As organizations increasingly depend on software to drive critical functions, application security (AppSec) has shifted from a secondary consideration to a fundamental necessity. Yet, over half 59% of AppSec teams feel that today’s complex attack surfaces are unmanageable, especially given the rapid rise of Generative AI (GenAI) in development workflows and the growing reliance on open-source components.
With the rapid pace of development and deployment intensifying these challenges, can traditional security solutions keep up?
In this guide we answer that question and more, exploring essential aspects of application security, the types of tools available, key features, and best practices for building a resilient AppSec strategy.
What is Application Security?
Application security is a set of strategies and practices designed to protect applications from development to deployment. This multi-layered approach encompasses a variety of measures, including code analysis, configuration management, pipeline security, and application security testing (AST), all aimed at ensuring that applications are secure from the earliest stages of development to production and beyond.
A more holistic approach to application security, Application Security Posture Management (ASPM), combines these functions into a unified platform, providing visibility and continuous monitoring across the entire software development lifecycle (SDLC). We explore ASPM in more detail later in the article. If you don’t want to wait, you can jump down the page.
What is an Application Security Tool?
AppSec teams face numerous challenges today, including limited visibility into potential risks and an ever-increasing volume of vulnerabilities in application code, dependencies, and configurations. Application security tools are designed to address these challenges by providing capabilities to identify, prioritize, and remediate vulnerabilities across the SDLC.
These tools protect application code, open-source libraries, third-party components, and configuration settings from security threats, enabling security teams to proactively manage risks, streamline processes, and maintain security within agile development environments.
But traditional point solutions often lead to tool sprawl, with the average team using 50 security tools across their security and development teams. This creates unnecessary noise and can lead to alert fatigue, making it difficult to focus on high-priority threats. In fact, 67% of security professionals say managing multiple different security tools is challenging.
Types of Application Security Tools
Fortunately, modern AppSec tools have evolved significantly in recent years, filling gaps left by legacy solutions. Let’s explore the various types of solutions – including an all-in-one platform.
| Tool Type | Main Function | Purpose | Benefits |
| Application Security Testing (AST) | Identifies vulnerabilities during various development stages using SAST, SCA, etc. | Detect and resolve security issues early in the SDLC to reduce risks and costs associated with late-stage remediation. | Prevents vulnerabilities from reaching production, improves code quality, and ensures early detection and resolution of issues. |
| Threat Intelligence & Vulnerability Management | Leverages global threat data to identify and prioritize vulnerabilities. | Enables teams to stay informed about emerging threats and focus on vulnerabilities with the highest risk impact. | Proactive risk management, improves prioritization, and reduces time spent on low-risk vulnerabilities. |
| Pipeline Security | Protects CI/CD pipelines by monitoring configurations, validating repositories, and securing build processes. | Ensures that only secure, validated code moves through the pipeline, protecting the integrity of software delivery. | Prevents unauthorized changes, strengthens the overall security posture, integrates seamlessly into DevOps workflows, and reduces deployment risks. |
| Application Security Posture Management (ASPM) | Consolidates multiple proprietary and third-party tools (including pipeline security and AST) into a single, unified platform to provide continuous visibility, prioritization, and remediation of risk that matters the most. | Simplifies AppSec by consolidating security tools, enabling real-time monitoring, and facilitating rapid remediation. | Reduces tool sprawl, centralizes security management, improves visibility, and enhances overall security posture. |
Application Security Testing (AST)
AST encompasses several methodologies designed to identify vulnerabilities at different stages of the software development lifecycle (SDLC). Static Application Security Testing (SAST) and Software Composition Analysis (SCA) are particularly critical for securing modern applications. Together, these tools form the backbone of a proactive application security strategy, enabling organizations to identify and mitigate risks efficiently.
Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
SAST analyzes the application’s source code or compiled code to detect vulnerabilities during development. By identifying issues such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and insecure coding practices, SAST helps developers address potential risks before the application is executed or deployed.
Software Composition Analysis (SCA)
SCA tools scan third-party libraries for known vulnerabilities and licensing risks, ensuring compliance and reducing the risk of open-source vulnerabilities being exploited. Given that many breaches stem from unpatched vulnerabilities in third-party components, SCA is an essential aspect of modern application security.
Threat Intelligence and Vulnerability Management
Drawing from global threat intelligence feeds, these tools provide insights into emerging threats, helping organizations prioritize vulnerabilities based on real-world data. By focusing on active threats, vulnerability management tools enable teams to concentrate efforts where they’re most needed, reducing overall risk exposure.
Pipeline Security
Pipeline security focuses on protecting the CI/CD pipeline from risks that could compromise code integrity and security, and safeguards the SDLC by monitoring pipeline configurations, validating code repositories, and preventing unauthorized changes. Pipeline security also integrates security checks into build, test, and deployment stages, ensuring that vulnerabilities are caught early and that only secure, validated code progresses to production.
This not only strengthens the overall security posture but also aligns with DevOps practices to ensure rapid, secure delivery of software.
Application Security Posture Management (ASPM)
ASPM is an all-in-one solution that consolidates and integrates proprietary and third-party application security tools across the SDLC, including pipeline security and AST.
As we’ve said, traditional point solutions create fragmentation, leading to tool sprawl, visibility gaps, and inefficient workflows that hinder comprehensive risk management. ASPM addresses these drawbacks by integrating seamlessly with CI/CD pipelines and DevOps workflows, providing continuous visibility, automating threat prioritization, and enabling real-time remediation.
It’s no wonder that, according to Gartner, 40% of organizations developing proprietary applications will adopt ASPM by 2026…
Key Features of Application Security Tools
Application security tools come with a wide range of features, tailored to meet different security needs across the SDLC. While feature sets vary by tool type, certain functionalities are essential for effective application security management.
Below are some of the key features that drive robust, scalable, and actionable application security:
- CI/CD Pipeline Integration: Security testing integrated within CI/CD pipelines enables continuous security checks without disrupting development, ensuring vulnerabilities are detected early and addressed before release.
- Automated Risk Prioritization: Automated prioritization reduces alert fatigue by ranking vulnerabilities based on their potential impact and relevance, helping security teams focus on the most critical issues.
- Proprietary Scanners: Proprietary scanners, developed in-house by security providers, offer tailored coverage for specific application environments, detecting unique or complex vulnerabilities that might be missed by open-source or general-purpose scanners.
- Comprehensive Reporting and Analytics: Detailed reports and dashboards help teams focus on the fixing risk that matters most. With visibility into risk distribution by business unit, security teams can trace issues back to the code owner to streamline remediation efforts.
- Built-In Remediation: Tools with built-in remediation options streamline the process of fixing vulnerabilities, offering solutions with context to developers in their own environments. This facilitates better collaboration between security and development teams.
While each application security tool type comes with unique features, certain core functionalities are critical for driving effective AppSec practices. Now let’s look at practical scenarios where these tools can help organizations maintain a robust security posture across the SDLC.
Application Security Tool Use Cases
Application security tools play a critical role in protecting applications throughout the software development lifecycle, from left to right. The ultimate goal is to deliver safe code faster, release secure applications, and maintain a robust security posture across environments.
Below are just a handful of key use cases that demonstrate how these tools enable comprehensive protection.
Finding Vulnerabilities
Identifying vulnerabilities early and continuously is essential for securing modern applications. Through continuous monitoring, AppSec tools like SAST and SCA evaluate code, dependencies, and build processes to detect security issues across the SDLC.
Continuous monitoring is particularly valuable for preventing vulnerabilities in open-source libraries or custom code from becoming exploitable entry points. By embedding security into CI/CD pipelines, teams gain real-time insights into potential risks and maintain the integrity of their codebase without slowing down development.
Protecting Data
Applications often handle sensitive or high-value data, such as financial records, personal information, or intellectual property, making data protection a critical priority. Application security tools collectively safeguard this data by addressing vulnerabilities at every stage of the software development lifecycle. AST tools help identify insecure code and configurations early, while pipeline security ensures the integrity of the CI/CD process, preventing vulnerabilities from being introduced into production. ASPM provides continuous visibility, detecting and responding to threats as they occur.
Managing Risk
AppSec tools enable organizations to manage risk effectively by prioritizing vulnerabilities based on their severity, exploitability, and relevance. Tools like SCA and threat intelligence platforms help teams stay ahead of emerging threats by monitoring open-source dependencies and leveraging global threat data.
Proactive risk management (especially powered by AI) ensures resources are focused on the most critical issues, reducing the chance of exploitation. This approach also helps security teams address vulnerabilities efficiently, avoiding alert fatigue and ensuring timely remediation of high-impact threats.
Releasing Secure Software
Delivering secure software requires embedding security into every stage of the development lifecycle. AppSec tools ensure that security testing is integrated seamlessly into CI/CD pipelines, enabling developers to identify and resolve issues during development and pre-production. For example, SAST scans source code for vulnerabilities early in the process, while tools like pipeline security validate the integrity of build processes and configurations to prevent vulnerabilities from being introduced into production.
This proactive approach not only reduces the costs and delays associated with late-stage remediation but also aligns security with development goals, ensuring that secure applications are released quickly and confidently.
Compliance
Meeting regulatory standards such as PCI-DSS and fedRAMP requires robust security practices and detailed documentation, and over half (56%) of security professionals say that it’s getting more and more difficult to maintain compliance.
Fortunately, AppSec tools streamline compliance efforts by consolidating security functions, automating monitoring, and generating audit-ready reports.
For regulated industries, where compliance is non-negotiable, these tools reduce the burden of manual processes while ensuring adherence to legal and industry standards. By supporting continuous monitoring and documentation, AppSec tools help organizations avoid penalties and maintain customer trust.
Benefits of Having a Dedicated Application Security Tool
Application security tools are designed to embed security seamlessly into the development process, ultimately helping organizations deliver safe code, faster. By addressing risks early, streamlining workflows, and improving operational efficiency, these tools enable teams to focus on delivering quality code without compromising on security.
Stop Code Risk Before It Starts
By integrating security into the earliest stages of development, AppSec tools proactively identify vulnerabilities in code, open-source libraries, and configurations before they become exploitable risks. Continuous monitoring ensures that vulnerabilities are caught and remediated early in the SDLC, preventing issues from compounding or reaching production.
This proactive approach reduces the likelihood of security incidents and enhances the integrity of applications, allowing teams to deliver secure software without costly late-stage fixes.
Reduce Developer Productivity Tax
Traditional security processes often overwhelm developers with high volumes of alerts, many of which are low-priority or false positives. This noise slows development progress and diverts focus from innovation.
AppSec tools streamline workflows by automating vulnerability prioritization and integrating seamlessly into CI/CD pipelines, enabling developers to focus on building features without constant interruptions. By reducing this productivity tax, organizations can improve developer satisfaction and maintain development velocity while ensuring security is never compromised.
Lower Your Total Cost of Ownership
Detecting and remediating vulnerabilities late in the development cycle—or after deployment—can be up to 15 times more expensive than addressing them during coding or testing phases. AppSec tools lower total costs by identifying issues early, automating critical processes like prioritization and remediation, and reducing the need for costly post-production fixes.
Centralized platforms like ASPM are particularly valuable, given that they consolidate multiple tool functions. The result? Organizations can avoid the chaos that comes with tool sprawl and maximize ROI while still maintaining a robust security posture.
Best Practice Tips for Using Application Security Tools
Implementing application security tools effectively requires a strategic approach. Following best practices can help teams maximize the value of these tools, ensuring they integrate seamlessly into development workflows and enable proactive security management across the SDLC.
Shift Security Left in the CI/CD Pipeline
Integrating security testing at the earliest stages of development—commonly referred to as shifting left—helps identify and resolve vulnerabilities before they reach production. However, an uncontrolled shift-left strategy can overwhelm developers with excessive noise and create inefficiencies. By adopting a controlled shift-left approach, organizations can embed security checks thoughtfully within the CI/CD pipeline.
This approach focuses on balancing security with developer productivity by automating high-priority checks, providing actionable insights, and using tools like ASPM to centralize and manage vulnerabilities. This approach reduces last-minute security fixes, fosters a culture of proactive ownership among developers, and ensures that shifting left improves security without disrupting workflows.
Regularly Update and Patch Open-Source Dependencies
Open-source dependencies often contain known vulnerabilities that attackers actively exploit. Use SCA tools to monitor your project’s dependencies, alerting teams when updates are available or vulnerabilities are discovered. Schedule regular checks for dependency updates and implement a policy for prompt patching. This ensures that your application remains secure against the latest open-source vulnerabilities, safeguarding both compliance and integrity.
Prioritize Threats Based on Impact With AI
Not all vulnerabilities carry the same risk, and attempting to resolve every issue immediately can waste valuable time and resources. Leveraging AI-powered automated prioritization is essential to focus on high-impact vulnerabilities that pose the greatest threat to your organization. AI enhances traditional prioritization by analyzing vast amounts of data, identifying patterns, and assessing vulnerability severity, exploitability, and relevance to your specific environment.
By integrating AI-driven scoring systems, security teams can pinpoint critical issues more accurately and address them first, effectively reducing risk while minimizing the noise of low-priority alerts. This approach not only improves efficiency but also ensures that security resources are directed where they are needed most.
Use Proprietary Scanners for Specialized Coverage
Open-source scanners, while widely available and often used, come with inherent risks and limitations. They are typically not designed for enterprise use cases, lacking the depth and flexibility required to address the complexities of custom-built or industry-specific applications. They may also expose sensitive data during scans or fail to provide the comprehensive coverage necessary for enterprise-scale environments.
Proprietary scanners, on the other hand, are developed by specialized AppSec (or ASPM) vendors, and are built to meet the needs of enterprise use cases. They provide tailored analysis for unique architectures, proprietary codebases, and specialized frameworks, delivering more accurate and actionable insights.
Centralize Security Visibility with ASPM
Remember, the majority of AppSec teams experience tool fatigue from managing multiple, disconnected security solutions. ASPM consolidates visibility across all security tools, providing a centralized view of vulnerabilities, threat prioritization, and remediation status.
Teams who implement ASPM have been able to reduce the operational complexity of security management, improve response times, and streamline remediation workflows. With centralized visibility, teams can operate more efficiently, maintaining a continuous, accurate view of security posture across all applications.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What kinds of code analysis and testing should I be running?
A comprehensive application security strategy should focus on Static Application Security Testing (SAST) and Software Composition Analysis (SCA).
SAST analyzes source code during the early stages of development to identify vulnerabilities such as insecure coding practices and logic flaws before the application is executed. This allows developers to resolve security risks quickly and efficiently, minimizing disruptions to the development process. SCA, on the other hand, examines open-source libraries and third-party components for known vulnerabilities and licensing issues. As applications increasingly rely on these external dependencies, SCA becomes essential for mitigating risks from unpatched or insecure components, which are common entry points for attackers.
Together, SAST and SCA address both the code developers write and the external components they incorporate, ensuring a strong security foundation for your applications.
AppSec vs. DevSecOps: What’s the difference?
Application Security (AppSec) focuses on securing applications specifically, while DevSecOps is a broader cultural approach that embeds security within the DevOps pipeline. DevSecOps emphasizes collaboration between development, operations, and security teams to ensure security is a part of every stage in the CI/CD process. ASPM solutions are designed to support both, by centralizing application security management and integrating seamlessly with DevOps workflows.
How should I evaluate application security software?
Key factors include compatibility with your DevOps and CI/CD workflows, effective prioritization and reporting capabilities, and strong vendor support for long-term reliability. Consider tools that offer unified management capabilities, like ASPM, to consolidate multiple security processes and reduce tool fatigue.
Learn more about Cycode
Cycode is the leading ASPM platform, providing Peace of Mind to its customers. Its Complete ASPM platform delivers safe code, faster. That means stopping application risk before it starts, reducing developer productivity tax and lowering the total cost of ownership.
Powered by its Risk Intelligence Graph (RIG) – the brain behind the platform – Cycode offers traceability across the entire SDLC, enabling teams to gain actionable insights and maintain cyber resiliency. The platform integrates seamlessly with existing AppSec tools or can replace them entirely, supporting over 100 integrations while leveraging proprietary scanners and AI-powered features like natural language querying and automated remediation.
Ready to experience the future of application security? Book a demo today to see how Cycode can transform your security posture.
