DevOps has revolutionized software development by accelerating and simplifying processes. However, as systems grow in size and complexity, security challenges inevitably arise. Teams often encounter issues like limited visibility into the security of new components, lack of tool interoperability, and overly permissive accounts. These gaps can not only slow down deployments but also introduce serious vulnerabilities.
Currently, only 36% of security teams fully leverage DevSecOps, effectively integrating security into their DevOps workflows. With security threats becoming increasingly sophisticated, joining this proactive majority is crucial for modern organizations. The first step is understanding the essential tools and the best solutions available to enhance security in your DevOps pipeline. This is where Devops Scanning Tools come into play.
Understanding DevOps Scanning Tools
DevOps scanning tools are designed to embed security measures directly into the software development lifecycle (SDLC). Rather than treating security as an afterthought, these tools enable teams to address vulnerabilities early in the development process.
These tools come in various forms, offering functionalities such as automated static and dynamic security testing, CI/CD pipeline security, infrastructure as code (IaC) security checks, secrets management, monitoring, logging, and container security. By automating security checks and integrating them into daily workflows, DevOps scanning tools make it easier to maintain robust security practices.
Development teams can utilize these tools to conduct automated scans at every stage of the SDLC and collaborate with security teams to efficiently remediate identified vulnerabilities. Beyond just scanning, DevOps scanning tools improve communication and collaboration, ensuring a balance between rapid software releases and robust, continuous security.
These tools are fundamental to the DevSecOps approach, bridging the traditional divide between IT operations and security and enabling the implementation of a comprehensive product security plan.
Types of DevOps Scanning Tools
To effectively secure your CI/CD pipeline and truly “shift security left,” a diverse set of DevOps scanning tools is essential. Key categories include:
DevOps Security Toolchain
DevOps security toolchain solutions act as central platforms, unifying various security scanning tools. They provide a consolidated system to manage and automate diverse security policies and scans. This integration is crucial for consistent and streamlined application of security measures throughout the software lifecycle. By centralizing security scanning, these tools help development teams seamlessly integrate security into their DevOps processes and effectively shift security left.
SAST (Static Application Security Testing) Tools for Code Scanning
SAST tools, or Static Application Security Testing tools, employ a white-box testing methodology. They directly analyze an application’s source code to identify vulnerabilities during the development phase. These tools scan source, byte, or binary code for patterns indicative of potential security weaknesses without needing to execute the program. This proactive approach enables developers to detect flaws like SQL injection, buffer overflows, and other common vulnerabilities early in the SDLC, significantly reducing risk and remediation costs later on.
DAST (Dynamic Application Security Testing) Tools for Runtime Scanning
In contrast to SAST, DAST tools utilize a black-box testing approach. They do not access the application’s source code. Instead, DAST tools simulate external attacks on running applications, allowing them to discover security issues in real-time operational environments. These dynamic scans are excellent for identifying vulnerabilities such as misconfigurations, authentication and authorization flaws, and runtime errors that can lead to attacks like SQL injections, Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF), and Cross-Site Scripting (XSS). DAST tools provide a crucial layer of security scanning by assessing the application from an attacker’s perspective.
SCA (Software Composition Analysis) Tools for Dependency Scanning
SCA tools, or Software Composition Analysis tools, focus on scanning component dependencies against databases of known vulnerabilities, such as Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) and the National Vulnerability Database (NVD). These tools are essential for identifying vulnerabilities within third-party components, outdated libraries, and license compliance issues. By pinpointing these risks, SCA tools help prevent threats like data breaches, malicious code execution, or Denial of Service (DoS) attacks that can originate from vulnerable dependencies.
SCA tools are designed for seamless integration into the CI/CD pipeline, enabling automated dependency scanning. They work effectively in conjunction with other security scanning tools, including supply chain security tools, ensuring comprehensive coverage of third-party risks and continuous security across the software supply chain.
Container Security Tools for Container Image Scanning
Container security tools are specialized for safeguarding containerized environments. These tools perform container image scanning to identify vulnerabilities within container images. They also enforce runtime protections and ensure adherence to security standards throughout the container lifecycle, from build to deployment. Advanced container security tools may include threat detection and response capabilities, enabling development teams to rapidly implement mitigation workflows when new vulnerabilities are discovered in their containerized applications.
IaC (Infrastructure as Code) Security Tools for Configuration Scanning
Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools automate the provisioning and management of infrastructure through code. IaC security tools are designed to scan these configurations for security vulnerabilities. By automating infrastructure setup, IaC tools ensure consistent and repeatable environments across development, staging, and production. IaC security tools scan these code definitions to catch misconfigurations that could introduce security risks.
Benefits of Implementing DevOps Scanning Tools
Integrating DevOps scanning tools offers significant advantages to software development and security:
- Proactive Vulnerability Management: DevOps security scanning tools transform vulnerability management by embedding proactive checks directly into your CI/CD pipeline. This ensures continuous monitoring and early detection of security weaknesses.
- Early Issue Resolution with Security Scanning: By integrating security scans early in the development process, teams can identify and fix security gaps sooner. This early issue resolution significantly reduces the attack surface and minimizes risks before they escalate into costly problems. Addressing vulnerabilities early also reduces the cost and effort of remediation.
- Accelerated Deployments Through Efficient Security: Following DevSecOps principles, DevOps scanning tools facilitate faster deployments. By automating security checks and resolving issues promptly, they eliminate the bottlenecks often associated with traditional, late-stage security testing.
- Enhanced Regulatory Compliance with Automated Security Policies: These tools strengthen compliance by automatically enforcing regulatory standards and security policies within the development workflow. Security configurations become an integral part of the codebase, guaranteeing consistency and adherence to protocols at every stage of the SDLC, simplifying audits and reducing compliance risks.
- Improved Collaboration and Communication: DevOps security scanning tools promote collaboration between development, operations, and security teams. By fostering a shared responsibility for security, these tools create a unified approach where security becomes everyone’s concern, leading to more secure and resilient software.
Top 11 DevOps Security Scanning Tools
Here’s a list of leading DevOps security scanning tools, categorized by type, to help you enhance your DevSecOps practices:
DevOps Security Toolchain
1. Jit
Jit is an open ASPM (Application Security Posture Management) platform designed to automate security scans across the SDLC. It empowers developers to quickly identify and remediate vulnerabilities before applications reach production. Jit integrates with a wide array of security controls and open-source scanning tools, providing comprehensive coverage across each stage of the SDLC. By embedding security testing directly into developers’ workflows, Jit streamlines security processes. Its customizable Security Plans are tailored to meet specific enterprise security and compliance requirements.
The platform offers enriched findings and immediate feedback on every code change, along with suggested code fixes for faster vulnerability remediation. Jit supports various development environments, including GitHub, AWS, and GCP, making it a versatile security solution.
Best For: Organizations seeking an all-in-one, rapidly deployable security solution that streamlines DevOps workflows with pre-built security plans.
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Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
2. Semgrep
Semgrep offers static analysis with a comprehensive rule library and an intuitive rule syntax. It excels at detecting security vulnerabilities and coding errors across more than 17 languages. Beyond SAST, Semgrep extends into SCA functionalities, offering SBOM (Software Bill of Materials) generation and enforcement of open-source licensing requirements.
Best For: Organizations needing an easy-to-use, multi-language code analysis and security assessment tool.
“What’s cool about Semgrep is how it feels like a tool designed with developers in mind. The pre-built rules are incredibly comprehensive and cover many potential issues. But if you need to customize them for your project, it’s easy. And if you ever get stuck, the community is always there to help you.”
3. Spectral
Spectral utilizes AI-backed technology with over 2000 detectors for continuous scanning and monitoring of both visible and hidden assets. In addition to providing comprehensive asset visibility, Spectral seamlessly integrates with all major CI systems. It offers unique pre-commit hooks and custom plugins for real-time security checks directly within the development workflow.
Best For: Organizations requiring real-time security scanning across multiple CI environments and codebases.
“Integrates easily into ADO, allowing us to track down exposures we previously did not know about.”
Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST)
4. ZAP
ZAP (Zed Attack Proxy) enables setting up a proxy server to route website traffic, facilitating real-time traffic analysis and vulnerability detection. ZAP supports a range of automated scans, including active scanning and AJAX spidering. This allows for thorough and focused security assessments of web applications at any stage of development.
Best For: Organizations of any size seeking a versatile web application penetration testing tool.
“The most appealing feature of OWASP ZAP is its ability to be used as a stand-alone application and as a plugin for other systems. This makes it very versatile and easy to use in various situations.”
5. Legitify
Legitify specializes in scanning code repositories and infrastructure configurations to identify security vulnerabilities. It integrates with popular version control systems like Git, GitHub, and BitBucket. Legitify offers automated scanning and reporting, enabling development teams to quickly detect and remediate vulnerabilities and misconfigurations within their CI/CD pipelines, enhancing overall application security posture.
Best For: Teams aiming to strengthen their application security from end to end with comprehensive scanning capabilities.
Software Composition Analysis (SCA)
6. npm-Audit
npm-Audit is designed to scan package dependencies for security vulnerabilities directly within the npm environment. It automates the process of checking all types of dependencies, including direct, dev, bundled, and optional. npm-Audit provides detailed reports and suggests fixes to quickly patch vulnerabilities without disrupting developer workflows.
Best For: Organizations developing Node.js applications that prioritize maintaining secure and up-to-date dependencies.
7. Nancy
Nancy is a tool specifically for checking vulnerabilities in Golang dependencies. It leverages the Sonatype OSS Index to ensure broad security coverage for Go projects. In addition to pull request scans, Nancy supports scheduled daily scans via Travis-CI or GitHub Actions, providing continuous monitoring of Golang dependencies.
Best For: Organizations developing in Golang that require a lightweight yet effective SCA solution for dependency scanning.
Container Security
8. Trivy
Trivy is a versatile security scanner supporting various environments, including Docker, Kubernetes, and Terraform. It applies security best practices to Kubernetes YAML files, helping to optimize Kubernetes workloads. Trivy also analyzes Dockerfiles and Terraform scripts to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities such as improper permission settings or insecure configurations within container and infrastructure setups.
Best For: Organizations deploying cloud-native applications using Docker, Kubernetes, or Terraform and needing comprehensive container and infrastructure scanning.
“Trivy takes container image scanning to higher levels of usability and performance. With frequent feature and vulnerability database updates and comprehensive vulnerability scanning, it perfectly complements Harbor.”
9. Anchore
Anchore automates container image scanning across development, CI/CD pipelines, and runtime environments. It features a sophisticated policy engine and optimized vulnerability feeds to provide accurate results. Anchore delivers actionable insights and automated workflows that minimize false positives and streamline the vulnerability remediation process for containerized applications.
Best For: Organizations seeking automated container scanning with intelligent policy enforcement and automated remediation support.
“Very powerful, policy capabilities are a key differentiator that enables it to support real-world CI/CD workflows.”
Infrastructure as Code Security
10. KICS
KICS (Keep Infrastructure as Code Secure) automatically parses and scans standard IaC files for insecure configurations that could expose applications, data, or services to risks. It supports major IaC platforms like Terraform, CloudFormation, and Ansible. KICS also assesses API designs to identify misconfigurations and enforce best practices in API security, ensuring secure infrastructure deployments.
Best For: Organizations needing robust scanning tools for their infrastructure configurations and APIs to maintain security and compliance.
11. Prowler
Prowler provides customizable and automated security assessments tailored for cloud environments like AWS, Azure, GCP, and Kubernetes. It monitors cloud infrastructure for potential misconfigurations and vulnerabilities and verifies compliance with key security frameworks such as CIS, NIST, and PCI-DSS. Prowler includes visualizations and proactive remediation recommendations to help organizations maintain a strong cloud security posture.
Best For: Organizations looking for customizable security assessments and compliance verification across diverse cloud environments.
Integrating Security and Speed with DevOps Scanning
Securing your DevOps pipeline goes beyond just preventing security threats—it’s about deeply integrating security into your development and deployment stages. By adopting a DevSecOps approach and leveraging DevOps scanning tools, security becomes a partner to development and operations, enhancing both the speed and safety of your software releases.
Jit simplifies DevOps security by centralizing 17 powerful security scanning tools, including Prowler, Kics, Nancy, npm-audit, Trivy, and ZAP, into a unified toolchain. Combined with Jit’s ready-to-deploy security plans, these tools seamlessly integrate into your development pipeline to automate and strengthen security protocols from the outset. Book a demo today to discover how our unified security solution can transform your DevSecOps practices.
