Reducing AppSec Noise in AST

When was the last time you picked up a call from a number you didn’t recognize? There was a time when we all did, but scams and robocalls mean we’re constantly bombarded with calls and texts we don’t want — and sometimes that means we miss an important call.
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Application security testing (AST) is dealing with a similar challenge right now. 

The sheer number of AppSec tools being used by development and security teams can lead to an overwhelming number of alerts, which can slow down the development process and cause security teams to miss actual threats. However, by taking a strategic approach, developers and security teams can filter out the noise and focus on only the relevant threats.

During security testing, AST tools produce alerts whenever an issue is spotted. However, those issues aren’t always relevant. Tools might flag false positives, irrelevant issues, or low-risk vulnerabilities. If a team is using several testing tools, they may also get redundant alerts. The number of alerts can be overwhelming, and can make it harder for security teams to find the real threats among all the noise.

A number of things can cause AppSec noise:
Aggressive scanning configurations: Your team might be casting a wide net in hopes of catching everything, but it’s backfired.

Poorly tuned or misconfigured AST tools: Your tools might be configured to catch the wrong information. 

A lack of communication between the security and development teams: Your security department might think an alert is noise while the developers see it as relevant. If the two teams aren’t working together, this can result in a disagreement about what noise actually is, and how to prioritize the next steps. 

‍The use of many AST tools: The more testing tools you use, the more alerts your teams get — and the greater the probability of duplicate alerts.

The dangers of alert fatigue

A recent survey found that many teams are using between 5 and 10 AST tools, although some teams are using more than 15 tools. Such a deep toolchain can lead to a flood of alerts, and subsequently, to alert fatigue.
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Teams may find themselves missing critical vulnerabilities as they shift through alerts, or wasting time and resources on false positives. The influx of alerts means that security teams become less efficient in addressing vulnerabilities, and may stop trusting alerts from their AST tools.

When tools are poorly configured, noise is often the result. Fortunately there are steps you can take to make your results less noisy: 
‍Optimize scanning configurations: Trying to catch every single issue will result in non-stop alerts. Create scanning rules that make sense for your application and team. 

‍Make sure your teams are communicating: The best AST tool is no match for communication between teams. When your teams are able to share context, it’s easier to prioritize the findings of your tests. 

‍Integrate AST with your tools: Cross check your findings and integrate AST into your CI/CL pipelines to reduce redundancy. 

Use automation: AI and machine learning can filter out noise and improve the accuracy of your testing results. 

Building security into development

AppSec noise in AST can overwhelm security teams, leading to wasted time, alert fatigue, and missed critical vulnerabilities. Automation and thoughtful planning can help cut through the noise so that teams can focus on real, exploitable threats rather than false positives. When combined with optimized scanning configurations, contextual risk assessment, and seamless DevSecOps integration, DAST ensures that security efforts remain efficient and impactful.

This is where Apona comes in. Our intelligent security tools let you build security right into product development, and that helps your team focus on what matters: helping teams focus on what truly matters—fixing real security risks, faster. Don't let AppSec noise slow you down—streamline your security testing with Apona and gain clarity in your AST results today.