Seeker IAST instruments applications at runtime and actively verifies that detected vulnerabilities are actually exploitable before reporting them. It supports Java, .NET, Node.js, Go, Python, Ruby, PHP, and JVM languages like Scala, Kotlin, and Groovy.
Originally developed by Synopsys, Seeker moved to Black Duck Software after Clearlake Capital and Francisco Partners acquired the Software Integrity Group from Synopsys in 2024. The thing that actually differentiates it from most IAST tools is active verification. Seeker doesn’t just watch data flow. It generates safe payloads to confirm exploitability, and only verified findings make it into the report.
What is Seeker IAST?
Seeker deploys agents that instrument your application during testing. As requests move through your code, the agents observe execution paths, data flow, and configuration. When Seeker spots a potential vulnerability, it constructs safe exploit payloads to verify the issue is real. This patented active verification approach produces near-zero false positives.
Seeker also tracks how sensitive data moves through your application, where personal information, credentials, and financial data get processed, stored, or transmitted. That makes it useful for compliance audits on top of security testing.
Key Features
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Supported Languages | Java, .NET, Node.js, Go, Python, Ruby, PHP, Scala, Kotlin, Groovy |
| Verification | Patented active verification with safe exploit payloads |
| API Protocols | REST, SOAP, GraphQL, gRPC |
| Compliance | OWASP Top 10, PCI DSS, GDPR, HIPAA, CWE/SANS Top 25 |
| SIEM Integration | Splunk, IBM QRadar |
| SCA Integration | Black Duck SCA for open-source vulnerability correlation |
| Deployment | Requires separate Seeker enterprise server; runs on Windows and Linux |
| Automation | REST API for CI/CD integration |
Active vulnerability verification
Where most IAST tools passively observe data flow and flag anything suspicious, Seeker takes it further. When it spots a potential SQL injection or XSS, it constructs safe payloads and sends them through the application to confirm the issue is genuinely exploitable. If the payload doesn’t reach the vulnerable sink, the finding gets dropped.
Development teams get a list of real, confirmed issues instead of a pile of maybes to triage.
Sensitive data tracking
Seeker maps how sensitive data moves through your application: where personal information enters the system, which code processes it, and where it ends up.
- PCI DSS — tracking cardholder data through payment flows
- GDPR — identifying where personal data is processed and stored
- HIPAA — monitoring protected health information handling
The tracking produces compliance-ready reports showing data flow paths.
API discovery
Seeker discovers API endpoints exercised during testing, including REST, SOAP, GraphQL, and gRPC. Useful for maintaining accurate API inventories and catching undocumented endpoints.
Compliance reporting
Seeker generates reports mapped to specific compliance frameworks:
- OWASP Top 10
- CWE/SANS Top 25
- PCI DSS
- GDPR
- HIPAA
The reports show which requirements are affected by detected vulnerabilities, which saves time during audits.
SIEM integration
Vulnerability data feeds into Splunk and IBM QRadar for centralized monitoring. Security teams can pull Seeker findings into existing dashboards and incident response workflows.
Getting Started
When to use Seeker IAST
Seeker fits teams that need both security testing and compliance reporting from the same tool. The active verification is particularly useful if you’ve dealt with false positive noise from other scanners.
If you already use Black Duck for software composition analysis, you get correlated findings across IAST and SCA.
If you want IAST integrated with an existing observability stack, consider Datadog IAST. For a free tier to evaluate, Contrast Assess has a Community Edition.
Note: Formerly part of Synopsys, now under Black Duck Software.
