The Importance of Static Analysis Tools

Posted by julesalanna on July 25th, 2017

Security static analysis tools have been used successfully for a number of years to find vulnerabilities within codes. They are usually used by developers because they can be used all through the creation of program writing to isolate issues before the project is complete. The static analysis tools are generally created unlike those available commercially due to the fact they can be adapted to suit different needs; which is great news for people that are creating a ‘first’ in programs and fear there’s nothing out there to help them to check their codes before they are implemented. As well as using static code analysis to find vulnerabilities on software codes, it can also be used to check websites and numerous other purposes including:

• Finding which areas of your code can be simplified for ease of maintenance
• Identifying potential issues with the code before the production stage begins - saving time and money.

The nearer to the production the finished product is the more expensive any problems can be to fix, not to mention time consuming. Going through the code by hand could take a full time and days or even weeks to find issues. Being able to use security testing tools so early on in the process will make it easier to fix and of course more cost effective. You can also eliminate parts of the program that are not necessary making it more likely that you are able to use it with other programs and run them concurrently.

Although the security testing tools have been created to increase the chance of issues being found quickly it was never created to be a total replacement for the traditional methods of testing, but to supplement it. Security static code analysis can help organizations to offer better quality codes by picking up on issues that a conventional testing method is likely to miss and lead to issues later down the line. Both the functionality and app performance will be put to the test in environments they are likely to be used for. Issues that would usually go unnoticed until later in production are quickly found due to the fact that the parameters are set differently for in depth reports to fix code issues.

Security static code analysis is a not only a great way to find problems; but can also serve as a teaching tool to better help the developers to have a greater understanding of the codes structure as well as being able to enforce specific code standards.

Why risk using standard security testing tools when you could find that there are a multitude of issues you need to fix after the initial execution causing to crash and leaving you the problem of going through all of the coding piece by piece. Instead you could use security static analysis tools to help you to repair issues as they arise while you write the program in bite size pieces. In huge code bases the tools are faster by far in finding vulnerabilities and can look through older codes as well as newly created ones. It makes sense to stop a problem before it happens. See this method as fixing a tiny leak in your home rather than having to make repairs to the whole roof.