The research company ESG estimates that up to 53 percent of organizations are currently short on IT security skills. Cybersecurity Ventures predicts that by 2021 there will be 3.5 unfilled IT security positions. In this landscape, you can no longer afford to rely on manual scanning tools. You need comprehensive solutions that offer extensive automation and integration capabilities. This is why you should consider Acunetix over alternatives such as Burp Suite.
Burp Suite is an excellent and comprehensive penetration testing tool. It is an intercepting HTTP proxy with several modules that let you tweak HTTP requests and responses. One of these modules is a vulnerability scanner. However, Burp Suite is mainly meant to be used by penetration testers for mostly manual tasks. On the other hand, Acunetix automates the whole process and integrates with other tools to help you easily create a wholesome web security environment.
Unrivaled Speed and Efficiency
One of the strongest points of the Acunetix web application security scanner is how fast it is and how few false positives it reports. In environments with a lot of web assets, you need to get scan results quickly. If you integrate web vulnerability scanning into your SDLC, it’s even more important. In comparison to Acunetix, Burp Suite does not focus on scanning speed. Instead, it focuses on the availability of manual web application security testing options. That is why you should consider Acunetix for environments with limited resources and if you want to integrate the scanner into your SDLC.
Acunetix also uses a technology called DeepScan. It analyzes complex single-page applications built with JavaScript or AJAX and finds all possible entry points. If you want to confirm all vulnerabilities manually, but you want to make your job easier by first having the entire website structure and the results of basic checks, consider running Acunetix and then using a tool such as Burp Suite to perform detailed testing. You can also use the two tools the other way around. Acunetix can import Burp Suite data, so you can use paths that are discovered by a manual pen tester to give Acunetix a head start in the automated scan.
Excellent User Experience
Acunetix is a very powerful tool but it’s not only for engineers. The user interface of Acunetix is very friendly and the setup procedure is very simple. Default settings are enough in most cases. Usually, you can start scanning your web applications almost immediately after installing the software or getting access to the online interface.
In comparison to Acunetix, Burp Suite offers more tweaking and more manual security testing tools. However, environment setup and configuration processes are much more complex. Burp Suite is designed for advanced penetration testers who just use its web vulnerability scanner occasionally. Therefore, if you need an enterprise-class solution or you have limited IT security resources, you should consider Acunetix. Burp Suite could be a good addition to manually confirm selected vulnerabilities or if you want your penetration testers to dig very deep.
Web Application Vulnerability Management
In an enterprise environment, it’s not just the web page scanning that is important. The key factor is to be able to assess the impact and manage vulnerabilities from the moment that they are discovered to the moment that they are fixed. An enterprise-class solution should also be able to follow vulnerabilities that reappear. A simple web application scanner or a manual penetration testing tool suite are not able to provide such functionality. Acunetix is a comprehensive web application security solution that lets you manage the entire process: from the moment that it finds the vulnerability, through its elimination, verification, to closure.
Acunetix is designed to meet the needs of both engineers and managers, so it also offers a comprehensive reporting environment. You can use several out-of-the-box reports, either with detailed information such as OWASP Top 10 analysis or with management summaries, as well as specialized compliance reports such as PCI DSS or HIPAA. If you need something more tailored to your requirements, you can also design your own reports. Engineering tools such as Burp Proxy are not designed with management in mind, so their reporting capabilities are not as extensive.
Not Just Vulnerabilities
If you are facing a decision which tool to choose, consider exactly what you want to achieve. If you want a tool for whitehat hackers to play with the web server, searching for security vulnerabilities such as SQL Injections and Cross-site Scripting using brute force, choose Burp Suite or a similar solution (there are also open-source solutions of this class). If you want to ensure that those whitehats have more time to play with Burp Suite, consider Acunetix.
Frequently asked questions
Burp Suite was originally designed as a web attack proxy. It is a manual penetration testing tool that lets penetration testers add and modify data sent to the web application and analyze responses. Burp Suite Enterprise provides vulnerability scanning but it is not the original purpose of the tool.
Learn about the difference between penetration testing and vulnerability scanning.
If you are a security researcher or a penetration tester, you will probably not find anything that compares to free Burp Suite Community edition. It is an excellent set of manual penetration testing tools that is respected by security experts worldwide. However, it offers no automation at all unless you purchase Burp Suite Enterprise, which does not offer as much efficiency, automation, and integration as Acunetix.
Learn about automation and integration capabilities of Acunetix Premium.
If you own or represent a business and you don’t hire or outsource a team of penetration testers, you need to automate your web security with vulnerability scanning. While Burp Suite Enterprise offers some automation, Acunetix was built from scratch with automation and integration in mind. It is also the most efficient vulnerability scanner on the market.
Learn about the importance of vulnerability scanning and other web security basics.
Yes, these products work very well together. You can first scan your website or web application automatically with Acunetix and then use Burp Suite to follow up on selected vulnerabilities or perform additional manual attacks. If you manually scanned the application with Burp Suite first, you can also use Burp data to pre-seed an Acunetix scan.
Learn how to pre-seed an Acunetix scan with Burp Suite data.
Initially we were thrilled to run Acunetix to find and fix some rather large vulnerabilities we had no idea existed. Since then, we have moved to a more comprehensive strategy that includes multiple scan targets running in tandem with our software development lifecycle. When our customers ask us if our software is security tested, Acunetix gives us the confidence to say it is.