Top 10 CI/CD Security Tools

On the one hand, your sales department is pushing for new features at an alarming rate, forcing you into faster deployment processes. On the other hand, you have the looming threat of millions of dollars in damages if your security is breached. Software development is all about finding the middle ground – if you can’t compromise on either side, what should you do? 

Supply chain attacks increased over 600% in 2022, with insecure code and software tampering taking the top spots as the most common causes. The pressure of velocity can create security blindspots like these in your software supply chain that can only be detected, protected, and fixed by essential CI/CD security tools. 

We’ve compiled this comprehensive guide to help you identify the tools you need for an effective security stack without sacrificing your capital. Let’s look at what CI/CD security tools are, the benefits, key features, and the top ten choices. 

What are CI/CD Security Tools?

CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment) security tools are designed to integrate security checks and validations into the CI/CD pipeline, ensuring that security vulnerabilities are identified and addressed before the code is deployed to production. The primary goal is to shift security left in the development lifecycle, so potential issues are spotted as early as possible. Here are some commonly used security tools that can be integrated into the CI/CD:

• Static Application Security Testing (SAST): These tools scan an application’s source code, bytecode, or binary code for vulnerabilities without executing the program to catch vulnerabilities early in the development phase.
• Software Composition Analysis (SCA): These tools identify vulnerabilities within open-source components and third-party libraries that your application uses. 
• Infrastructure as Code (IaC): As infrastructures are now often defined as code, these tools scan configuration files for potential security misconfigurations.

Benefits of CI/CD Security Tools

• Automation – Manual security testing can drain human resources, and CI/CD security tools can automate tasks to avoid human error. 
• Reduced Risk: Early detection and remediation decrease the window of opportunity for attackers, reducing the overall risk profile of the application or system.
• Increased Release Speed: With automated security checks in place, organizations can confidently speed up their release cycles, knowing that security is being addressed at every stage.
• Collaboration Boost: Integrating security into CI/CD promotes collaboration between development, operations, and security teams, breaking down traditional silos and fostering a more unified approach to software delivery.

Key Features to Look For in a CI/CD Security Tool

• Integrations – Orchestration platforms and CI/CD tools must integrate seamlessly with your existing stack.
• Compliance – If your organization has compliance requirements, find the tools that help you achieve and maintain compliance. 
• Customization – As much as marketers may want you to believe their tool is a one-size-fits-all, there is no such thing. A customizable tool is more likely to provide the utility you need.
• Dashboards – Robust and intuitive dashboards are key to easy onboarding, reporting, and prolonged use.

Top 10 CI/CD Security Tools

1. Coverity by Synopsys

Coverity is a SAST solution that scans source code to identify defects that could lead to security vulnerabilities or negatively impact code quality. The analysis runs automatically in the background, providing developers with real-time results without the need to keep checking on it.  

Key Features

• Compliance Standards – Supports a range of security and coding standards, including OWASP Top 10, CWE Top 25, PCI DSS, ISO 26262, and more.
• Extensive Support – Security and quality checkers for over 20 languages, 70 frameworks, and widely-used infrastructure-as-code (IaC) platforms and file formats.
• Deployment Flexibility – Versatile, supporting both cloud and on-premises deployment.
• Integration – Seamless integration with numerous CI/CD and source code management (SCM) platforms.

Pricing

By inquiry. Coventry Scan is a free version for open-source projects.

Review:

“[It] helps development and security teams address security and quality defects early in the software development life cycle (SDLC).”

2. Spectral

Spectral is a developer-first secret detection and static code analysis tool that uses AI to reduce false positives while maintaining a high true positive detection. Spectral provides real-time feedback early in development, enabling shift-left security and data loss prevention.

Key Features

• Secrets Detection – Spectral’s primary function is secret detection, preventing API keys, passwords, and other sensitive information from finding their way into code repositories.
• Language and Platform Support – A versatile platform that scans a wide range of languages and platform configuration files.
• Customization – Use existing rules and patterns or create new ones specific to your needs.
• CI/CD Integration – Continuous scanning of source and configuration files without creating a bottleneck.
• Developer first – Spectral is designed to support developers without slowing down development.

Pricing

By inquiry, with a free trial.

Review

“Spectral is a reliable gatekeeper for our secrets. [It] is easy to set up and use, and it provides valuable insights into sensitive issues.”

3. AppKnox

AppKnox is a mobile application security testing solution that performs SAST, DAST, and API scans. It helps teams develop applications at speed without compromising on security, thanks to the automated scanning features that remove the need for manual intervention. 

Key Features

• Platform Support – AppKnox supports Android and iOS application testing.
• Static and Dynamic Analysis – SAST and DAST analysis for source code and runtime security.
• Penetration Testing – Offers manual penetration testing services conducted by security experts.
• Threat Intelligence – Insights and real-time updates about potential security threats.
• User-Friendly – Detailed yet easy-to-understand vulnerability reports.
• Compliance Checks – Ensures compliance with various industry standards and regulations.

Pricing

By inquiry.

Review

“When it comes to the application security testing, the static, dynamic, and API scans are very easy to configure, and the time that takes to complete a testing is quite reasonable compared to other security testing tools.”

4. Jit

Jit is a DevSecOps orchestration platform that integrates with tried and tested open source security tools like OWASP ZAP and Semgrep. It automates and unifies the execution of all tools to enable a consistent and simple DevSecOps experience.

Key Features

• Implement DevOps Toolchain – Automates the processes of implementing, configuring, and managing your application security toolchain.
• Vendor Agnostic – Unifies the execution interface of the tools you choose for a single-pane-of-glass view.
• Compliance – Implements and collects evidence for SOC 2 product security checklists and controls. 

Pricing

By inquiry, with a free trial.

Review

“What I really like about Jit is that they bring in the OSS tools I already like and use into a single solution, and help me [use] them much quicker.”

5. Vulcan Cyber

Vulcan Cyber is a vulnerability management platform that drives remediation processes forward via actionable insights and remediation orchestration in real-time. It ensures vulnerabilities are identified and quickly fixed as code moves from development to production. 

Key Features

• Integration – Aggregating vulnerability data from multiple sources to offer a holistic view of an organization’s security posture.
• Risk-Based Prioritization – Helps prioritize vulnerabilities based on risk assessment and business impact.
• Continuous CI/CD Security Monitoring – Provides continuously updated risk assessments and insights.

Pricing

There’s a Free version, a Standard version at $1700/m billed annually, and a Scaled version by inquiry.

Review

“The support is great, and the whole onboarding process only took a day. […] We connect our various scanners and handle the reporting and escalation within Vulcan.”

6. Check Point CloudGuard

Check Point CloudGuard is a multi-cloud security solution that protects all your assets, workloads, and network. It provides the context and visualization you need over cloud traffic, alerts, and assets via a unified platform and automates remediation at speed and scale.   

Key Features

• Posture Management – Automatically assess cloud environments against security best practices.
• Secure Connectivity – Ensures secure communication between cloud and on-premises resources.
• Visibility and Control – A unified interface provides visibility and control over cloud assets and security policies.
• Anomaly Detection – AI-powered suspicious patterns and activities detection.
• Integration – AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform integration.

Pricing

By inquiry.

Review

“It provides cyberattack intelligence in advance to enhance effective actions before the company data is compromised. The multi-service platform provides powerful security to both on-premise and cloud set databases.”

7. Aqua Security 

Aqua Security provides a wide range of solutions for container-based applications and an automated secure deployment approach for DevOps. The cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP) protects the application lifecycle from code to cloud and supports security requirements throughout the CI/CD pipeline. 

Key Features

• Image Scanning – Ensure deployment of secure and compliant containers.
• Runtime Protection – Monitor runtime applications to detect suspicious activities and prevent attacks.
• Serverless Security –  Protect serverless functions (e.g., AWS Lambda).
• Infrastructure as Code (IaC) Scanning – Scans IaC templates to identify misconfigurations.
• Compliance – Maintain compliance standards like PCI, HIPAA, and GDPR.
• Platform Support – Including Docker, Kubernetes, OpenShift, and others.

Pricing

By inquiry.

Review

“After some growing pains, due to the size of our organization and the number of images we scan, it has been easy to implement Docker image scanning into our build process.”

8. Dastardly by Burp Suite

Dastardly is a free DAST web application scanner for your CI/CD pipeline. It acts like a hacker or pentester to find and fix vulnerabilities and bugs in your code. The parent company, Burp Suite, is a web application security testing tool used by over 16,000 organizations, 

Key Features

• Intercepting Proxy – Allows users to intercept, view, and modify web traffic between a browser and the target application.
• Scalable solution – Easy upgrade options to other Burp Suite products prevent downtime and scale as your business does. 
• Scanner – An automated tool for scanning web applications for vulnerabilities such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and more.
• Penetration Testing – Automates custom attacks against web applications.

Pricing

Free.

Review

“I can easily run an automatic scan to find the common bug in the website, and it provides a detailed report of the scan and gives fewer false positives.”

9. Checkmarx

Checkmarx’s cloud-native AppSec platform combines a wide range of application security testing tools to help developers strengthen the security posture of applications. The suite includes SAST, SCA, DAST, and more, and the centralized platform consolidates risk ratings, findings, and guidance into one dashboard. 

Key Features

• Customer Support – Documentation and high-quality training available to support AppSec knowledge and security success. 
• Language Support – Supports 50+ languages and 100+ frameworks. 
• real-time Results – Provides real-time prioritization insights into vulnerabilities and remediation strategies. 

Pricing

By inquiry, and you can request a demo first. 

Review

“It categorizes the vulnerability based on the risk associated. Can be easily integrated with your CI pipeline to have you code scan with every build.”

10. SonarQube

SonarQube is a tool that integrates into your CI/CD pipeline to ensure the quality and cleanliness of your code. It automatically reviews code using a continuous inspection approach. SonarQube supports 30+ languages, frameworks, and IaC platforms and has an extensive rules database for each language it supports. 

Key Features

• Quality Gate Feature: Fail pipelines when the code quality doesn’t meet defined requirements with the Sonar Quality Gate. 
• Enhanced Visibility: Centralized dashboard compiles reports on code quality, security vulnerabilities, and remediation strategies for better visibility. 
• Security Hotspots: Identifies the most vulnerable locations in the code that need review. 

Pricing

Free trial and pricing is by inquiry. 

Review

“SonarQube is an excellent tool for maintaining code quality and enforcing code quality rules organization-wide. It has a free and open-source version which can be self-hosted.”

Trust Your Security Tools

Security automation is the next step that brings Sec into DevOps. We’ve reviewed the benefits of CI/CD security tools in bolstering your security and reducing manual labor and costs, and highlighted our top picks for CI/CD security.

It’s important to understand that while CI/CD security tools provide valuable insights and catch many issues, they don’t replace the need for manual code reviews, thorough penetration testing, and other security best practices. The idea is to integrate security seamlessly into the DevOps lifecycle, allowing for rapid but secure code releases.

When choosing your security stack, you must include a SAST tool that will cast a wide net. Spectral offers secret detection, source code analysis, and security assessment, all rolled into one. Try Spectral for free today.