Micro Focus Fortify on Demand vs OWASP Zap comparison

Micro Focus Fortify on Demand is a web application security testing tool that enables continuous monitoring. The solution is designed to help you with security testing, vulnerability management and tailored expertise, and is able to provide the support needed to easily create, supplement, and expand a software security assurance program without the need for additional infrastructure or resources.

Micro Focus Fortify on Demand Features

Micro Focus Fortify on Demand has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

• Deployment flexibility
• Scalability
• Built for DevSecOps
• Ease of use
• Supports 27+ languages
• Real-time vulnerability identification with
• Security Assistant
• Actionable results in less than 1 hour for most applications with DevOps automation
• Expanded coverage, accuracy and remediation details with IAST runtime agent
• Continuous application monitoring of production applications
• Virtual patches
• Supports iOS and Android mobile applications
• Security vulnerability identification
• Behavioral and reputation analysis

Micro Focus Fortify on Demand Benefits

There are several benefits to implementing Micro Focus Fortify on Demand. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

• Fast remediation: With Micro Focus Fortify on Demand you can achieve fast remediation throughout the software lifecycle with robust assessments by a team of security experts.

• Easy integration: The solution’s integration ecosystem is easy to use, creating a more secure software supply chain.

• Security testing: Micro Focus Fortify on Demand covers in-depth mobile app security testing, open-source analysis, and vendor application security management, in addition to static and dynamic testing.

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by PeerSpot users currently using the Micro Focus Fortify on Demand solution.

Dionisio V., Senior System Analyst at Azurian, says, "One of the top features is the source code review for vulnerabilities. When we look at source code, it's hard to see where areas may be weak in terms of security, and Fortify on Demand's source code review helps with that." He goes on to add, “Another reason I like Fortify on Demand is because our code often includes open source libraries, and it's important to know when the library is outdated or if it has any known vulnerabilities in it. This information is important to us when we're developing our solutions and Fortify on Demand informs us when it detects any vulnerable open source libraries.”

A Security Systems Analyst at a retailer mentions, “Being able to reduce risk overall is a very valuable feature for us.”

Jayashree A., Executive Manager at PepsiCo, comments, “Once we have our project created with our application pipeline connected to the test scanning, it only takes two minutes. The report explaining what needs to be modified related to security and vulnerabilities in our code is very helpful. We are able to do static and dynamic code scanning. When we are exploring some of the endpoints this solution identifies many loopholes that hackers could utilize for an attack. This has been very helpful and surprising how many vulnerabilities there can be.”

A Principal Solutions Architect at a security firm explains, “Its ability to perform different types of scans, keep everything in one place, and track the triage process in Fortify SSC stands out.”

PeerSpot user Mamta J., Co-Founder at TechScalable, states, "Almost all the features are good. This solution has simplified designing and architecting for our solutions. We were early adopters of microservices. Their documentation is good. You don't need to put in much effort in setting it up and learning stuff from scratch and start using it. The learning curve is not too much."

OWASP ZAP (Zed Attack Proxy) is a free, open-source web application security scanner that enables software developers and testers to perform penetration testing on their applications to discover vulnerabilities and prevent hostile attacks. To date, it is one of the most searched Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) projects, and an international group of volunteers is maintaining it. This tool is both flexible and extensible and is intended to be used by users who are new to application security as well as expert testers. For the users' convenience, OWASP ZAP has versions for each major OS and Docker platform so as not to rely on any single OS.

OWASP ZAP focuses on being the “middle man proxy,” as it is positioned between the user’s browser and the web application. In doing so, it will intercept and examine messages that are sent between a browser and a web application. If needed, it will adjust the contents and pass those packets on to their destination. As is the case in many corporate settings, if there is already another network proxy in use, ZAP can be configured to join that proxy. A variety of add-ons for further functionality is available on ZAP Marketplace.

OWASP ZAP offers a range of security automation options, including:

• Docker Packaged Scans: A ZAP automation scanner that provides a lot of flexibility and makes it easy for the user to get started with the tool.
  
  
• Quick Start Command Line: A rapid and straightforward scanner that is suitable for a quick scan.
  
  
• API and Daemon Mode: Through a comprehensive API, this mode gives the user complete control over ZAP.
  
  
• Automation Framework: A state-of-the-art framework that is not tied to any current container technology. This framework will, in time, take over the Command Line and the Package Scan options.
  
  
• GitHub Actions: The ability to use any associated and available GitHub package scan.

Benefits of OWASP ZAP

Some of OWASP ZAP’s benefits include:

• The ability to run an automated scan. Once set up, ZAP will deploy two spiders to crawl the web application and subsequently scan each page it finds.
  
  
• It interprets your results and sends an automated alert. After scanning the web application, all requests and responses sent to each page are recorded. If there is a potential problem, an alert is created and sent to the user.
  
  
• An intuitive and innovative interface. The Heads Up Display (HUD) is a new feature that provides capabilities right in the browser. It is great for people new to web security and experienced testers alike.

Reviews from Real Users

OWASP ZAP stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Among them are the solution’s automatic scanning feature, its ease of use, its ability to report vulnerabilities, and its being a free open-source solution..

PeerSpot user Piyush S., Technical Specialist (DevOps), notes that "Automatic scanning is a valuable feature and very easy to use. The initial setup is straightforward. The solution is free due to the fact that it is open-source. The product has a strong community surrounding it to help with issues and troubleshooting. The stability of the solution is very good."

Raj K., Business Analyst at Experion Technologies, notes, “The valuable features are that it's very simple to use and the user interface is very good, particularly for beginners so they can start the application easily. It's enough to refer to an online tutorial to be able to start using this application. It's not very complex.”

Balaji S., Assistant Vice President at Hexaware Technologies Limited, writes, “The solution is good at reporting the vulnerabilities of the application. It can help us with security, SQL injection vulnerability, known vulnerabilities, et cetera. Any kind of a threat that we get in the development cycle, is what we will look for. This solution helps us find them.

Many users like how the solution has improved over the years. As Alan G., CEO at Virtual Security International, notes, "It has evolved over the years, and recently in the last year they have added HUD (Heads Up Display)."