The value of Shifting Left

Determining the Business Value of SAST (Coverity) & DAST (SonarQube) - A Combined Approach Both Static Application Security Testing (SAST) with Coverity and Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) with SonarQubes are crucial for a robust application security program. They offer distinct, yet complementary, business value. Let review a breakdown, focusing on how they work together: 

Understanding the Core Difference: 

SAST (Coverity):  

Analyzes source code without actually running the application. Think of it as a meticulous code review performed by an automated tool. It identifies vulnerabilities like buffer overflows, SQL injection flaws, and coding standard violations early in the development lifecycle. 

DAST (SonarQube):  

Analyzes a running application from the outside, simulating real-world attacks. It tests for vulnerabilities that only manifest when the application is live, such as authentication issues, session management problems, and cross-site scripting (XSS). 

I. Coverity - SAST: Business Value & Benefits 

Reduced Remediation Costs:  

Finding vulnerabilities early in development (during coding) is significantly cheaper to fix than finding them in production. Estimates suggest fixing a vulnerability in the design phase can be 10-100x less expensive than fixing it after deployment. 

Improved Code Quality & Reduced Technical Debt:  

Coverity doesn't just find security flaws; it also identifies coding standard violations and potential bugs, leading to cleaner, more maintainable code. This reduces technical debt over time. 

Faster Time-to-Market:  

By identifying issues early, developers can fix them quickly without delaying release cycles. Automated analysis speeds up the review process. 

Compliance & Audit Readiness: Coverity helps organizations meet regulatory requirements (e.g., PCI DSS, HIPAA) and provides detailed reports for audits. It demonstrates a proactive approach to security. 

Developer Education:  

Coverity's findings provide developers with immediate feedback on their coding practices, helping them learn and improve their skills. 

Supply Chain Security:  

Coverity can analyze third-party components (libraries, frameworks) used in your application, identifying vulnerabilities within those dependencies before they impact your system. 

Key Business Impact of Coverity:  

Lower development costs, faster release cycles, reduced risk of security breaches, improved software quality, and stronger compliance posture. 

II. SonarQube - DAST: Business Value & Benefits 

Real-World Vulnerability Detection:  

DAST finds vulnerabilities that SAST might miss – those only exposed when the application is running and interacting with its environment (e.g., database, web server). 

Comprehensive Coverage:  

SonarQube can test a wider range of attack vectors than SAST alone, including authentication flaws, session management issues, and injection attacks. 

Continuous Monitoring:  

SonarQube can be integrated into CI/CD pipelines to continuously scan applications for vulnerabilities as they are deployed. This provides ongoing security assurance. 

Performance & Reliability Insights:  

SonarQube also analyzes code for performance bottlenecks and potential reliability issues, contributing to a better user experience. 

Centralized Security Dashboard:  

Provides a single pane of glass for viewing the overall security posture of your applications, making it easier to prioritize remediation efforts. 

Support for Multiple Languages & Technologies:  

SonarQube supports a wide range of programming languages and frameworks, making it versatile for diverse application portfolios. 

Key Business Impact of SonarQube:  

Reduced risk of runtime attacks, improved application resilience, continuous security monitoring, enhanced user experience, and better overall application quality. 

III. The Power of Combining Coverity & SonarQube:  

A Synergistic Approach 

Using both SAST (Coverity) and DAST (SonarQube) provides the most comprehensive security coverage. Here's how they complement each other: 

Feature	Coverity (SAST)	SonarQube (DAST)
Analysis Type	Static - Source Code	Dynamic - Running Application
Vulnerability Focus	Coding errors, potential bugs, early-stage flaws	Runtime vulnerabilities, authentication issues, injection attacks
Detection Timing	Early in the development lifecycle	During testing and production
False Positives	Generally lower (more precise)	Can be higher (requires more validation)
Coverage	Deep analysis of code logic	Broad coverage of attack surfaces

How they work together: 

Coverity identifies & fixes vulnerabilities early. This reduces the number of issues that make it to testing and production. 

SonarQube validates Coverity's findings by confirming whether those vulnerabilities are actually exploitable in a running application. It also finds new vulnerabilities that Coverity missed. 

Combined reporting:  

Integrate results from both tools into a central dashboard for prioritized remediation. 

Shift-Left Security:  

This combined approach embodies the "shift-left" security principle – finding and fixing vulnerabilities as early as possible in the development process. 

 

Quantifying the Business Value (Example): 

Let's say a company estimates: 

Cost of a data breach:  

$1 million 

Probability of a critical vulnerability making it to production without SAST/DAST: 20% 

Probability of a critical vulnerability making it to production with SAST/DAST: 2% 

By reducing the probability of a breach from 20% to 2%, they potentially save 920,000((920,000((1 million x 0.20) - ($1 million x 0.02)). This demonstrates a clear ROI for investing in both tools. 

Conclusions: 

Coverity and SonarQube are powerful security tools that offer significant business value when used together. By combining the strengths of SAST and DAST, organizations can build more secure applications, reduce risk, lower costs, and accelerate innovation. The investment in these tools is not just a security expense; it's a strategic investment in long-term business success.