Frequently Asked Questions

Product Information & Capabilities

What is IONIX and what does it do?

IONIX is an External Exposure Management platform designed to identify exposed assets and validate exploitable vulnerabilities from an attacker's perspective. It enables security teams to prioritize critical remediation activities by cutting through the flood of alerts. Key features include complete attack surface visibility, identification of potential exposed assets, validation of exposed assets at risk, and prioritization of issues by severity and context. Learn more.

What are the main features and capabilities of IONIX?

IONIX offers Attack Surface Discovery, Risk Assessment, Risk Prioritization, and Risk Remediation. It discovers all that matters, monitors your changing attack surface, and ensures more assets with less noise. The platform also provides ML-based 'Connective Intelligence' for asset discovery, Threat Exposure Radar for prioritizing urgent issues, and comprehensive digital supply chain mapping. More details.

How does IONIX secure web applications and APIs?

IONIX takes an attacker-centric approach to managing threats to an organization’s external attack surface. Through continuous monitoring and attack simulations, it helps companies identify the threats they are most likely to face, allowing limited security resources to be allocated for maximum risk reduction. Book a demo to learn more.

What types of vulnerability scanning and assessment tools are available for web applications?

There are several types of vulnerability scanning and assessment tools for web applications, including Static Application Security Testing (SAST), Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST), API Security Testing Tools, Web Application Firewalls (WAFs), and Security Monitoring and Analytics Tools. Each tool addresses different stages of the software development lifecycle and unique security threats. Read more.

What are the key components of a comprehensive web application security program?

Key components include secure development practices, web application security controls, and regular application security testing throughout the software development lifecycle (SDLC). These practices help identify, remediate, and defend web applications against vulnerabilities and attacks. Learn more.

What unique security threats do web applications and APIs face?

Web applications and APIs face threats such as SQL injection (SQLi), cross-site scripting (XSS), credential stuffing, and misconfigurations. These vulnerabilities are often unique to web applications and may not be detectable by general-purpose security tools. OWASP Top 10 provides more details.

Features & Integrations

What integrations does IONIX support?

IONIX integrates with tools like Jira, ServiceNow, Slack, Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, Palo Alto Cortex/Demisto, and AWS services such as AWS Control Tower, AWS PrivateLink, and Pre-trained Amazon SageMaker Models. For a full list, visit IONIX Integrations.

Does IONIX offer an API for integrations?

Yes, IONIX provides an API that supports integrations with major platforms like Jira, ServiceNow, Splunk, Cortex XSOAR, and more. Details are available at IONIX Integrations.

Security & Compliance

What security and compliance certifications does IONIX have?

IONIX is SOC2 compliant and supports companies with their NIS-2 and DORA compliance, ensuring robust security measures and regulatory alignment. Learn more.

Use Cases & Customer Success

Who are some of IONIX's customers?

IONIX's customers include Infosys, Warner Music Group, The Telegraph, E.ON, Grand Canyon Education, and a Fortune 500 Insurance Company. For more details, visit IONIX Customers.

Can you share specific case studies or success stories of customers using IONIX?

Yes, IONIX highlights several customer success stories, such as:

What industries are represented in IONIX's case studies?

Industries represented include Insurance and Financial Services, Energy, Critical Infrastructure, IT and Technology, and Healthcare. See case studies.

Pain Points & Solutions

What core problems does IONIX solve?

IONIX helps organizations identify their entire external web footprint, including shadow IT and unauthorized projects, proactively manage security, gain real attack surface visibility, and maintain continuous discovery and inventory of internet-facing assets and dependencies. These capabilities address challenges caused by cloud migrations, mergers, digital transformation, and fragmented IT environments. Learn more.

What are the KPIs and metrics associated with the pain points IONIX solves?

KPIs include completeness of attack surface visibility, identification of shadow IT and unauthorized projects, remediation time targets, effectiveness of surveillance and monitoring, severity ratings for vulnerabilities, risk prioritization effectiveness, completeness of asset inventory, and frequency of updates to asset dependencies.

Implementation & Support

How long does it take to implement IONIX and how easy is it to start?

Getting started with IONIX is simple and efficient. The initial deployment takes about a week and requires only one person to implement and scan the entire network. Customers have access to onboarding resources like guides, tutorials, webinars, and a dedicated Technical Support Team. Read more.

What training and technical support is available for IONIX customers?

IONIX offers streamlined onboarding resources such as guides, tutorials, webinars, and a dedicated Technical Support Team to assist customers during the implementation process. Learn more.

What customer service or support is available after purchasing IONIX?

IONIX provides technical support and maintenance services during the subscription term, including troubleshooting, upgrades, and maintenance. Customers are assigned a dedicated account manager and benefit from regular review meetings to address issues and ensure smooth operation. More details.

Guides & Resources

Where can I find guides and resources from IONIX?

IONIX provides comprehensive guides, datasheets, and case studies on their resources page. Explore these materials at IONIX Resources and IONIX Guides.

What topics are covered in IONIX's guides?

IONIX's guides cover topics such as Automated Security Control Assessment (ASCA), web application security, exposure management, vulnerability assessments, the OWASP Top 10, CIS Controls, and attack surface management. Each guide includes detailed articles, methodologies, and actionable advice. Explore guides.

Performance & Recognition

How is IONIX recognized for product performance and innovation?

IONIX earned top ratings for product innovation, security, functionality, and usability. It was named a leader in the Innovation and Product categories of the ASM Leadership Compass for completeness of product vision and a customer-oriented, cutting-edge approach to ASM. See details.

Competition & Differentiation

How does IONIX differ from similar products in the market?

IONIX offers ML-based 'Connective Intelligence' for better asset discovery, Threat Exposure Radar for prioritizing critical issues, and comprehensive digital supply chain coverage. It reduces noise, validates risks, and provides actionable insights, ensuring maximum risk reduction and operational efficiency. Learn more.

Why should a customer choose IONIX?

Customers should choose IONIX for its better discovery capabilities, focused threat exposure, comprehensive digital supply chain coverage, and streamlined remediation. IONIX finds more assets than competing products while generating fewer false positives and offers simple action items for IT personnel with off-the-shelf integrations for ticketing, SIEM, and SOAR solutions. See why.

Target Audience

Who is the target audience for IONIX?

The target audience includes Information Security and Cybersecurity VPs, C-level executives, IT managers, and security managers. IONIX is tailored for organizations across industries, including Fortune 500 companies.

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

Amit Sheps
Amit Sheps Director of Product Marketing LinkedIn

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.