The Importance of Source Code Security Testing
Over the last few years the options to automatize quality control software have risen;we no longer need to analyze our code manually, since we now have a multitude of quality software that can do that.
And it may be hard to find the right source code review tool due to the sheer amount of options that are available. The world of source code security analysis isvast, but this also means that it is flexible.Having many options helps when looking to fill a niche find software that meets specific needs.
Static Application Security Testing(or SAST for short) tools are made to analyze codes, be it source or compiled, with the intention of finding security flaws. Source code testingtools are optimized to automatically find security flaws with a very high degree of confidence, making them very reliable for many types of security flaws. Source code testing tools are frequently used by analysts as an aid to minimize to errors to almost 0% in the security relevant sections of code,enabling the option to review and fix flaws, rather than just automatically finding them.
How do source code review tools work?
They work by debugging the source code of an application (or program) before said application is even distributed. Source code is like the backbone of a program, it is permanent and stays even if the program is modified or improved.
Source code review tools can analyze the source code either statically or dynamically.
The static analysisstarts with debugging and examining the source code without even starting the program, detecting errors that may appear early, hence eliminating the necessity of running multiple revisions.
The Dynamic Analysis is done after the static analysis; it is run in an attempt to reveal minor vulnerabilities and it is run in real-timewhile the program or application is running.
Developers are not required to guess at situations prone to produce errors. Also it helps when eliminating unnecessary components and maintaining its compatibility with other programs runningsimultaneously.
Why are Source Code Review Tools good?
There are many good reasons to use source code review tools:
- They’reversatile and can run repeatedly ona variety of software.
- They offer precise information to the developers, such as line numbers and their subsections, source files and other types of data that are always good to keep in hand when reviewing source code.
However, while useful, source code reviewing tools are not perfect.There are security vulnerabilities that are very difficult to find automatically. Sometimes,source code review tools may produce a high amount of false positives.Source code review toolsmay experience complications when analyzing codes that can’t be compiled.Luckily, these tools are an efficient way to keep our source code security safe and sound.