SASTn

SASTn is a term that refers to the analysis of source code for security vulnerabilities during the software development lifecycle. This process, often automated, involves examining the source code of an application to identify potential security flaws before the code is compiled or deployed. SASTn tools work by understanding the syntax and structure of various programming languages. They can detect a wide range of issues, including buffer overflows, cross-site scripting (XSS), SQL injection, and insecure cryptographic practices. The goal of implementing SASTn is to shift security testing left, meaning it's performed earlier in the development process, which typically makes it less expensive and easier to fix vulnerabilities.

SASTn tools typically employ two main approaches: rule-based scanning and data flow analysis. Rule-based scanning looks for specific patterns or signatures that are known to be indicative of vulnerabilities. Data flow analysis tracks the movement of data through the application to identify how it is handled and whether it is susceptible to malicious manipulation. Integrating SASTn into continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines is a common practice. This allows for regular and automated security checks as code changes are made and deployed. While SASTn is a powerful tool for identifying many types of vulnerabilities, it's not a silver bullet. It can sometimes produce false positives, where the tool flags code as vulnerable when it is not, or false negatives, where it misses actual vulnerabilities. Therefore, SASTn is often used in conjunction with other security testing methods like dynamic analysis (DAST) and interactive application security testing (IAST) for a more comprehensive security posture.