Contrast Security, the leader in runtime application security, today announced the company has been recognized as a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Dynamic Application Security Testing 2026 Vendor Assessment (#US54119126, September 2026). This IDC MarketScape study evaluated 16 vendors in the worldwide dynamic application security testing (DAST) market.
DAST has evolved from a slow, rule-based scanning tool into a broader runtime testing platform. AI is now shaping the category further, with agentic tools that probe applications from the outside and adapt their next test based on how apps and APIs respond. Contrast’s revolutionary approach adds sensors that observe running code from within, tracking how real data moves through the code as it executes. That inside view gives Contrast broader coverage than external tools can reach, direct proof of exploitability instead of inference, and continuous testing from development through production that doesn’t require fuzzing, credentials, or configuration.
“We believe being named a Leader reflects our strengths in bringing together Dev, AppSec and SecOps to give them a shared view of what is happening inside their applications,” said Jeff Williams, Founder and CTO at Contrast Security. “As AI reshapes how software gets built, DAST is mission critical for stopping threats before they spread. Contrast’s revolutionary DAST technology can test all your applications, APIs, and libraries in parallel without disruption. Your development teams get fully tested patches, not research projects. And if you have vulnerabilities in production, Contrast provides visibility and protection to keep you safe.”
Traditional DAST tools work without application context, generate false positives, and miss many real vulnerabilities. Contrast Security closes those gaps with threat sensors embedded in running applications and APIs, eliminating false positives from development through production. Because those same sensors also run in production, Contrast can also detect and block attacks on a vulnerability while it’s being fixed, a compensating control that DAST alone doesn’t provide.
Key benefits include:
- Accurate detection: Reliably surfaces real vulnerabilities rather than guesses.
- Controlled false positives: Keeps noise low so teams focus on genuine issues.
- Broad rule coverage: Easily detects hidden vulnerabilities like weak cryptography, blind injection, and SSRF.
- Detailed findings: Include actual data flow details, stack traces, and affected lines of code.
- Library CVEs: Detects CVEs and unknown vulnerabilities in open source libraries and whether the vulnerable part of the library is actually being used, reachable and is exploitable.
- Massively scalable: Contrast is a distributed technology that can continuously test tens of thousands of applications and APIs in parallel.
- Always-on coverage: Runs continuously in development, staging and production, closing the gaps a scheduled scan window leaves open.
- AI remediation grounded in runtime evidence: Generates fixes based on the application’s actual runtime behavior, not a generic suggestion.
For more information, visit https://www.contrastsecurity.com/.
About IDC MarketScape:
IDC MarketScape vendor assessment model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of technology and service suppliers in a given market. The research utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each supplier’s position within a given market. IDC MarketScape provides a clear framework in which the product and service offerings, capabilities and strategies, and current and future market success factors of technology suppliers can be meaningfully compared. The framework also provides technology buyers with a 360-degree assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current and prospective suppliers.
Contrast Security
Contrast Security is the global leader in Application Detection and Response (ADR), empowering organizations to see and stop attacks on applications and APIs in real time. Contrast embeds patented threat sensors directly into the software, delivering unmatched visibility and protection. With continuous defense, Contrast uncovers hidden application-layer risks that traditional solutions miss. Contrast’s powerful Runtime Security technology equips developers, AppSec teams and SecOps with one platform that proactively protects and defends applications and APIs against evolving threats.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261007454959/en/
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