In today's security landscape, it's easy to get lost in a sea of acronyms. But one layer has become the undisputed foundation for modern application security: API security.
Why? Because APIs are no longer just part of the application, they are the application. They are the connective tissue for microservices, third-party data, and the explosive new 'Agentic AI Action Layer' powered by protocols like MCP (Model Context Protocol). Securing the application is securing the APIs.
Because APIs are the central nervous system, securing them isn't just another checklist item. The real-time intelligence gathered from API traffic, understanding business logic, discovering "shadow" APIs, and contextualizing data is a force multiplier. This deep API context makes every other solution in your security stack smarter.
When you feed this foundational intelligence into a broader AppSec platform, it gains the crucial runtime context that traditional static and dynamic testing has often lacked.
In our opinion, this strategy of using API security as an intelligence layer has just been prominently validated. We are thrilled to congratulate our strategic partner, HCLSoftware, on being named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Application Security Testing for its HCL AppScan product.
A Leader Powered by API Security
In our view, this recognition is a testament to HCLSoftware's comprehensive vision and execution. For CISOs evaluating multiple vendors, the most revealing insights come from the platform’s specific capabilities, and, in our view, API security is one of HCL AppScan’s most critical features.
HCL AppScan provides developers, DevOps, security teams, and CISOs with a comprehensive suite of application security solutions—SAST, DAST, IAST, SCA, API security, secrets detection, container, and IaC scanning. This approach of discovering unknown assets, identifying "zombie" APIs, and going beyond simple vulnerability scanning is the very essence of a modern, full-lifecycle API security strategy.
This standout capability is a direct result of the deep, tight technical integration between HCLSoftware and Salt Security. HCL AppScan's "robust, multilayered API security" is powered by Salt's industry-leading platform, which is seamlessly embedded to deliver this advanced functionality. It highlights how our integrated partnership delivers the exact capabilities organizations need to secure their most critical assets.
To see the full vendor analysis and market landscape for yourself, get a complimentary copy of the report from here.
What This Means for Security Leaders
For a CISO, this confirms the new strategic playbook: Foundational API security is the element that elevates your entire AppSec strategy.
Traditional AST tools were built to find vulnerabilities in code. They were not designed to understand the complex business logic or discover the thousands of "shadow" APIs created by developers in a fast-moving, "API-first" world. They are certainly not equipped to monitor the real-time, API-based communications between AI agents and MCP servers, which represent a massive, uncharted area of risk.
The partnership between Salt Security and HCLSoftware bridges this critical gap and exemplifies this "smarter together" approach. It provides a single, integrated solution called HCL AppScan API Security that combines:
- Gartner-Recognized AST Platform: HCL AppScan, providing comprehensive capabilities across SAST, DAST, IAST, SCA and more.
- Leading API Security Intelligence: The Salt Security platform, delivering continuous API discovery and AI-driven posture governance, seamlessly integrated with HCL AppScan.
This unified approach means you can consolidate vendors without compromising on security for your most significant attack vector. You get a holistic view of application risk, from the first line of code written to the last API call in production.
The Future of AppSec is API-Centric
It’s increasingly clear that the market is catching up to the reality that developers have already embraced: modern applications run on APIs. Securing them requires a modern, intelligence-driven approach.
We are proud to partner with HCLSoftware in being recognized as a Leader.
To learn more about how Salt Security and HCLSoftware deliver a complete, integrated approach to AST and API security, visit our official partnership page.
Disclaimer
Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Application Security Testing, Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Application Security Testing, Jason Gross, Mark Horvath, Aaron Lord, Giles Williams, Shailendra Upadhyay, Dionisio Zumerle, October 6, 2025
GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, Magic Quadrant is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
The post Beyond Testing: API Security as the Foundational Intelligence for an ‘industry leader’-Level Security Strategy appeared first on Security Boulevard.
Eric Schwake
Source: Security Boulevard
Source Link: https://securityboulevard.com/2026/01/beyond-testing-api-security-as-the-foundational-intelligence-for-an-industry-leader-level-security-strategy/