Interactive Application Security Testing
Interactive Application Security Testing (IAST) is a security testing methodology that combines static and dynamic analysis techniques to identify vulnerabilities in running applications. It instruments the application code to monitor its behavior during execution, analyzing data flow and control flow in real-time to detect security flaws like injection attacks, broken authentication, and sensitive data exposure. IAST provides detailed, context-aware findings with lower false positives compared to traditional security testing tools.
Developers should use IAST during the development and testing phases of the software development lifecycle, particularly in CI/CD pipelines, to identify and remediate security vulnerabilities early. It is especially valuable for web applications, APIs, and microservices where real-time analysis can catch issues that static tools might miss, such as runtime configuration problems or business logic flaws. IAST helps teams achieve DevSecOps goals by integrating security testing directly into the development workflow.