Invicti (formerly Netsparker) vs Burp Suite
If you’re looking for a web application security solution, think about your key objective: do you need application scanning to tick a box or do you want to effectively lower your cybersecurity risk? If you’re serious about reducing risk, have a look at what the Invicti solution offers in comparison to competitors such as Burp Suite.
I’ve long been an advocate of Invicti (formerly Netsparker) because I believe it’s the easiest on-demand, do it yourself dynamic security analysis tool.
MICROSOFT REGIONAL DIRECTOR & MVP, FOUNDER OF HAVE I BEEN PWNED, LEADING SECURITY RESEARCHER
Burp Suite is a well-known name in the application security space, with security researchers and ethical hackers widely using the community edition of this penetration testing tool for manual testing. PortSwigger has expanded its product lineup beyond Burp Suite Community and Burp Suite Professional to also market Burp Suite Enterprise as an automated web vulnerability scanner, relying on its brand reputation among penetration testers. Despite the name, this product lags behind true enterprise-class solutions in terms of features, integrations, ease of use, and services. Since then, the company has also added a limited, lightweight scanner for CI/CD pipelines called Dastardly.
Built on the expertise of industry veterans Netsparker and Acunetix, Invicti Enterprise is an application security solution that combines a mature web vulnerability scanner with automated vulnerability confirmation, vulnerability assessment, and vulnerability management functionality. Compared to products like Burp Suite, Invicti Enterprise is focused on accuracy and aiding remediation, and includes everything required to build and run an enterprise-scale application security program that draws on nearly two decades of security automation expertise – without the hidden costs of using the wrong tool for the job.
Focus on remediation to reduce security risk
Vulnerability detection by itself does not reduce your risk – vulnerability remediation does. Invicti recognizes how critical it is to have the technical foundation to allow vulnerabilities to be fixed with minimal effort and cost. There are four variables that contribute to the science of risk reduction:
- When it comes to resolving security vulnerabilities, accuracy saves a tremendous amount of time. Nothing in the remediation process is more expensive than dealing with false positives. That’s why Invicti created its proof-based scanning technology: to prevent developers and security engineers from wasting time and eventually ignoring the tool. Crucially, Invicti develops all its security checks in-house, rather than relying (as some competitors) on unreliable third parties or open-source solutions that introduce the risk of inaccuracies.
- Speed may not seem important for a small organization, but the larger the enterprise and the more comprehensive the vulnerability scanning process, the more important it becomes. Because Invicti’s scans are almost twice as fast as the competition, they can be efficiently incorporated into DevSecOps cycles without impeding agile operations.
- Automation and integration are critical to tool adoption within an existing enterprise environment. The less the scanning procedure affects current workflows, the better. And the more automation, integration, and authentication options you have, the better chance you have of deploying in your environment and adapting to it without significant disruptions. Integration with web application firewalls (WAFs) is especially important for protecting your online applications before implementing vulnerability fixes.
- Last but not least, minimizing risk is about much more than just a good product. Even the best product requires services, and email-only customer support during work hours is usually insufficient, especially for global companies. Medium and large enterprises demand around-the-clock support, including dedicated customer service channels.
A product that is not built around risk reduction may be a suitable place to start for a small business. However, as the company grows, the shortcomings of such limited tools become more evident. To avoid the need to completely rebuild your web application security program in the future, it is worthwhile to invest early in the only comprehensive dynamic application security testing (DAST) software that goes beyond web application vulnerability scanning to provide efficient risk reduction.
Unlimited scanning without the hype
Organizations that add new software to their current environments are typically wary of limiting their future options. One of Invicti’s key goals is to provide products and services that do not hinder your growth. You may have seen other vendors throwing around the term unlimited, often in misleading ways. Here’s what unlimited means at Invicti:
- Unlimited scalability – Invicti has proven its worth time and time again in the hands of the world’s largest online enterprises. We have the capacity to meet your needs regardless of the size and complexity of the application, or the number of applications you have or will have. We even have both SaaS and on-premises deployment options so your security is not limited by where your applications live.
- Unlimited workflow flexibility – Invicti can be used as early as the first application builds in your CI/CD system and as late as your live application, in real time, in production, and in direct view of millions of your customers, with fine-grained scan scheduling to avoid disruptions. We’ve also designed the tool so you can shift security testing left and right without restriction.
- Unlimited interoperability – Built-in integrations (over 50 of them) are only the tip of the iceberg. The Invicti support and application security management teams work closely with customers set up the product and tailor it to their unique needs. Thanks to our extensive services and full internal API, you are not limited to the integrations available out-of-the-box.
- Unlimited web – The World Wide Web is no longer just about websites and web apps. Web technologies have infiltrated every aspect of modern technology, largely through web APIs. Invicti provides scanning tools that are compatible with a variety of popular API definition formats and can test anything that communicates over HTTP, even IoT devices.
- Unlimited discovery – Invicti’s web asset discovery engine ensures that all of your bases are covered. The larger your company, the more likely it is that someone somewhere is running or developing sites or web apps that don’t show up on your central cybersecurity radar. The ability to automatically detect such applications and test them minimizes the risk of malicious hackers compromising your systems via an unexpected SQL injection or cross-site scripting exploit.
Invicti does not impose restrictions such as limited concurrent scanning. We just don’t make a big deal out of it like some other security tools do.
The hidden costs of using penetration testing tools as enterprise scanners
Your approach to application security will vary substantially depending on the size of your business. SMBs with a single web server can begin their cybersecurity journey with open-source solutions such as OWASP Zed Attack Proxy (ZAP) or less comprehensive solutions such as those offered by most Invicti competitors. However, the larger the company and its IT infrastructure, and the faster it grows, the more important it is to invest in something that will not incur hidden costs. Here are some of the hidden costs associated with other AppSec solutions:
- Long remediation times: Because AppSec solutions that don’t use automated vulnerability confirmation have a greater likelihood of false positives, developers and security engineers waste costly extra hours on checking if a reported vulnerability is a false alarm. Similarly, companies that use scanners with high false-positive rates sometimes decide to routinely do pentesting on each reported vulnerability just to verify it. This hidden cost can quickly outweigh the cost of the software.
- Additional infrastructure: Slower and less efficient scanning engines typically need large infrastructure investments. For example, enterprise-grade scanners that use inefficient scanning agents or modules may require so much processing power that the cost of the infrastructure outweighs the cost of the software.
- Lack of support: If the vendor does not provide professional customer service, the customer will most likely be dealt with by randomly assigned support agents who are handling the same issue without communicating with one another. This could mean repeating the same information several times and waiting for days before a ticket is addressed. All too often, unresolved issues can incur significant costs that surpass the cost of a professional solution, especially if the customer is eventually forced to use internal teams or contractors to fix a problem that the vendor couldn’t help with.
- Steep learning curve: An intuitive, interactive, and user-friendly solution such as Invicti saves a lot of time and money compared to a product that requires extensive user training to operate. It makes it possible for personnel who are not security engineers or researchers to run scans and read the reports. But a gentler learning curve means more than just lower training costs – it also means that your employees are more likely to actually use the product to improve security.
At Invicti, our overriding goal is to allow our customers to measurably reduce their application security risk. That is why we strive not only to improve our scanning engines but also to provide features and services that make it as simple as possible to incorporate DAST at every stage of the software development lifecycle – in any infrastructure and in tandem with tools you already use. Ultimately, we want to help you implement an effective, deeply integrated, and (yes) unlimited application security program.
What’s the difference between an enterprise scanner and a penetration testing tool?
Solutions for dynamic application security testing (DAST) all run automated security tests but are aimed at very different users and also differ in accuracy, integration, and reporting capabilities. An enterprise-grade scanner is designed to integrate with development workflows, deliver developer-oriented vulnerability reports, and trigger scans automatically at certain steps of the pipeline or run them on a schedule. Scanners used as manual penetration testing tools are intended for security professionals who have the expertise to run scans manually and then investigate and verify the results.
Learn how organizations can automate application penetration testing and bring it in-house
Which is better: Invicti or Burp Suite?
Each tool has its uses, with Invicti Enterprise specializing in automated vulnerability scanning with development workflow integration and Burp Suite Professional (and Community) being intended for manual penetration testing. Tools designed for penetration testing are better suited for use by individual security professionals and tend to be more customizable but less user-friendly and hard to use at scale. A solution like Invicti Enterprise is more scalable and uses proof-based scanning to provide automatic confirmation for many common vulnerabilities to cut down on false positives, allowing vulnerability reports can go directly into issue trackers.
Does Invicti have unlimited concurrent scanning?
Invicti imposes no limitations on the number of scans that a customer can run at any one time. This is especially important in large enterprise environments with hundreds of websites and applications, where multiple scheduled and manual scans will often be running in parallel. Within one customer account, you can also set up an unlimited number of internal users for easy access by developers, security teams, and management.
Learn more about building a best-practice enterprise application security program
In my years as a security specialist I’ve used many different tools for DAST and Invicti (formerly Netsparker) has consistently been at the forefront of both experience and results. It’s simple to use without sacrificing capability.
SECURITY RESEARCHER AND ENTREPRENEUR, SCOTTHELME.CO.UK
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Bruno Urban
I had the opportunity to compare external expertise reports with Invicti ones. Invicti was better, finding more breaches. It’s a very good product for me.
Perry Mertens
As opposed to other web application scanners, Invicti is very easy to use. An out of the box installation can detect more vulnerabilities than any other scanner.
Dan Fryer
We chose Invicti because it is more tailored to web application security and has features that allow the university to augment its web application security needs.
Save your security team hundreds of hours with Invicti’s web security scanner.