal understanding and readiness to act.

Report Components:

  • Executive Summary: Offers a high-level overview for executives, summarizing the DAST scope, key findings, and their potential business impacts. This section concisely assesses the security status of your live applications and underscores critical vulnerabilities.

  • Methodology Overview: Provides a clear exposition of the approach, tools, and techniques employed during the DAST process, ensuring you understand the comprehensive nature of our analysis.

  • Findings and Vulnerabilities: Documents each vulnerability with precision, including:

    • Description: An in-depth elucidation of the vulnerability, its operational context, and how it was identified.
    • Evidence: Proof of concept, screenshots, or logs that substantiate the finding.
    • Risk Rating: Assesses the vulnerability’s severity based on its potential impact and exploitability.
    • Recommendations: Delivers targeted, actionable remediation strategies for each identified issue, enabling swift and efficient resolution.
  • Compliance Overview: Evaluates how the findings align with applicable industry standards and regulations, identifying areas of non-compliance and providing strategies for achieving and maintaining compliance.

  • Appendices: Offers additional resources like technical data, analysis techniques, and best practice references, invaluable for teams tasked with remediation.

Report Review Session

Following the report delivery, we facilitate a review session to delve into the findings and address any queries. This session is key to a deep understanding of the vulnerabilities, their business implications, and the steps needed for remediation.

Session Highlights:

  • Findings Walkthrough: Security experts lead a detailed review of each finding, covering technical details, business impacts, and fielding questions.

  • Remediation Strategy Discussion: Focuses on discussing remediation strategies, emphasizing prioritizing actions and considering alternative remediation options if needed.

  • Compliance Guidance: Provides concrete advice for addressing any compliance gaps uncovered during testing, focusing on practical steps toward adherence to industry standards.

  • Next Steps and RVT Planning: Outlines follow-up actions, including planning for Remediation Validation Testing (RVT) to ensure vulnerabilities are effectively addressed.

Why Choose Blue Goat’s DAST Service

Our DAST Service is uniquely designed to offer your organization crucial insights, guidance, and support needed to enhance the security of your live applications and achieve compliance. With our detailed report and tailored review session, your team is equipped to take decisive steps toward improving application security.

Opt for Blue Goat’s Dynamic Application Security Testing service to secure a comprehensive analysis of your application’s current operational security and a strategic roadmap toward a more secure, compliant future.

Investing in Blue Goat’s Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) Service is a strategic move to safeguard your operational applications against cyber threats and ensure compliance with industry standards. Unlike static application security testing (SAST), which focuses on source code, our DAST service evaluates your applications in their live and running states, offering a real-world assessment of their security posture. This approach delivers significant, measurable benefits, enhancing your return on investment (ROI) through comprehensive risk management, improved security stance, and bolstered brand confidence.

How Our DAST Service Delivers ROI

Prevention of Data Breach Costs: Directly mitigating the risk of data breaches, our DAST service identifies exploitable vulnerabilities in live applications, potentially saving your organization from the high costs associated with breaches, including regulatory fines, legal fees, and intangible damage to brand reputation and customer trust.

Streamlined Compliance and Reduced Regulatory Fines: Our DAST service ensures your operational applications adhere to strict industry standards, helping avoid costly fines and simplifying the audit process. This proactive compliance reduces expenses and positions your business as a trusted, secure entity.

Enhanced Customer Trust and Loyalty: Demonstrating a commitment to security through regular, thorough DAST assessments reinforces customer confidence in your brand’s data handling practices. This trust translates into customer loyalty, positively impacting revenue through sustained engagement.

Optimization of Security Investments: By providing a clear view of vulnerabilities in your live environment, our DAST service allows for informed security spending, focusing resources on high-impact areas. Early detection and tailored remediation advice ensure efficient use of your security budget to strengthen your defenses.

Competitive Differentiation: Standing out in a security-conscious market, our DAST service highlights your commitment to protecting user data, setting your brand apart as a leader in cybersecurity, and potentially capturing a larger market share.

Long-Term Cost Savings: Including Remediation Validation Testing (RVT), our DAST service verifies that vulnerabilities are effectively remediated, eliminating the costs associated with recurring security issues and contributing to substantial long-term savings.

ROI Beyond Numbers: Securing a Resilient Future

Our DAST Service goes beyond immediate financial benefits, laying a foundation for lasting security and resilience. By addressing vulnerabilities in the operational phase, ensuring regulatory compliance, and maintaining customer trust, we help protect your current operations and future growth in the digital age.

Opt for Blue Goat’s Dynamic Application Security Testing Service to meet and exceed compliance requirements while establishing a strong security framework that drives business value, enhances customer trust, and upholds your brand’s reputation in a competitive landscape.

DAST FAQs

Please schedule a 30-minute Discovery Session with us so we can best understand your objectives.

DAST, or Dynamic Application Security Testing, is essential to a robust cybersecurity strategy. Its importance lies in its ability to provide speed and automation, making it suitable for continuous security assessments. With DAST, organizations can quickly identify vulnerabilities in their applications and take necessary actions to mitigate them.

One of the key advantages of DAST is its real-world attack simulation capability. By running tests in real-time and simulating actual application behavior, DAST can accurately identify exploitable vulnerabilities in the running state of the application. This ensures that organizations can proactively address security issues before malicious actors exploit them.

DAST tools are designed to be user-friendly and technology agnostic, making them accessible for testing applications developed in any programming language or technology stack. This versatility allows organizations to leverage DAST for security testing across their entire application portfolio, regardless of the underlying technology.

While DAST does have certain limitations, such as surface-level analysis and the potential for false positives and negatives, it offers a quick and automated way to identify common vulnerabilities like SQL injection and cross-site scripting. These vulnerabilities are prevalent in today's applications, putting sensitive data and user information at risk. By using DAST, organizations can stay one step ahead of potential threats and ensure the security of their applications.

In conclusion, DAST plays a crucial role in a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy. It offers speed, automation, and the ability to simulate real-world attacks, allowing organizations to continuously monitor and assess the security of their applications. With its versatility and accessibility, DAST enables organizations to proactively identify and address vulnerabilities, ultimately mitigating risks and safeguarding against potential security breaches.

To ensure comprehensive protection for the software development life cycle, neither static nor dynamic testing alone can suffice. Instead, organizations must leverage a combination of both static and dynamic analyses. By adopting this approach, the synergistic relationship between these testing methods can be harnessed, leading to more effective safeguarding of the software development process.

DAST offers speed and automation, making it suitable for continuous security assessments. Its ability to dynamically assess the security of software applications at runtime allows organizations to identify vulnerabilities and address them in a timely manner quickly. DAST enables efficient and frequent security assessments by automating the testing process, ensuring that applications are continuously monitored for potential risks.

On the other hand, penetration testing provides depth and human expertise, making it ideal for thorough, periodic security audits. With the involvement of skilled security professionals, penetration testing goes beyond automated scanning to uncover complex vulnerabilities that may not be easily detected by automated tools. This human element allows for a more comprehensive evaluation of an application's security posture.

Understanding the strengths and limitations of each approach allows organizations to make informed decisions about their application security strategies. By leveraging the speed and automation of DAST for continuous security assessments, organizations can quickly detect and mitigate vulnerabilities on an ongoing basis. Simultaneously, periodic penetration testing provides the necessary depth and expertise to conduct thorough security audits, ensuring that all potential vulnerabilities are identified and addressed.

Automating application security testing can greatly enhance efficiency and coverage, particularly in larger projects. By automating dynamic analysis, organizations can achieve significant improvements in their testing processes. However, it is important to consider the specific situations where automated testing is most beneficial.

Used wisely, automation of application security testing tools can bring about a substantial return on investment. It is especially advantageous to automate tests that are regularly conducted throughout the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). By incorporating automated testing into the SDLC, organizations can streamline the continuous monitoring and security assessment of their applications.

Nevertheless, it is crucial to recognize that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for application security. Relying solely on either static or dynamic testing may not provide comprehensive protection. Instead, a holistic approach that combines static and dynamic analyses is recommended. This approach leverages the synergistic relationship between these two testing methods, offering a more robust and comprehensive security framework.

Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) advantages include real-world attack simulation, ease of use, and technology agnosticism. DAST tools simulate an attacker's perspective, effectively identifying exploitable vulnerabilities in the application's running state. These tools are generally user-friendly, requiring minimal knowledge of the application's internal structure. Moreover, DAST can be seamlessly applied to any application, regardless of the programming language or technology stack employed.

However, it is essential to consider the limitations of DAST testing. Firstly, DAST primarily focuses on surface-level analysis, potentially missing deeper, systemic issues within the application's code. Additionally, DAST testing is typically conducted later in the development cycle, which may result in the identification of vulnerabilities when the application is already fully developed. This can make the remediation process more time-consuming and costly.

Another consideration is the possibility of false positives and negatives. While automated DAST tools aim to provide accurate results, they may occasionally produce misleading findings. Consequently, manual verification becomes crucial to ensure the accuracy of the identified vulnerabilities.

Despite these limitations, DAST remains a valuable testing approach. Its ability to simulate real-world attacks and its versatility across various technologies make it an attractive choice for organizations. However, it is important to recognize that DAST should be supplemented with other testing methodologies to achieve comprehensive security coverage throughout the software development lifecycle.

Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) is an automated process that tests an application from the outside by examining it in its running state. This method is often called "black box" testing because the tester does not know the application's internal workings. DAST tools interact with an application through its user interface and APIs, simulating the actions of a user or an attacker. DAST tools are generally user-friendly and do not require deep knowledge of the application's internal structure. DAST can be used on any application, regardless of the programming language or technology stack.

Penetration testing, often known as "pen testing," is a hands-on approach where security experts actively try to exploit vulnerabilities in an application. Unlike DAST, penetration testing can be performed with varying levels of knowledge about the application (black box, grey box, or white box testing). Pen testers can uncover deeper vulnerabilities that automated tools might miss, including logic flaws and complex security issues. The human element in pen testing allows for creative thinking and adaptation, closely mimicking an intelligent attacker's approach. Penetration tests usually result in detailed reports with context-specific recommendations for remediation.

While both DAST and penetration testing aim to identify vulnerabilities, their methodologies lead to different findings. DAST is automated and focuses on the application's running state from an external perspective. It effectively monitors and identifies common vulnerabilities like SQL injection and cross-site scripting. On the other hand, with its human-centric approach, penetration testing can identify more complex security issues, including business logic errors and insider threat vulnerabilities.

In practice, DAST and penetration testing are not mutually exclusive but complementary. While DAST provides a quick and automated way to identify common vulnerabilities, penetration testing offers a deeper, more nuanced understanding of complex security issues. Combining both approaches can provide a more comprehensive view of an application's security posture.

The choice between DAST and penetration testing often depends on various factors, including the development stage of the application, available resources, and specific security requirements. For ongoing security assurance, DAST can be integrated into the software development lifecycle for continuous monitoring. Penetration testing is more suited for in-depth, periodic security assessments.

DAST works by simulating external attacks on an application to identify outcomes that are not part of a typical user experience. It scans the application without requiring any prior knowledge of the programming language being used, ensuring that the application is thoroughly tested from end to end, without the need for accessing the source code.

During the testing process, DAST evaluates all kinds of endpoints, including hidden ones, and stimulates different types of attacks to uncover potential security vulnerabilities. It performs comprehensive vulnerability testing, aiming to identify flaws that may have been overlooked by other application security testing methodologies.

One example of a security flaw that DAST can detect is a SQL injection vulnerability. By sending a large string of characters, a DAST attack can help identify if the application is susceptible to a SQL injection attack.

Unlike other testing methods, which may require rebuilding the application to test for vulnerabilities, DAST examines the source code at runtime to search for potential weaknesses. This means that DAST can efficiently analyze the application's security posture without imposing the need for extensive modifications.

Static analysis, with its whitebox visibility, is certainly the more thorough approach and may also prove more cost-efficient with the ability to detect bugs at an early phase of the software development life cycle. It offers a comprehensive examination of the codebase, allowing for a deep analysis of potential issues. Static analysis can identify coding errors, security vulnerabilities, and potential performance bottlenecks by analyzing the source code without executing it. However, it is important to note that static analysis alone may not uncover all flaws and vulnerabilities that can arise during runtime.

Dynamic code analysis offers unique insights that are often impossible to obtain through static methods alone. It helps identify issues that occur at runtime, which might be missed by static analysis. Additionally, dynamic analysis tools can monitor application performance in real-time, helping developers optimize resource usage. By simulating attacks or unusual runtime conditions, dynamic analysis can uncover vulnerabilities that might be exploited. However, dynamic analysis depends on the code paths executed during the testing phase, which might not cover all possible execution paths. It should complement, not replace, static analysis. Each method can catch issues that the other might miss. Therefore, it is recommended to combine both static and dynamic analyses to ensure comprehensive testing and early issue detection.

Considering the strengths and weaknesses of both static and dynamic analyses, it is clear that a balanced approach is necessary. Static analysis provides a thorough examination of the codebase, detecting issues early on and offering a cost-efficient solution. On the other hand, dynamic analysis offers unique insights into runtime behavior and helps uncover vulnerabilities that static analysis might miss. By combining both methods, developers can achieve a more comprehensive testing process, identifying a wider range of issues and ensuring the robustness and security of their software applications.

There are two main types of Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST), each serving different purposes in securing applications:

1. Manual DAST: One type of DAST involves the expertise and skill of human testers. While software vulnerability scanners and penetration testing tools are valuable aids in application security, they can sometimes miss certain vulnerabilities. Manual DAST fills this gap by utilizing the experience and knowledge of security professionals who can spot vulnerabilities that automated scanners might overlook. This method involves a team of experts conducting thorough testing to identify bugs and weaknesses that could potentially leave the application susceptible to attacks.

2. Automated DAST: The second type of DAST relies on software-driven testing techniques. Automated DAST involves utilizing specialized tools and technologies to scan, analyze, and interact with applications. Crawlers are used to navigate through the application to discover various paths and functionalities, while fuzzers generate and input data to find potential vulnerabilities. Additionally, regex (regular expressions) can be used to search for and replace specific keywords, unveiling vulnerabilities such as SQL Injection, Cross-Site Scripting, and Server Side Request Forgery. The automated approach of DAST allows for efficient and scalable testing, as it can cover a wide range of scenarios and rapidly identify potential security flaws.

DAST, or Dynamic Application Security Testing, plays a crucial role in cybersecurity, particularly in safeguarding web applications, web services, and APIs. To fully integrate DAST into the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), it is important to consider the optimal timing for its implementation.

One effective approach is to conduct DAST scans after development stability has been achieved but before the application's final release. This allows developers to identify and address vulnerabilities before malicious actors exploit them. By conducting DAST scans during the pre-release phase, organizations can ensure that potential vulnerabilities are identified and resolved before a major launch, minimizing the risk of security breaches.

Regular production scans are essential to maintain continuous security. These scans can detect vulnerabilities that updates or changes in the production environment may have introduced. By regularly scanning and addressing vulnerabilities, organizations can enhance the security posture of their applications and protect against potential threats.

Furthermore, performing post-update analysis by conducting a new DAST scan after significant application updates is crucial. This helps in uncovering any newly introduced vulnerabilities and allows for prompt remediation.

To fully leverage the benefits of DAST, it is important to integrate it with comprehensive security strategies, such as penetration testing. This combination ensures a holistic approach to security, covering various aspects of application vulnerabilities.

Dynamic code analysis is an essential aspect of modern software development, focusing on evaluating and improving code quality, performance, and security while the program is in a live, running state. This contrasts with static code analysis, which examines code without executing it. Dynamic analysis offers unique insights that are often impossible to obtain through static methods alone.

The program is actively executed during dynamic analysis, allowing for real-time observation and assessment of its behavior. By examining the program's running state, dynamic analysis can identify potential security vulnerabilities that may not be evident from static analysis alone. It simulates attacks against the application, comprehensively evaluating its resilience to various threats.

In contrast, static analysis is performed without executing the program. It involves examining the source code, byte code, or application binaries to identify potential security weaknesses. Static analysis focuses on the application's internal structure, modeling the application data and control paths for analysis. Static analysis provides insights into the code's structure, potential flaws, and vulnerabilities by analyzing the application from the inside out.

While dynamic analysis provides real-time evaluation of the program's behavior and response to simulated attacks, static analysis offers an in-depth examination of the application's internal structure. By combining static and dynamic analysis techniques, developers can comprehensively understand their application's security posture, ensuring a robust and resilient software system.

Blue Goat Cyber's penetration testing services offer a multifaceted approach to addressing security concerns effectively, drawing upon manual and automated Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) techniques. Our comprehensive solution, tailored to the specific needs of your applications, incorporates thousands of tests, ensuring a thorough and robust security analysis.

Guidance and Transparent Documentation

Blue Goat Cyber's services extend beyond mere detection, offering detailed, step-by-step instructions customized to address your unique security challenges. We provide Proof of Concepts (PoCs) demonstrating how vulnerabilities can be reproduced, offering transparent documentation to support your remediation efforts. Showcasing penetration testing certifications, our services add credibility and trust to the security measures implemented.

Comprehensive Security Solution

By choosing Blue Goat Cyber’s penetration testing services, you gain a comprehensive security solution that combines automation, collaboration, detailed bug-fixing guidance, transparent documentation, and risk scoring. This holistic approach safeguards your applications from vulnerabilities and strengthens your overall security posture.

Our purpose is simple – to secure your product and business from cybercriminals.

The number of cybersecurity incidents continues to climb. The variety of attacks continues to grow. It is no longer a question of if you will have a cyber event.