What is Dynamic Application Security Testing and How It Affects Website Performance
Most website owners focus on the obvious performance factors: image optimization, caching, and SEO tweaks. But there’s an overlooked connection between website security and performance that could be holding your site back.
Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) offers benefits beyond just protecting your site from hackers. It’s a powerful tool that identifies issues affecting both security and speed – giving you an edge in performance that traditional optimization methods miss.
Understanding Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST)
DAST can scan software while it’s active, mimicking outside attacks like authentication problems or SQL injections. DAST differs from SAST in that it employs the black-box approach. In other words, DAST does not see an application’s source code while SAST testing, by contrast, does look at code.
DAST holds the advantage of being able to find issues that could only occur while the application is live, like problematic server configurations. Insights from DAST can alert developers to insecurities that could become targets for hackers.
While SAST can be useful in the early portion of an application’s development, DAST offers more ongoing surveillance, showing issues that SAST may not be able to catch.
SAST vs. DAST
SAST: Examines source code before deployment. Good for early development.
DAST: Tests running applications. Better for live sites and real-world conditions.
Best practice: Use SAST during development, DAST for ongoing protection.
How DAST Enhances Performance
While it’s easy to assume that DAST could cause sites to operate more slowly, that’s not the case. When you know how DAST works, you can see that it has been created with optimization in mind, causing minimal strain and actually helping website performance in the long run.
DAST’s ability to identify problems in real-time gives developers the information they need to make effective changes that can help avoid data insecurities. This also helps with bounce rates and other metrics websites review to determine how they’re engaging with users.
If a popular platform suffers a data breach, for instance, that can derail business revenue and hurt customer loyalty. The company may suffer irreparable damage and go out of business if the breach is significant enough.
The key is to create a more secure infrastructure online so these problems never happen, and DAST solutions can capture the necessary information to help resolve potential threats.
The benefits don’t end there, either. DAST solutions can find issues that affect website load times and, ultimately, a website’s traffic data.
Ongoing redirects and outdated plugins, for instance, can be flagged for developers to fix. All of this allows businesses that depend on ecommerce platforms to improve their performance metrics and Google search engine rankings.
Why DAST Improves User Trust
If a website performs well, users will be more likely to click through its pages and make a return visit. Websites should load quickly and make good on promises to keep user data secure. This means websites need to have safety protocols like SSL certificates in their URLs and IP address tracking.
DAST can help, too, by monitoring these security efforts in CMS platforms. As cyberattacks get harder to detect, website users need continued assurance that their visits and purchases are safeguarded by the website. DAST helps developers take a proactive approach to security by checking sites as they run to spot the latest malicious attacks. This, in turn, keeps users’ data safe while building trust.
Implementing DAST With Different Hosting Providers
Many hosting platforms now offer integrated security solutions that include some DAST capabilities, or they can easily connect with third-party DAST tools.
WordPress sites on WP Engine benefit from their built-in security scanning features, which include basic DAST functionality. While not comprehensive, it provides a solid starting point with minimal configuration.
Azure DevOps users have a significant advantage, with robust DAST capabilities built into their development and deployment pipeline. The setup requires some initial configuration but provides excellent ongoing protection.
AWS users can combine their Web Application Firewall with external DAST tools like ZAP or Burp Suite. The integration takes more technical knowledge but creates a powerful continuous scanning setup.
The key is finding the right balance between scanning frequency and server load – testing often enough to catch new issues without overwhelming your own infrastructure and protecting you from cybersecurity threats.
DAST Implementation Checklist
- Audit existing security tools provided by your hosting
- Set up a baseline scan to identify critical issues
- Address high-priority vulnerabilities immediately
- Schedule regular scans (weekly for high-traffic sites)
- Configure alerts for new critical findings
- Document a response protocol for when vulnerabilities are found
Making the Most of DAST
Dynamic Application Security Testing is more than just a way to monitor website security. It’s a way to improve a website’s performance and, as a result, user trust. DAST works in real-time to give developers an advantage over threats that could erode a website’s safety and ability to run efficiently.
As search engines and websites move to build more robust security measures, DAST can be woven into those efforts while also serving as a tool to help optimize website performance. And in a world where data breaches frequently make news headlines, hosting platforms are looking for any edge they can get.
