Akto in Gartner Hype Cycles for Application Security and APIs
Akto has been featured in 2 of Gartner’s Hype Cycle Reports - for APIs and Application Security and here’s why this matters.
Raaga Srinivas
8 mins
Akto has been featured in 2 of Gartner’s Hype Cycle Reports - for APIs and for Application Security and here’s why this matters.
The Gartner Hype Cycle Reports share a reflection of our industry and of emerging technologies and their potential impact. These reports provide valuable insights into the maturity, adoption, and business benefits of different technologies. It also gives Gartner’s pulse on the market direction and trends of the industry.
By 2026, 40% of development organizations will use the AI-based autoremediation of insecure code from application security testing vendors as a default, up from less than 5% in 2023. - Gartner
As an API security testing platform built for application security teams with a large focus on GenAI, Akto’s feature in this report speaks volumes.
API Security Testing in Gartner Hype Cycle
We are proud to share that the Gartner reports feature Akto as a vendor for API Security Testing.
API security testing is a specialized form of application security testing (AST) that identifies vulnerabilities in APIs. It includes checks for traditional application vulnerabilities (like injection attacks) and API-specific issues (such as broken object-level authorization).
APIs represent a major attack surface for web-enabled applications. Attacks on and abuse of APIs result in serious adverse consequences, including data breaches and other security incidents. DevSecOps teams focus on the need for API security testing in development to prevent this. Vulnerability assessment teams may test the security of production APIs; however, APIs pose unique risks. - Gartner
With a market penetration of more than 50% of its target audience and adolescent (maturing technology capabilities and process understanding) level of maturity, there is a strong demand for API security testing characterized by rapid innovation and the introduction of new technologies or methodologies.
We at Akto are championing the API Security Testing space.
Akto for API Security
Akto offers automated API Security at enterprise scale- a one-stop solution for API Discovery and shift-left API security testing, providing extensive coverage of the OWASP API Top 10, authentication, authorization, business logic testing, and more.
We offer a comprehensive solution for integrating API security testing into your CI/CD pipelines with automated reports and real-time alerts.
Akto is the most differentiated and best solution in the market for API Security. Why?
Modern Appsec teams want a solution that gives good results and not shallow findings. Akto’s approach of using API traffic for API Security testing sets it apart from all the competitors. Akto has no dependency on Swagger files and Postman Collection. Results - 10x better than traditional solutions.
World’s largest API Security Test Library - We are on a mission to provide deeper and complete coverage of API Security issues for application security teams. We have built our test library database in-house and have dedicated significant efforts to ensure depth and coverage.
We are building for Modern Application Security and Product Security teams hungry for a powerful API Security platform.
By targeting this core problem of API Security Testing, Akto is now a catalyst to change within the larger Hype Cycle of APIs and application security as a whole.
Akto is the youngest company to be part of the Gartner Hype Cycle for API Security and to have done so in only two years of inception.
What is the Gartner Hype Cycle after all?
The Gartner Hype Cycle is a graphical representation used by Gartner, a leading research and advisory company, to illustrate the maturity, adoption, and social application of specific technologies over time. In this case - APIs and application security individually. It has 5 phases -
Innovation Trigger
Peak of Inflated Expectations
Trough of Disillusionment
Slope of Enlightenment
Plateau of Productivity
According to Gartner, API Security Testing, of which Akto is a representative vendor, is currently in the ‘Trough of Disillusionment’ phase.
Trough of Disillusionment: Interest wanes as experiments and implementations fail to deliver. Producers of the technology shake out or fail. Investments continue only if the surviving providers improve their products to the satisfaction of early adopters. - Gartner
You can learn more about the different phases of the Gartner Hype Cycle here.
Akto is featured in two Gartner Hype Cycles:
Let’s learn the significance of each.
Akto in Gartner Hype Cycle for APIs
This Hype Cycle highlights the most important API trends.
in this context, for API security Testing, this means that while the technology has shown promise, organizations have likely encountered significant obstacles in adoption. These could include difficulties in implementing robust security measures, challenges in keeping up with evolving threats, or the realization that existing solutions may not be as effective as initially hoped. For example -
Testing tools may not support all API protocols. SOAP remains in widespread use, although it is being supplanted by REST APIs. GraphQL-based and gRPC-based APIs are increasingly common, so additional support is required from tool vendors for effective testing. - Gartner
Akto solves this challenge.
Akto supports all APIs
Akto supports a wide range of API protocols, including SOAP, REST, GraphQL, and gRPC. We are the only API Security platform with built-in gRPC support for API Discovery and testing.
This comprehensive coverage ensures that you can effectively test and secure your entire API ecosystem, regardless of the protocols.
Akto in Gartner Hype Cycle for Application Security
This Hype Cycle tracks the maturity and adoption of processes and technologies that can help organizations advance their application security program.
Traditional AST tools — static application security testing (SAST), dynamic application security testing (DAST) and interactive AST (IAST) — were not originally designed to test for some of the unique types of vulnerabilities associated with typical attacks against APIs. Nor were they aimed at newer types of APIs (such as GraphQL or gRPC). API-specific vulnerabilities and modern API formats prompt security and development teams to implement specialized API security tools focused on testing, discovery of shadow APIs and protection from threats (or a combination of the three) - Gartner
Akto is built for the modern application security team. In this context, we ensure complete DevSecOps pipeline coverage so enterprise teams have a specialized API security testing platform that evolves with them.
Final Thoughts
Akto's inclusion in two Gartner Hype Cycle Reports highlights the significance of API security testing in the application security landscape.
As the landscape of API security continues to evolve, Akto’s platform is the long-term partner to modern application and product security teams, offering a differentiated API Security solution.
We cannot be more excited about the future, as Akto’s roadmap for next year is nothing short of magic. We don’t believe in anything less than magic.
We are a team revolutionizing the API Security space and partnering actively with Modern Appsec teams who think alike.
Ready to build your enterprise-grade API Security program? Let’s schedule a demo.
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