DAST vs Penetration Testing: Key Differences You Should Know

Quick Summary: DAST and penetration testing are two reliable methods when it comes to security testing. They help discover vulnerabilities in applications and systems that attackers can exploit to steal sensitive data. But what makes them different from each other, and how do they benefit from security audits? Let’s find out in this blog with a comparison of DAST vs pen testing. Keep reading to make an informed decision.

Cyber threats are a major challenge for organizations today. In the past few years, there have been many significant data breaches globally that shook the world. Hence, organizations need a robust cybersecurity strategy to protect their digital assets.

They need a proactive approach to win the battle against them instead of a reactive approach. Security audits help organizations stay ahead of these rising threats by detecting and remediating common security flaws proactively.

You need to be aware of the different methods and techniques available for security audits. Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) and penetration testing are two widely used methods to analyze systems and applications for potential security weaknesses.

Here in this blog, we are going to dive into the comparison of DAST vs pen testing to let you understand how they stand out. It provides an understanding of each of these methods and the key differences between them. So, let’s get started!

Mitigate Security Risks by Detecting All Attack Vectors Precisely with ZeroThreat Check Now

An Overview of DAST and Penetration Testing

DAST or Dynamic Application Security Testing, offers an automated analysis of web-based applications and APIs. It uses automated simulated attacks on the target application or API to uncover weaknesses that attackers could exploit.

It is a kind of black-box testing that scans applications without accessing the source code. It simulates the actions of an attacker to identify security loopholes in real-time. A DAST tool crawls applications and APIs, navigating different pages and states.

DAST performs security tests at runtime when the code of an application is being executed rather than checking it statically. On the other hand, pen testing or penetration testing is a manual method that is performed by trained experts.

Pen testing helps identify security loopholes by manually analyzing applications, systems, and networks with targeted simulated attacks. In this method, an ethical hacker performs attacks on the target application or API, which may be an internal team member or someone hired externally.

The ethical hacker uses an attacker-like tactic to evaluate a target application, system, or network using a variety of tools. The hacker discovers security vulnerabilities and makes a report of potential loopholes to help organizations mitigate risks.

In a simple analogy, DAST is like checking broken windows and cracks in the walls of a room, while penetration testing is like sending a burglar to try to break into a room and not just discover weaknesses but also find out how exploitable they are.

Key Advantages of DAST

Dynamic application security testing offers many advantages to organizations, some of which are mentioned below.

Automation

The first and foremost benefit of DAST is automation. Since DAST automates security assessment, it allows for scalable and continuous testing. Plus, it doesn’t require many resources to perform testing.

Quick Detection of Vulnerabilities

DAST helps find vulnerabilities rapidly and accelerate the remediation process to minimize potential security threats as soon as possible.

Comprehensive Scanning

DAST offers comprehensive web application security testing covering their configurations, runtime environment, dependencies, and more.

Real-Time Testing

It offers real-time insights into potential security threats with simulated attacks like a real-world scenario. It helps understand the behavior of an application when under attack.

Integration with the Development Process

An advantage of DAST is that it can be integrated into the development pipeline to streamline security testing. It ensures early detection and remediation of vulnerabilities.

Benefits of Penetration Testing

Pen testing is performed by trained professionals with various tools and skills. As a result, it offers a more robust threat analysis. The following are the key benefits of this method.

Improved Incident Response

Penetration testing helps enhance incident response by offering valuable insights into the threat landscape.

Validate Security Controls

Pen testing helps organizations validate their existing security controls and find gaps that attackers could exploit to bypass these security controls.

Identify Real Risks

Pen testing involves identifying vulnerabilities and trying to exploit them. As a result, it offers insights into real threats and allows them to observe what an attacker can do in reality.

Third-party Opinion

Your organization may not be inclined to act sincerely when an issue is identified internally. However, it could be of more significance when the issue has been raised by a third party. This is what pen testing can do, as your organization can get the opinion of a third party.

Meeting Compliances

Penetration testing helps discover gaps that can lead to problems when meeting regulatory and compliance requirements. It shows the issues in data protection and privacy controls.

Avoid Costly Breaches by Using the AI-powered Scanning Capabilities to Discover Threats that Other DAST Tools Fail to Detect Check It Now

DAST vs Penetration Testing: A Quick Comparison

The following points show the differences between DAST and penetration testing, giving a comparative view of them.

Method of Testing

DAST, as the name suggests, uses a dynamic approach to security testing. Dynamic testing involves evaluating applications or APIs at runtime. It means the application’s behavior is evaluated when it is executed.

On the other hand, pen testing works with both static and dynamic methods of testing. So, pen testing can be performed in both cases when an application is running or when it’s not running.

Mode of Testing

The mode of testing is another important factor to consider when comparing DAST vs pen testing. Talking of DAST, it relies on an automated method. It uses automated scanning to detect vulnerabilities in web apps and APIs.

Pen testing is usually performed manually to simulate an attacker’s behavior and try to identify weaknesses in the target application, system, or network. It involves a thorough analysis of the target with the use of security testing tools.

Schedule of Testing

Since DAST scans are automated, they can be performed anytime. DAST can be leveraged for continuous scanning and testing. It can be used to monitor live applications for various security flaws like broken authentication and cross-site scripting.

Traditionally, pen testing was performed once or annually. However, the rising cybersecurity threats have necessitated organizations to perform continuous penetrating testing on quarterly or half-yearly intervals.

Costs of Testing

While comparing pen testing vs DAST, the cost plays a vital role in differentiation. DAST tools are relatively cheaper and offer continuous security assessments. Hence, the overall cost of security testing is minimal in this case.

Pen testing is usually expensive and is performed by ethical hackers. Plus, you need more resources and time for projects with larger scope and higher complexity. As a result, the cost of testing increases sharply.

False Positives

False positives are a key challenge in security assessments. In simple words, false positives occur when a vulnerability assessment tool identifies a security loophole that actually doesn’t exist. It means that the vulnerability found by a tool is not an actual vulnerability.

DAST tools can generate false positives. However, now, the use of AI-based tools minimizes the possibility of false positives. Pen testing is unlikely to give false positives as tests are performed manually by an ethical hacker.

Ability to Run Tests

Considering DAST vs pen testing from the ease of running tests, running DAST scans is easier. Anyone can run DAST scans because they are performed with automated tools. Hence, with a single click, anyone can run the tests without specific skills or permissions.

Pen tests are authorized tests performed by trained, skilled professionals. Running these tests requires an understanding of various tools and methods to get the results. Hence, pen testing requires in-depth expertise.

Depth of Testing

DAST excels in discovering surface-level vulnerabilities. It seamlessly integrates into development pipelines, offering automated tests that enable organizations to discover vulnerabilities within the SDLC. Plus, many DAST tools can even scan applications deeply to detect zero-day exploits and out-of-band vulnerabilities.

Penetration testing offers deeper insights into an organization’s threat landscape as it simulates real-world attacks. It helps uncover vulnerabilities by testing deeper into the security layers. Pen testing is a high-end security testing technique that can uncover threats that automated tools fail to discover.

Making an Ideal Choice: Penetration Testing vs DAST

The decision to choose between DAST or penetration testing relies on specific security needs. Dynamic Application Security Testing is useful for continuous security assessments because it evaluates applications at runtime with automated tests.

Hence, when security needs demand continuous threat assessment, DAST is a go-to choice because it can be used frequently to monitor and scan applications for vulnerabilities. On the other hand, penetration testing requires more resources and time.

It involves hiring a professional who can perform simulated attacks from an attacker’s mindset to discover loopholes and try to exploit them. It offers a comprehensive security assessment that checks system, network, and application layers for security flaws.

Instead of choosing between DAST and pen testing, many organizations often adopt both these approaches to enhance their cybersecurity capabilities. So, DAST and pen testing go hand-in-hand to help organizations in their battle against cyber threats.

The combined power of pen testing and dynamic application security testing helps organizations get comprehensive insights into different attack vectors. Plus, it helps them in continuous threat assessments using DAST and regular pen testing uncovers more complex loopholes.

Combing the DAST and pen testing offers the following advantages:

• Combining pen testing and DAST offers a comprehensive view of the threat landscape that uncovers vulnerabilities at the surface and deeper levels.
• Organizations can discover a wide spectrum of vulnerabilities that help organizations reinforce their security posture and defend against a variety of security threats.
• DAST helps continuous threat assessments to detect and remediate vulnerabilities early. On the other hand, pen testing offers periodic security audits to validate remediation efforts.
• The combined benefits of DAST and pen testing result in the maximization of their security efforts.

Scan in Minutes to Uncover Hidden Loopholes and Focus More on Development Than Security Testing See It in Action

In a Nutshell

DAST and penetration testing are two widely adopted approaches when it comes to security testing. However, organizations following a modern development environment with an Agile methodology require frequent security testing where DAST can play a crucial role.

Hence, organizations utilize DAST for web app and API security testing within the SDLC. Moreover, pen testing offers a deeper insight into the potential attack vectors for an organization. The DAST vs penetration testing comparison we have covered in this blog helps you understand the core differences and how they stand out from each other.

You can leverage the advanced DAST tool - ZeroThreat, to perform automated pen testing and discover vulnerabilities precisely with 98.9% accuracy. It helps you evaluate web apps and APIs with an AI-based crawler to detect a myriad of security flaws.

It seamlessly integrates into your SDLC allowing you to proactively detect and remediate vulnerabilities before your applications reach production. With 5x faster scan results, it helps accelerate the remediation process. Learn more about ZeroThreat to know how it benefits AppSec.