Static Application Security Testing (SAST) continues to evolve to meet the demands of the AI era. As the speed, scale, and complexity of software development increase, the focus is shifting to SAST solutions that prioritize high-risk, exploitable weaknesses and facilitate remediation.
Cycode is honored to be named in Forrester’s 2025 The Static Application Security Testing Solutions Landscape report, which provides an overview of the SAST market and key trends. A consistent thread through the report is the impact of AI on software development and security. With AI-assisted code generation and the 10X developer, it is essential to integrate security testing early in the DevSecOps process, focus on the most critical issues, and automate remediation processes.
We believe organizations evaluating SAST tools should look for solutions like Cycode SAST that combine rapid deployment and scanning with high-quality detection, risk-based prioritization, and AI remediation. In concert, these capabilities help reduce the MTTR of high-risk weaknesses, accelerate secure code delivery, and improve overall security and risk posture.
How the SAST Landscape is Evolving
SAST is evolving from detection of code weaknesses to prioritization of exploitable risks and facilitating remediation with the least disruption of development velocity and tax on productivity. Below are key trends Cycode believes are reshaping the SAST landscape.
Risk Prioritization & Automated Remediation are Expected
In the SAST Landscape overview, Forrester notes, “Developers demand risk-based prioritization and automated remediation.” This demand is driven by the sheer volume of potential security flaws identified during testing, which makes manual review and remediation of every single issue impossible. Technologies that can intelligently rank vulnerabilities based on risk and provide automated fixes or guidance are valued and increasingly expected.
Quality and Context Combine to Focus on What Matters
Accurate testing with low false positives remains the foundation of an effective SAST tool. Prioritizing false positives is a fool’s errand. However, while the first step is accurate detection, the next step is distilling findings into exploitable risks actively targeted by threat actors that impact the business and customers. Forrester affirms this shift, writing, “SAST traditionally took a conservative approach by flagging all possible issues rather than risk missing an actual vulnerability. As the primary persona has shifted from security professionals to developers, the pendulum has swung in the other direction. Solutions are now touting ‘actionable’ findings.”
Context is crucial for effective prioritization. Exposure path analysis, runtime context, and threat intelligence enable security teams to understand the full scope of a SAST finding, its potential impact and exploitability, and the best path to resolution. SAST solutions in tandem with ASPM platforms excel in this area by aggregating and correlating data from various sources and providing a holistic view of security posture across organizational, team, application, and product hierarchies.
AI Exposes Limitations and Introduces Opportunities
Generative AI is significantly disrupting the SAST market. The exponential increases in developer productivity and volume of code generated with AI expose the limitations of tools with high false-positive rates and cumbersome developer experiences. Furthermore, governance of AI tools and security of AI applications add more layers for developers and security teams to manage. However, AI can also power improved detection, analysis, and remediation of security findings to counterbalance the additional risks. According to Forrester, “GenAI is also giving SAST solution vendors the opportunity to provide more tailored guidance specific to the developer’s codebase and even automated code fixes.” There is cause for optimism that next-generation SAST offerings, as part of a complete risk-reduction platform, can help close the security gap and improve risk posture.
Cycode SAST for the AI Era
As part of its Complete ASPM platform, we believe Cycode SAST is at the forefront of these market shifts. Cycode SAST pairs rapid deployment and industry-leading accuracy with complete data flow analysis, deep context into technical and business risk, and AI-assisted remediation. This focus on exploitable risks and remediation empowers developers to fix what matters and deliver secure code faster at enterprise scale.
Rapid Visibility and Scanning
Cycode delivers rapid visibility for security teams and empowers developers to begin securing their code in minutes by automatically checking every code change for security issues without the need to update build workflows, add scripts, or manually trigger scans. This means developers fix issues early when they are the fastest to remediate and before they introduce risk into production.
Industry-Leading Accuracy with Complete Data-flow Analysis
Cycode’s next-generation SAST engine provides accurate results and complete data-flow analysis without needing to compile source code. Most SAST scans cannot trace data flows across functions and files, leading to overwhelming false positives that erode developer trust. Unlike most SAST scans, Cycode analyzes and visualizes the full source-to-sink data flow to reduce false positives by >94% and provide security engineers and developers visibility into the risky data flow, building confidence and facilitating remediation.
Risk-based Prioritization
Accurate detection of true positives is the foundation for effective prioritization. Cycode builds upon this foundation by leveraging technical and business context to focus on exploitable weaknesses and quantify risk based on business impact. Cycode’s Risk Intelligence Graph leverages code-to-cloud context to analyse exposure paths, map ownership, and calculate risk scores for triaging and prioritization.
AI Remediation
Fixing, not finding, is what matters. However, remediating code weaknesses is often easier said than done, especially given the myriad pressures and cognitive overload on developers. Cycode helps developers save time and secure more with AI-generated security fixes they can review and implement in the IDE and on pull requests. In concert, accurate scans, risk prioritization, and AI remediation mean developers have fewer security tasks and can complete them faster with less effort.
No-Code Automation & Seamless Developer Experience
Developer adoption, trust, and enablement are essential to DevSecOps success. Cycode seamlessly integrates security scanning, AI remediation, and secure code training into developer workflows with IDE integrations, the Cycode CLI, PR scans, and CI/CD guardrails. The Cycode platform also makes it easy to build no-code automation to streamline ticketing, notification, and remediation workflows.
Experience Cycode SAST
Discover how Cycode’s next-generation SAST solution can reduce MTTR, increase developer productivity, and improve security posture. Get a demo today.
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