10 Best DevSecOps Tools

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The growth of DevSecOps tools is an encouraging sign that software and application service providers are increasingly integrating security into the software development lifecycle (SDLC).

The top DevSecOps vendors offer a comprehensive suite of application security testing tools, including static application security testing (SAST), dynamic and interactive analysis testing (DAST and IAST), and software composition analysis (SCA). Though still a maturing market, several DevSecOps vendors stand out, offering tools for containers, continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines, and API management.

This article looks at the best commercial and open source DevSecOps tools and what to consider when evaluating DevSecOps solutions.

Table of Contents

Best DevSecOps Tools

  • Aqua Security
  • Checkmarx
  • Contrast Security
  • Invicti Security
  • Micro Focus
  • Snyk
  • SonarSource
  • Synopsys
  • Veracode
  • WhiteSource
Aqua Security.

Aqua Security

Founded in 2015, Aqua Security continues to impress with its cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP), offering comprehensive protection for DevOps lifecycles. The Aqua Platform includes increasingly critical cybersecurity functions like Kubernetes, virtual machine and container security, dynamic threat analysis, and serverless security. Potential clients can try out Aqua with a free developer plan or choose from three enterprise-grade plans.

Aqua Security Features

  • Unlimited cloud accounts and users, and monthly down to hourly cloud scans
  • Data retention options between 30 days and 18 months
  • Business hours support and compliance reports for GDPR, PCI, HIPAA, and more
  • Container scanning with CI/CD and registry integrations
  • Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) security scanning for Terraform and AWS CloudFormation
Checkmarx.

Checkmarx

Checkmarx is an industry leader in a critical part of DevSecOps – application security (AppSec) testing. As organizations manage containers, IaC, custom code, and open source components, the Checkmarx Application Security Testing (AST) platform offers integrated security for the entire software development lifecycle. Interested clients can request a demo with interest in software composition analysis (SCA), static code analysis (SAST), interactive testing (IAST), developer training, or AppSec managed services.

Checkmarx Features

  • Incremental or full scans of the CI/CD pipeline to identify critical vulnerabilities
  • Simple web GUI for tracking application risk, queries, and insight
  • Securely build software with custom and open source code using SCA tool
  • Develop a software bill of materials (SBOM) for seamless audits
  • Free, open-source IaC scanning with Keeping IaC Secure (KICS)
Contrast Security.

Contrast Security

Contrast Security is a pure DevSecOps player with its Secure Code Platform offering developers and organizations continuous protection through the application development pipeline. The Contrast Platform includes solutions for vulnerability scanning, IAST, runtime application security protection (RASP), software composition analysis, and serverless environments. Individual developers can try the community version, while organizations can choose from three commercial plans: Assess, AST, and Enterprise.

Contrast Security Features

  • Supply chain visibility for various code libraries and dependency risk management
  • Live visualization of application components, data flows, and code trees
  • Continuous monitoring, testing, and change management for serverless segments
  • Detect and block runtime attacks and prioritize vulnerability backlogs
  • SIEM integration with Azure Sentinel, Data Dog, Splunk, and Sumo Logic
Read more: Top Web Application Firewall (WAF) Solutions
Invicti Security.

Invicti Security

In 2018, the merger of established web application security companies Acunetix and Netsparker led to the birth of Invicti Security. Invicti secures over 800,000 web applications in 115 countries, with its dynamic and interactive scanning giving administrators an accurate picture of vulnerabilities and remediation efforts. Invicti prioritizes automating security testing to build sustainable SDLC processes for scaling operations. Potential clients can request a quote for securing up to 1,000 or more websites.

Invicti Security Features

  • Identify and protect web assets like web apps, services, sites, and APIs
  • Modular architecture providing for on-premises or on-demand deployment options
  • Scanning engine capable of detecting asynchronous and second-order vulnerabilities
  • Automated intelligent comparison of recent results for a web app in Trend Matrix report
  • Access to 50+ integrations including PagerDuty, ServiceNow, Okta, and Zapier
Micro Focus CyberRes Fortify.

Micro Focus CyberRes Fortify

The biggest IT vendor featured is UK-based Micro Focus, which offers Fortify Application Security. Once a standalone unit, Fortify was a part of HPE before spinning off under the Micro Focus umbrella in 2017. The acquisition of open-source intelligence company Debricked in March 2022 further solidifies Micro Focus’ commitment to offering DevSecOps solutions that address the software supply chain. With the CyberRes Fortify product suite, clients can choose from cloud-based AppSec, SAST, DAST, and SCA solutions.

CyberRes Fortify Features

  • Software Security Center (SSC) for viewing reports, issues, and running scans
  • Offload code analysis to remote sensors and scale the CI/CD pipeline to meet demands
  • Detailed security risks and recommended remediation steps
  • Direct integration into major IDEs or Visual Studio for deployment
  • Support for 1,032 vulnerability categories and 27 programming languages
Snyk.

Snyk

Snyk prides itself as a developer security platform, with four products for open source dependencies, static application security testing, and security for containers and Infrastructure-as-Code. The Boston-based cybersecurity vendor offers documentation for using its CLI and API and options for deployment and integrations from existing CI/CD pipelines. Prospective clients can try Snyk for free or choose from three commercial plans: Team, Business, and Enterprise.

Snyk Features

  • Automated and manual fixes for vulnerable dependencies and container image updates
  • Kubernetes monitoring and service prioritization with Business license
  • Support for on-premises container and private package registries with Enterprise license
  • Integration with source code integration services like GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket
  • Integration with public container registries like Docker Hub, ECR, ACR, and GCR
Also read: Compare the Top Threat Intelligence Platforms
SonarSource.

SonarSource

Five million developers and 300,000 organizations use SonarSource’s tools for development pipelines, and over 18,000 contribute to its open-source IDE. The Geneva-based vendor offers a free IDE extension, SonarLint, for coding guidance and analysis. The company’s specialty is its continuous codebase coverage and static analysis tool for CI/CD workflows. Sonar’s technology is available as a self-managed (SonarQube) or SaaS-based (SonarCloud) solution, and clients can choose between Developer, Enterprise, and Data Center plans.

Sonar Features

  • Access to 5,000+ coding rules and taint analysis of Java, Python, JS, C#, and more
  • Automated code review, including pull request decorations and branch analysis
  • 60+ integrations including GitHub, Azure DevOps, Bitbucket, GitLab, and Docker
  • Support for 29 programming languages and Infrastructure-as-Code
  • Enterprise-level aggregation and reporting for oversight, security, and compliance
Synopsys.

Synopsys

Synopsys is a longtime vendor in design, verification, and intellectual property for silicon and entered the application security testing (AST) market in 2014. Synopsys’ three AppSec solution areas cover the spectrum of SecDevOps needs with intelligent risk management, comprehensive software analysis, and holistic program development. As the spotlight intensifies on the software supply chain, Synopsys offers a suite of AST tools, including penetration testing, binary analysis, and scanning for API security. Clients can leverage existing tools and orchestrate AST to minimize impacts on build and release pipelines.

Synopsys Features

  • AST tools including SCA, interactive and dynamic analysis testing, and SAST
  • Vulnerability correlation data offering risk insight to prioritize remediation
  • Evaluate risk with threat assessments, open-source audits, and security training
  • Strategy and planning resources for developing a software security program
  • DevSecOps integrations like Jenkins, CloudBees, Jira, Docker, Artifactory, and GitHub
Veracode.

Veracode

Veracode is a cloud solution provider and undisputed industry leader in application security solutions. The market leader provides a central cloud console for managing and analyzing the status of applications. The Veracode Application Analysis Platform includes a dual focus on developer enablement and AppSec governance to help clients secure software through each stage of the software development lifecycle. Veracode offers tools, hands-on training, and expert technical guidance to clients for enabling developers.

Veracode Features

  • Full policy scan and clear guidance on vulnerabilities through SAST
  • Discover and audit web applications inside and outside the IP range
  • Manual penetration testing with automated security testing scans and insights
  • Accurately detect open source vulnerabilities with software composition analysis
  • Assess applications across industry standards like OWASP, NIST, PCI, and GDPR
WhiteSource.

WhiteSource

A pioneer in open source code management, WhiteSource also offers solutions for static application security testing, supply chain security, containers, and software bills of materials (SBOM). The vendor’s flagship solution is its software composition analysis (SCA) technology, which gives clients visibility into priority risks with databases for open source components and licenses and vulnerabilities. Teams of at least 20 developers can choose from three plans: Essentials, Teams, and Enterprise.

WhiteSource Features

  • Malware scanning and risk management platform with WhiteSource Diffend
  • Real-time alerts for new vulnerabilities, dependency changes, and risk exposure
  • Support for all languages, frameworks, and development environments
  • Identify open source libraries, track components, and generate an SBOM for re-use
  • Native support for popular container registries like Artifactory, Azure, Docker, and GitHub
Read more: Best Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) Vendors

Best Open Source or Free DevSecOps Tools

  • Alerta
  • Grafana
  • Kibana
  • OWASP ZAP
  • OWASP Threat Dragon
Alerta.

Alerta

Alerta is an open source monitoring tool that consolidates alerts from multiple sources for a big picture view of all alerts. The monitoring system consists of a JSON API server, web GUI, and the option of Python SDK or command-line interface. Administrators can add users using GitLab OAuth, GitHub, or Google and manage access with API keys.

Alerta Features

  • Single dashboard monitoring and prioritizing alerts across multiple systems
  • Integrations with Nagios, Zabbix, Kibana, Prometheus, Sensu, and Riemann
  • Query alerts from command-line or web console via desktop, tablet, or mobile device
  • Deploy on AWS, GCP, Docker, Packer, Heroku, Python PyPI, or Vagrant
Grafana.

Grafana

Grafana is an open-source visualization tool offering a multitude of dashboards for analyzing data. Grafana’s panel editor allows administrators to configure dashboards to team needs while visualizations provide instant insight into metrics, logs, and tracing. Available in an enterprise, cloud, or open-source version, Grafana offers over 240 plugins for integrating existing data sources.

Grafana Features

  • Visual panels including graphs, geomaps, heatmaps, histograms, and more
  • Create, consolidate, and manage alerts into a central console
  • Manipulate queries and specific files for data transformations
  • Ability to share insights and reports for company, team, and stakeholder use
  • Add metadata and tags to specific data points with graphical annotations
Also read: Best Internet Security Suites & Software
Kibana.

Kibana

Kibana is a free GUI for organizations working with Elastic’s ELK stack for analyzing and visualizing data from nearly any source. The ELK stack consists of Elasticsearch for JSON-based search and analytics, Logstash for data collection and log parsing, Kibana, and the silent B (Beats for lightweight data shipping). Kibana offers an extensive list of features for administrators to configure visualizations, analytics, dashboards, alerting, and more from Elasticsearch data.

Kibana Features

  • Drag-and-drop GUI with Time Series Visual Builder (TSVB) for data aggregation
  • Access to a variety of preconfigured dashboards for familiar data sources
  • Traffic encryption using SSL/TLS and node authentication certificates 
  • Forecasting, detection, and alerting on anomalies on time series for AI/ML models
  • Role-based access control (RBAC) for managing privileged data
OWASP.

OWASP

The Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) is one of the best known names in cybersecurity, thanks to its threat research and contributions to the open-source community. Two such tools for DevSecOps are the Zed Attack Proxy (ZAP) for web scanning and Threat Dragon for threat modeling. ZAP is a flexible person-in-the-middle proxy offering penetration testing, vulnerability assessments, and code review for web applications.

OWASP ZAP Features

  • Automated active and passive scanning of web applications for vulnerabilities
  • Scanning of open and active ports and database risk posture to SQL injections
  • Easy DevOps integrations and a REST API for manipulating the proxy application

OWASP Threat Dragon Features

  • Available as a web app via GitHub or desktop app for Windows, macOS, and Linux
  • Threat generation and mitigation engine and storage for threat modeling
  • Supports threat models like CIA, LINDDUN, and STRIDE and DevOps integrations
Read more: Best Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) Solutions

Honorable Mention DevSecOps Tools


What are DevSecOps Tools?

DevSecOps tools are a range of cybersecurity products and services that enable organizations to develop and operate software systems securely. With a growing universe of web applications, DevSecOps tools ensure that traditional CI/CD pipelines maintain security throughout each stage of the system (or software) development life cycle (SDLC).

Whereas organizations previously separated software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops), the merger of these processes offers significant efficiencies for SDLC processes. Increasing awareness about vulnerabilities in the software supply chain has put commonly accepted standard DevOps and Agile software development practices under a microscope.

Recent years have seen several new DevSecOps tools designed to secure DevOps pipelines and processes for organizations and ultimately deliver a more reliable end-product or system. Developers can use DevSecOps tools to test applications throughout the development process while ensuring security and compliance.

Read more: Open Source Sabotage Incident Hits Software Supply Chain

What are the Different Types of DevSecOps Tools?

The traditional suite of application security testing (AST) tools includes:

  • Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
  • Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST)
  • Interactive Application Security Testing (IAST)
  • Software Composition Analysis (SCA)
  • Static Code Analysis
  • Vulnerability Scanning

Additional tools included in the spectrum of DevSecOps tools are:

  • Container Security
  • Continuous Integration / Continuous Delivery (CI/CD)
  • Log Analysis
  • Penetration Testing
  • Web Application Firewall (WAF)

How to Choose a DevSecOps Tool

Like most cybersecurity products, the ideal DevSecOps tool addresses an organization or team’s specific needs. There’s a lot of variation in pricing and features between the above solutions giving organizations plenty to evaluate against a budget.

Most enterprise plans are in the tens of thousands of dollars for an annual license; therefore, choosing a comprehensive DevSecOps solution is no easy task. The benefit of the above enterprise plans is the growing list of tools and features available for building a robust security software model.

The proliferation of applications means software development will receive increasing regulatory attention. DevSecOps tools could make the difference in building a reliable, secure and compliant software solution for clients or stakeholders.

Also read: SolarWinds-Like Supply Chain Attacks Will Peak in 2022

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