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10 Best Security Testing Tools For QA In 2023

The Best Security Testing Tools

  1. 1. SQLMap — Penetration testing software for detecting SQL injection vulnerabilities
  2. 2. BeEF (Browser Exploitation Framework) — Pen testing software for web browsers
  3. 3. Wapiti — Open-source black-box security scanner
  4. 4. Zed Attack Proxy (ZAP) — Extensible penetration testing tool with customizable heads up display
  5. 5. Snyk — Developer-friendly security platform with real-time semantic code analysis
  6. 6. Intruder — Cloud-based vulnerability scanner with automatic IP and DNS tracking tool
  7. 7. Invicti — DAST + IAST scanner that provides precise threat detection
  8. 8. SonarQube — Continuous code inspection app great for enforcing quality standards
  9. 9. Sonatype — Supply chain management solution with flexible policy engine
  10. 10. Vega — Java-based security scanner and testing tool for web applications

Security testing tools help organizations safeguard their IT infrastructure against malicious attacks and software vulnerabilities. Many platforms automatically detect network assets and provide continuous monitoring so security professionals and developers can stay ahead of cyber threats. 

A wide range of tools is available with many more features that empower DevSecOps teams to prioritize security throughout software development. Check out our list of the best security testing tools to find the right solution for your business. 

Comparison Criteria

These criteria will help you evaluate the top security testing tools on the market. 

  1. User Interface (UI): An easy-to-use interface leads to faster adoption of new security testing tools. 
  2. Usability: Developers are increasingly prioritizing security, meaning your testing tools need to be accessible to stakeholders outside the security team.  
  3. Integrations: A security testing tool that supports your existing SIEM and DevOps tools won’t disrupt productivity. 
  4. Value for $: Ensure the cost of your security tool is aligned with the value it provides to keep your IT infrastructure safe.  

Security Testing Tools: Key Features

  1. Asset detection: Automated asset detection ensures your entire IT environment is monitored for critical vulnerabilities. 
  2. Static application security testing (SAST): SAST tools help developers implement security operations earlier in the software development lifecycle.
  3. Policy management: A flexible policy management system enables DevSecOps teams to enforce software quality standards during each stage of development. 
  4. Threat prioritization: With automated threat prioritization, teams can focus on remediating issues that leave their systems the most vulnerable. 

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Overviews Of The 10 Best Security Testing Tools

Here’s a brief description of each security testing tool to showcase their best use case, some noteworthy features, and screenshots to give a snapshot of the user interface. 

1

SQLMap

Penetration testing software for detecting SQL injection vulnerabilities

SQLMap is a python-based penetration testing tool that automates the detection and exploitation of SQL injection flaws and database takeovers. Penetration testers can utilize five SQL injection techniques: boolean-based blind, time-based blind, error-based, UNION query, and stacked queries. The system supports MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, IBM DB2, and various other database management systems.

Once SQLMap detects SQL injection bugs in an application, testers can perform extensive database fingerprinting and execute various attacks. Supported attacks include brute-forcing table and column names, dumping database schemas, and enumerating users, privileges, and password hashes.

Penetration testers can integrate SQLMap with Burp Suite, an application testing tool, by utilizing PortSwigger’s SQLiPy extension.

SQLMap is free and open source.

2

BeEF (Browser Exploitation Framework)

Pen testing software for web browsers

BeEF is a security testing tool that focuses on web browser testing. The tool provides extensive cyber security by offering the ability to assess the security posture of your desired environments by using client-side attack vectors. BeEF also uses GitHub to track issues and host its repositories. BeEF aims to look past the hardened network perimeter and client system, allowing you to examine the exploitability within your web browser. The tool hooks one or more browsers, and uses them as front lines for launching further attacks against your systems from within your browser context. BeEF is easy to set up and therefore easy to implement within your workflows. BeEF is fully open source and free to use.

Free To Use

3

Wapiti

Open-source black-box security scanner

Wapiti is a free security scanner that allows users to audit websites and applications for vulnerabilities. The tool performs black-box scans, meaning it doesn’t study the source code of a web page. It crawls the pages of web applications, attacking scripts and injecting payloads to determine if vulnerabilities are present.

The scanner can detect various vulnerabilities, including SQL and XPath injections, open redirects, and subdomain takeovers. The system can also detect cross-site scripting (XSS) and differentiate between permanent and reflected XSS vulnerabilities. After each scan, Wapiti generates vulnerability reports available for download in various formats, including HTML, XML, and CSV.

4

Zed Attack Proxy (ZAP)

Extensible penetration testing tool with customizable heads up display

OWASP ZAP is a free, open-source penetration testing tool for web applications. The system supports automated and manual penetration testing. ZAP’s ease of use makes the tool accessible to users of all skill levels, from developers to security experts. Testers can utilize ZAP as a stand-alone application or daemon process. Versions of Zap are available for major operating systems and Docker.

Many web application security testing tools aren’t user-friendly; however, ZAP simplifies penetration testing with its intuitive heads up display (HUD). The HUD is a user interface overlaid on a target application, enabling you to access ZAP functionality from any modern browser. This feature is handy for developers, who can efficiently conduct testing on custom build scripts by connecting them to the HUD.

The ZAP Marketplace contains an extensive library of add-ons to extend the tool’s functionality. Add-ons are available for crawling JavaScript-heavy websites and endpoint detection.

5

Snyk

Developer-friendly security platform with real-time semantic code analysis

Snyk is a developer-first security platform that automatically identifies vulnerabilities in code, open-source dependencies, containers, and infrastructure as code. Built on an industry-leading security intelligence database, Snky empowers its users to detect more vulnerabilities faster. The platform also supports various programming languages, including JavaScript, Java (Grable, Maven), .Net, Python, and Ruby.

Developers can implement real-time semantic code analysis into development with Snyk’s static application security testing platform, Snyk Code. Powered by machine learning, Snyk Code utilizes logic programming rules to identify security issues as code is written. The system is trained on Snyk’s Vulnerability Database, resulting in fewer false positives.

Snyk integrates with leading DevOps tools, including Microsoft Visual Studio, GitHub, CircleCI, and Jira.

A free forever plan with limited testing is available for individual developers. Subscriptions for teams start at $98/developer/month.

$98/developer/month

6

Intruder

Cloud-based vulnerability scanner with automatic IP and DNS tracking tool

Intruder is a cloud-based vulnerability scanner that identifies weak points in public and private servers, cloud systems, websites, and endpoint devices. The platform’s robust scanning engines can uncover application bugs, like SQL injections and cross-site scripting, missing security patches, and encryption weaknesses. Intruder automatically prioritizes security issues that leave your infrastructure the most vulnerable, making it easy to minimize your attack surface.

Software teams can continuously monitor their AWS, Google, and Azure cloud environments with Intruder’s CloudBot. The tool performs hourly checks on your cloud accounts and automatically adds new external IP addresses and hostnames to Intruder for vulnerability scanning. Intruder’s Cloud Connectors also remove any IP addresses no longer in use.

Intruder supports integrations with development tools, such as Jira and Github, to help software teams triage issues for remediation and receive helpful notifications.

Pricing for Intruder Pro and Intruder Essential is based on the number of assets you need to scan. Software teams can try Intruder Pro free for 30 days.

30 Days Free Trials

Starts at $113 USD/month for the Essential package of 5 targets to scan

7

Invicti

DAST + IAST scanner that provides precise threat detection

Invicti is an enterprise black-box security scanner for identifying vulnerabilities in web applications, websites, and web services. The platform combines dynamic (DAST) and true interactive (IAST) scanning to provide extensive vulnerability coverage and precise threat detection. After vulnerabilities are found, your team can utilize Invicti’s integrations with issue tracking systems to assign them for remediation.

Invicti produces detailed scan reports that enable developers to fix vulnerabilities quickly. Scan reports include various details about each security vulnerability, including its type, variant, classification (i.e., OWASP), location, and potential impact. Reports also include immediate actions developers can take to fix vulnerabilities.

The platform offers over 50 integrations, with support available for GitHub, Jenkins, and Jira.

Pricing is available upon request.

8

SonarQube

Continuous code inspection app great for enforcing quality standards

SonarQube continuously inspects code quality utilizing static code analysis. The platform generates detailed reports on bugs, code smells, vulnerabilities, and code duplications, enabling software teams to detect security issues early in development. The program supports over 25 programming languages, including Python, Java, C#, and VB.NET.

Developers can ensure their code is ready for release with SonarQube’s Quality Gates, which enforce your organization’s quality policy. Developers can define a set of conditions a project must meet, and SonarQube will indicate whether your code has passed or failed. SonarQube recommends utilizing their default “Sonar way” Quality Gate, which focuses on keeping new code clean and spending less effort remediating old code.

SonarQube integrates with Jenkins, Azure DevOps, BitBucket, GitHub, and many other DevOps platforms.

Pricing for SonarQube’s Developer plan starts at $150/year based on usage. The Enterprise edition starts at $20,000/year. A free, open-source solution is also available.

starts at $20,000/year

9

Sonatype

Supply chain management solution with flexible policy engine

Sonatype offers a suite of products that enable secure software supply chain management. Products include firewalls, application lifecycle management, auditing solutions, repository management, and security tools. Nexus Lifecycle is one of Sonatype’s security tools that helps developers protect their open-source dependencies. The tool automatically identifies and remediates open-source vulnerabilities, allowing enterprise developers to scale open source monitoring across their software supply chain.

Nexus Lifecycle provides a flexible policy engine that gives application security teams complete control of their software. AppSec teams can create custom policies based on app type and organization. Users can also configure policies to report risks to stakeholders or fail software builds based on the severity of policy violations.

Sonatype’s products integrate with popular development tools, including Docker, OpenShift, and Azure DevOps.

Pricing is based on the number of developers on your team, with Nexus Lifecycle starting at $135/month for 25 developers.

starting at $135/month for 25 developers.

10

Vega

Java-based security scanner and testing tool for web applications

Vega is a Java based security testing tool that helps you identify vulnerabilities in your applications by finding and validating SQL injection, cross-site scripting and inadvertently disclosed sensitive information. The tool runs on Linux, Mac and Windows, and provides an automated scanner for quick tests and intercepting proxy. Vega is GUI based and is extensible, allowing you to create new attack modules using the API exposed by the app. Vega offers features whereby it can automatically log into sites when supplied with user credentials, and also provides a crawler that powers its automated scanner. The tool also probes for TLS/SSL security settings, allowing you to identify opportunities for improving the security of your TLS servers. Lastly, you can configure Vega’s proxy to run attack modules while you are browsing the target site through it. Vega is fully open source and free to use.

Free To Use

The 10 Best Security Testing Tools Summary

Tool Free Option Price
1
SQLMap

Penetration testing software for detecting SQL injection vulnerabilities

Not available

Visit Website
2
BeEF (Browser Exploitation Framework)

Pen testing software for web browsers

Free To Use

Visit Website
3
Wapiti

Open-source black-box security scanner

Not available

Visit Website
4
Zed Attack Proxy (ZAP)

Extensible penetration testing tool with customizable heads up display

Not available

Visit Website
5
Snyk

Developer-friendly security platform with real-time semantic code analysis

Not available

$98/developer/month Visit Website
6
Intruder

Cloud-based vulnerability scanner with automatic IP and DNS tracking tool

30 Days Free Trials

Starts at $113 USD/month for the Essential package of 5 targets to scan Visit Website
7
Invicti

DAST + IAST scanner that provides precise threat detection

Not available

Visit Website
8
SonarQube

Continuous code inspection app great for enforcing quality standards

Not available

starts at $20,000/year Visit Website
9
Sonatype

Supply chain management solution with flexible policy engine

Not available

starting at $135/month for 25 developers. Visit Website
10
Vega

Java-based security scanner and testing tool for web applications

Free To Use

Visit Website

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Other Options

Here are a few more security testing tools that didn’t make the top list.

  1. Vega - Java-based security scanner and testing tool for web applications 
  2. BeEF (Browser Exploitation Framework) - Pen testing software for web browsers
  3. Wfuzz - Provides framework to automate security scanning and penetration testing for Python-based web applications
  4. Burp Suite - Web security platform with automated and manual pen testing tools
  5. Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer - Vulnerability scanning software that finds missing security patches and misconfigurations in Windows computers
  6. Imperva - Offers comprehensive suite of tools for application, network, data, and cloud-native security
  7. Tenable - Risk-based vulnerability management solution with threat prediction capability
  8. Rapid7 - All-in-one solution for automated application security, detection, and response
  9. Qualys - Information security tool that continuously analyzes software vulnerabilities with six sigma accuracy
  10. Cyberpion - Attack surface management solution with multi-factor vulnerability assessment engine 
  11. Probely - Developer-friendly web application and API vulnerability scanner 

What do you think about this list?

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By The QA Lead Team

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