IAST tools are primarily used for what purpose?

IAST (Interactive Application Security Testing) tools are designed to analyze running applications in real-time during the application testing phase. They function by instrumenting the application while it is executing, which enables them to passively monitor the application’s behavior. This allows IAST tools to identify vulnerabilities in the application's code by examining its interactions with various components during acceptance testing.

This approach is particularly effective because it combines elements of both static and dynamic testing, providing a more accurate assessment of vulnerabilities by seeing how the code behaves in a live environment. This is crucial for detecting issues that may not appear until the application is executed, thereby improving the robustness of the security testing process.

In contrast, other options do not encapsulate the main purpose of IAST tools. For instance, simulating penetration testing is a function characteristic of other testing methodologies rather than IAST specifically. Detecting vulnerabilities in deployed applications leans more towards the capabilities of other tools rather than the interactive nature of IAST during the development process. Lastly, dynamically generating security reports is not the primary function of IAST tools, as their core focus lies in real-time analysis rather than report generation.