Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) is best described as?

Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) refers specifically to testing applications in a live environment, focusing on identifying vulnerabilities while the application is running. The correct description emphasizes that DAST involves executing the application in real-time to analyze its behavior and interaction with users or other systems.

The focus of DAST is on the application’s running state, observing how it manages requests and processes data, which allows for the identification of vulnerabilities that may not be apparent in static code analysis. By executing the application in its natural environment, DAST can uncover issues such as input validation problems, authentication vulnerabilities, and other security weaknesses that may not be visible from static code analysis alone.

The other options describe aspects of application testing but do not align with the core definition of DAST. For instance, testing performed on cloud customer consumption does not highlight the execution state of the application, while the use of real data in production is more relevant to other testing methodologies that focus on operational systems. Finally, testing on application binaries pertains to static analysis rather than dynamic testing, which again highlights the active, running condition that DAST specifically evaluates.