AppScan

AppScan is a family of application security testing tools that IBM offers for identifying and mitigating vulnerabilities in web and mobile applications, APIs, and services. The suite is designed to support security testing across development and production environments, helping teams detect flaws early and track remediation.

The AppScan product line includes several components. AppScan Standard provides desktop-based dynamic application security testing for individual projects. AppScan Enterprise offers centralized management, scalable scanning across teams and projects, role-based access control, and consolidated reporting for large organizations. AppScan on Cloud provides cloud-based dynamic scanning as a service, enabling automated checks without on-premises hardware. AppScan Source (static analysis) analyzes application source code to identify security defects during the development lifecycle. Some configurations integrate static and dynamic testing to enable a broader assessment of an application’s security posture.

In operation, AppScan typically performs automated testing that may include crawling the target application, handling authenticated sessions, and applying a library of security tests to uncover common web vulnerabilities such as injection, cross-site scripting, and sensitive data exposure. Results are presented with risk ratings, prioritized remediation guidance, and detailed findings that include affected components, snippets, and suggested fixes. The tools support customization through test policies, reporting templates, and integrations with development and DevOps workflows.

Deployment options span on-premises installations, centralized enterprise deployments, and cloud-based scanning, with features to integrate into CI/CD pipelines and issue-tracking systems. AppScan competes in the application security space alongside other SAST/DAST solutions and is used by organizations seeking automated, repeatable security testing across complex software portfolios.