Applications have become the primary attack surface for the modern enterprise. Delivery moves fast and architectures keep evolving, so security has to prove resilience and compliance at developer speed. Code analysis helps, but attackers do not target repositories. They target what is running.

Dynamic testing fills that gap. OpenText DAST provides runtime evidence so teams can validate real behavior in real environments. As AI reshapes development and APIs become the standard interface, runtime validation is no longer optional. It is foundational.

The threat surface just got smarter

A few things are forcing security teams to rethink how they validate applications:

• AI is embedded now. GenAI moved from experiments to production features. That creates exposure: prompt injection, unsafe outputs, data leakage, logic flaws from AI-assisted code. Attackers use the same tools to automate exploits.

How OpenText DAST addresses this

API-first testing: APIs outnumber traditional web interfaces now, but security testing treats them as an afterthought. OpenText DAST supports REST, SOAP, GraphQL, and gRPC. It ingests API definitions (OpenAPI, Swagger, WSDL) to test public endpoints, authenticated flows, multi-step workflows, and complex transactions. Macro-enabled scanning handles real user behavior: login sequences, token refresh, role-based paths. This tests how your APIs work under conditions attackers exploit.

Built for continuous delivery: Dynamic testing works when it runs as part of delivery, not a separate phase. OpenText integrates into CI/CD and staging workflows. Orchestration scales across environments. Findings arrive in context where teams act fast without slowing engineering.

Fewer false positives: OpenText DAST uses browser-based rendering and advanced crawling to understand dynamic behavior in SPAs and JavaScript-heavy interfaces where older scanners struggle. Machine learning reduces false positives and prioritizes based on exploitability and business context, not just severity. Teams spend less time on noise, more time fixing what matters.

• Supply chain is everyone's problem. Most apps depend on open source. Transitive dependencies make it hard to know what you ship. Customers and regulators want SBOMs, governance, proof you manage vulnerabilities. Visibility alone doesn't cut it.
• APIs are the attack surface. Microservices expanded API footprints faster than security caught up. Broken authorization, weak auth, data overexposure—common across REST, GraphQL, gRPC. Zero trust requires validation, not just policy.
• Context beats volume. Finding lists don't help when you ship every day. Teams need continuous validation that prioritizes based on exploitability and business impact, not just severity scores.
• Tool sprawl creates drag. Too many scanners and dashboards slow triage and frustrate engineering. Consolidation means better signal, aligned workflow, clearer accountability.
  

Why DAST gets overlooked

DAST often takes a backseat to static analysis and SCA. The reasons are familiar. SAST finds issues earlier. SCA addresses the supply chain concerns that keep coming up. DAST, on the other hand, has been seen as slow, noisy, and hard to align with fast release cycles.

That perception is outdated. And it is dangerous.

SAST cannot confirm authentication logic in a running app. SCA cannot catch broken API authorization. Neither tells you how your application holds up when it is exposed to real traffic and real abuse. Attackers do not care about your dependency list. They care about what your app does in production.

DAST has evolved. It can run continuously, integrate into delivery workflows, and test what matters most in modern environments where runtime behavior is the truth.

How OpenText DAST addresses this

API-first testing: APIs outnumber traditional web interfaces now, but security testing treats them as an afterthought. OpenText DAST supports REST, SOAP, GraphQL, and gRPC. It ingests API definitions (OpenAPI, Swagger, WSDL) to test public endpoints, authenticated flows, multi-step workflows, and complex transactions. Macro-enabled scanning handles real user behavior: login sequences, token refresh, role-based paths. This tests how your APIs work under conditions attackers exploit.

Built for continuous delivery: Dynamic testing works when it runs as part of delivery, not a separate phase. OpenText integrates into CI/CD and staging workflows. Orchestration scales across environments. Findings arrive in context where teams act fast without slowing engineering.

Fewer false positives: OpenText DAST uses browser-based rendering and advanced crawling to understand dynamic behavior in SPAs and JavaScript-heavy interfaces where older scanners struggle. Machine learning reduces false positives and prioritizes based on exploitability and business context, not just severity. Teams spend less time on noise, more time fixing what matters.

One platform view: Dynamic testing is stronger when correlated with code and component data. OpenText Application Security brings DAST together with static analysis, SCA, and posture management. Centralized policy, reporting, workflow. Less duplication, better prioritization, easier governance and compliance.

Validating AI-enabled applications: GenAI is embedded in customer portals, internal tools, and dev workflows. That introduces new risks: prompt injection bypassing access controls, unsafe outputs leaking data, logic flaws slipping past review. OpenText DAST validates AI behavior at runtime. When an LLM feature is exposed via API, it tests whether it can be manipulated to bypass authorization, exfiltrate data, or trigger unintended actions.

Why dynamic testing is essential

Static analysis and composition scanning matter. But they assume code behaves as written, dependencies are configured securely, deployment matches design.

DAST tests reality.

It validates how software behaves live. Whether authentication works. Whether APIs enforce authorization. Whether user input gets sanitized. It's the only testing from the attacker's perspective—outside the code, interacting with the app as deployed.

As apps become faster, more distributed, more AI-enabled, runtime validation is the difference between theoretical security and provable resilience.

OpenText DAST brings API-aware, workflow-driven testing into continuous delivery. Improves confidence in results. Connects dynamic findings to broader application risk. Built for apps you're shipping today and threats you'll face tomorrow.

Get started

Start with a critical application. Integrate OpenText DAST into your delivery workflow. Measure what matters: coverage of authenticated paths, reduction in exploitable exposure, faster time from finding to fix. Expand across the portfolio. Consolidate where unified risk view improves speed, governance, outcomes.

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