DAST
Dynamic Application Security Testing
A security testing approach that probes a running application from the outside to identify exploitable behavior.
Plain English
Test the live application like an external user or attacker without inspecting its source code.
In context
DAST tools send requests to a deployed application and analyze its responses for security weaknesses that appear during execution across exposed interfaces.
Example
“The staging environment undergoes DAST before the production release.”
When you'll hear this
- security validation
- pre-release testing
- continuous delivery
Common misunderstanding
DAST does not prove an application is secure and usually cannot pinpoint the responsible source-code line by itself.
Also known as
dynamic application security testingdynamic security testingblack-box security testing
Commonly used by
Related terms
Often compared with
Updated: 2026-08-31
