Web Application Security: The Various Types of Vulnerability Scanning and Assessment Tools

Web applications and APIs face various unique security threats. For example, SQL injection (SQLi), cross-site scripting (XSS), and similar flaws are unique to web applications and may not be detectable by general-purpose application security tools.

However, numerous specialized security tools exist to identify and assess vulnerabilities in web applications. These function throughout the software development lifecycle (SDLC), including the development, testing, deployment, and maintenance phases.

Vulnerability Scanning and Assessment Tools

Web applications and APIs commonly contain vulnerabilities, whether due to errors in code developed in-house or the use of vulnerable third-party libraries. Due to the potential for security issues to arise at any stage of the SDLC, web applications and APIs need vulnerability management tools that provide protection at every stage of a web app’s lifecycle and address the unique security threats that these applications face.

Static and Dynamic Application Security Testing

Vulnerability management is cheapest and most effective when applied early in the SDLC. For this reason, DevSecOps practices recommend implementing security testing during the development phase of the SDLC rather than waiting for the testing phase. Static and dynamic application security testing solutions can be integrated into automated CI/CD pipelines and used to identify various vulnerabilities in web application code. 

Static application security testing (SAST) tools inspect the source code of an application, searching for common code patterns associated with vulnerabilities. For example, an SQLi vulnerability may be detected by looking for SQL queries built via string concatenation rather than parameterized queries. Since SAST solutions work on source code, they can be applied early in the SDLC before code is committed to a repository.

Dynamic application security testing (DAST) solutions operate on running applications, providing malformed or malicious inputs, and observing the application’s response. For example, a DAST tool may send common SQLi exploit strings to an application to determine if it is vulnerable. DAST tools can also be integrated into automated CI/CD pipelines to perform early, streamlined testing of application code.

API Security Testing Tools

Web applications and APIs may perform similar functions, but they have important differences. Web APIs are designed to interact with other programs, making them an ideal target for automated attacks such as credential stuffing.

Additionally, while APIs share many of the same vulnerabilities as web apps, they also face unique security threats. For this reason, they have their own OWASP top ten list that is distinct from the primary one for web apps.

API security testing tools are designed to work with APIs and address their unique security challenges. For example, a web API scanner may be designed to identify shadow APIs, focus on validation of the security of authentication and access control code, and look for common misconfigurations and security gaps on API endpoints.

Web Application Firewalls (WAFs)

Web application firewalls (WAFs) are a preventative security control designed to protect deployed web applications and APIs. Like other firewalls, they inspect network traffic for malicious or suspicious content and can block packets based on various rules.

However, WAFs differ from other firewalls in their focus on protecting web applications and APIs. They operate at Layer 7 of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model, inspecting the payloads of network packets and parsing the various protocols inside.

With a deep understanding of application-layer traffic, WAFs have the ability to identify SQLi, XSS, credential stuffing, and similar threats. Additionally, a WAF with knowledge of a particular vulnerability and the associated exploit can identify and block attempts to exploit vulnerable web apps and APIs that it protects. This virtual patching can provide rapid protection to vulnerable applications against recently announced and unpatched vulnerabilities.

Security Monitoring and Analytics Tools

Web applications and APIs are some of the most visible and targeted components of an organization’s external digital attack surface. Since they are publicly accessible and hold significant volumes of sensitive data, they are often under near-continuous attack by everything from automated botnets to more targeted and sophisticated attack campaigns.

A successful exploit by an attacker has the potential to result in a data breach or other significant security incident, and attackers often work to carry out their goals within moments of the initial exploit. For this reason, security monitoring and analytics tools are essential to achieve the visibility necessary to quickly detect and respond to an attack in progress. By identifying anomalous behavior or suspicious web traffic, these solutions offer the potential to prevent rather than respond to a cybersecurity incident.

Organizations also require visibility into the threats that make up their external digital attack surface, which is constantly evolving as code is added and updated, and new vulnerabilities are introduced or discovered. Continuous monitoring solutions provide up-to-date visibility into the vulnerabilities that development, ops, and security teams most need to address.

Securing Web Applications with IONIX

Web applications and APIs are potentially the most vulnerable and targeted components of an organization’s IT environments. While it’s possible that other systems may have more significant security flaws, web apps and APIs are exposed to the public Internet, making them the most likely to be scanned and exploited by real-world attackers.

The IONIX platform takes an attacker-centric approach to managing threats to an organization’s external attack surface. Via continuous monitoring and attack simulations, IONIX helps a company identify the threats that they are most likely to face, allowing limited security resources to be allocated to maximize the impact on the organization’s risk exposure. To learn more about how IONIX can help your organization enhance its web application and API security visibility and posture, sign up for a free demo.