Runtime application security technology is a security application that is incorporated into the real working time of an application.
It is capable of controlling the adoption, execution, detection, and prevention of real-time attacks.
The security products of RASP can be integrated into an application that monitors and prevents attacks at any time by monitoring and interpreting user behavior.
The moment an attack is detected, Rasp Security issues security alerts, blocks the application request for individual attacks, and in some cases, patches the application virtually so that attacks do not occur further.
They are known to integrate with an application at an application layer or runtime that is going to provide them with functional level visibility into the application.
Due to the feature of visibility, it enables them to detect attacks in an accurate manner, reduce the degree of false positives, and report or block those actions that comprise regular security threats.
Why Choose RASP?
Organizations are resorting to the use of RASP as zero-day defects are on the rise. There are certain types of applications that may be sufficiently screened before the pre-release.
It is possible to ensure that the security stakeholders may run into scenarios where the application is not going to benefit from pre-release, as in the following cases:
- The older applications are not under active development.
- The code is developed by the third party.
- An application may turn out to be a costly one to fix.
Who Are The People Likely To Benefit From RASP Solutions?
- Security leaders- The tools of RASP would rely on deep analysis of an application to detect malicious behavior. It will be without a learning period and be WAF with superior accuracy. It is possible for the security teams to use deep analysis to figure out the common vulnerabilities or threats while adjusting the technical controls, policies, and mitigation efforts properly.
- Developers-RASP tools are known to provide comprehensive information in relation to WAF if there is a vulnerability in a code base. Developers would require this form of data to prevent such types of vulnerabilities in the future.
The Benefits Of RASP
- A drastic reduction in false positives: RASP would prevent the emergence of false positives as they are able to obtain rich information from the application structure along with the runtime execution. What it means is that, in a majority of cases, they are right that it is vital to enhance the overall experience of the users. This is in complete contrast to WAF, which is known to experience a lot of false positives.
- A stronger form of protection leading to zero delays- RASP is known to protect an application from various forms of security risks. Based on a survey 65 % of the respondents feel that attacks are known to bypass the WAF. It is only 9 % of the responds who go on to state that their WAF has never been breached
- Cloud support: If the applications are self-protected, it indicates that the code is protected wherever it goes. The configuration of a RASP tool is incorporated into the in-built scripts that contain and generate an application. So wherever you are going to deploy, it will be protected. No longer do you need to update the firewall rules and network.
- Easy maintenance-RASP follows the module of a set or forget. Add one. There are no formal traffic rules, no blacklists, or learning rules. An application becomes self-protected wherever you take it along.
A Comparison Of RASP And WAF
WAF stands for web application firewall, and it is a mainstream web protection technology whose market penetration has been enormous in the last decade or so.
It is based on the principle that it analyses all the incoming traffic while looking out for predictable patterns in these known attacks. Such protection techniques are referred to as input validation, along with the data patterns that WAF protects.
It has to be stated that the WAF is not aware of the real drawbacks of its application, so there is a need to validate all input before it reaches the application itself.
Even so, it is not able to witness the impact of its pay load. An example of a dangerous consequence is in the form of an SQLite payload, where there may be a couple of SQL statements.
This requires a regular training process where you can identify the legitimate traffic. Since it introduces delays or accidentally blocks legitimate traffic that could end up hampering the user experience.
Since it is technology-driven or external in stature, it becomes easy to connect to this web application. But the same characteristics may drive insufficient storage, complex and expensive management, poor performance, or lack of native cloud support.
The Cases In Which RASP Is Being used
Each and every team approaches security application requirements in a different manner. Though platforms like Appsealing provide the much-needed flexibility to accommodate the main needs of the team as part of the software development cycle.
Any form of secure application starts off with secure code, but fixing the vulnerabilities takes some amount of time. In the midst of this, it would be great if you were able to protect the apps. Some of the main pain points are
- The use of WAF is not going to make your code safer in any way.
- It is dependent on ops.
- There is a lack of logic when it comes to app code performance
An attack visibility gives a clear idea to a developer on how an application is being attacked. Pretty much in the same way as the DevSec ops can view the full attack information with the use of various types of tools.
The code becomes easy to maintain like a infrastructure as you may check it in traditional repositories. This means enhanced cloud support along with greater portability.
Developers are of the view point that applications are protected wherever it goes. Incorporation RASP as a solution means immediate reporting is possible and it is known to work well with CD tools.
