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🧠 What is RASP?

RASP (Runtime Application Self-Protection) is a security technology that runs inside your application to detect and block attacks in real time, during execution — not just at the perimeter.

It differs from WAF (Web Application Firewall) in that RASP has code-level context of what’s happening inside the app (e.g., database calls, file access, system calls).

RASP can:

• Block injection attacks (SQLi, XSS)
• Prevent data exfiltration
• Detect zero-day exploits
• Provide runtime telemetry

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🔐 Top RASP Tools in 2025

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1. Contrast Security

• Type: Commercial
• Intro: One of the most mature RASP platforms on the market. Deep integration into application runtime.
• Key Features:
  • Protects Java, .NET, Node.js
  • Real-time exploit prevention
  • SAST + IAST + RASP unified
  • Compliance and reporting support
• Ideal For: Enterprises needing inline runtime protection + full SDLC integration.

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2. Imperva RASP

• Type: Commercial
• Intro: RASP engine from Imperva’s application security suite, focused on blocking threats at runtime.
• Key Features:
  • Pre-built protection policies
  • Blocks zero-days without code changes
  • Minimal performance overhead
• Ideal For: Web apps needing non-invasive protection without code refactoring.

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3. Sqreen (Now part of Datadog Application Security Monitoring)

• Type: Commercial (Cloud-native)
• Intro: Originally a standalone RASP tool, now integrated into Datadog ASM.
• Key Features:
  • In-app attack detection (SQLi, SSRF, etc.)
  • Blocks malicious user sessions
  • Unified observability + security
• Ideal For: Datadog users wanting security built into observability.

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4. Signal Sciences (Fastly)

• Type: Commercial (RASP-lite + WAF Hybrid)
• Intro: Not strictly RASP but behaves similarly using embedded agents and request context.
• Key Features:
  • Smart detection with low false positives
  • Protects APIs and microservices
  • Unified with CDN/WAF platform
• Ideal For: DevOps teams wanting RASP-like protection without deep code injection.

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5. JVM-based OSS Alternatives (Basic RASP)

(Experimental/limited use)

Tool	Description
AppSensor (OWASP)	Open-source project that embeds application-layer intrusion detection logic (early-stage, inactive).
TCell (acquired by Rapid7)	Commercial product with RASP-like telemetry, now part of Insight platform. Not standalone anymore.

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📊 RASP Tools Comparison Table (2025)

Tool	Type	Languages Supported	Strengths	Ideal Use Case
Contrast Security	Commercial	Java, .NET, Node.js	Real-time protection, unified SAST/IAST/RASP	Full-stack enterprise security
Imperva RASP	Commercial	Java, .NET, Python	Zero-day blocking, no code changes	Enterprise RASP without code rewrite
Datadog (ex-Sqreen)	Commercial	Node.js, Python, Ruby, more	Application monitoring + RASP combined	DevOps teams using Datadog
Signal Sciences (Fastly)	Commercial	Multiple via agent	Agent-based RASP+WAF hybrid	Microservices, hybrid workloads
OWASP AppSensor	Open Source	Java (manual integration)	Custom rules, learning resource	Labs, academic use, POCs

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🧠 RASP vs Alternatives

Tool Type	When to Use
✅ RASP	You want in-app protection with full runtime context
🔁 WAF	You need network-layer protection and broad coverage
🔎 EDR/XDR	For system-level attack detection, not app-layer
🔧 AppSec CI/CD (SAST/DAST)	For pre-deploy security testing, not runtime

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✅ Final Recommendations (2025)

Use Case	Recommended Tool
Full enterprise-grade RASP	✅ Contrast Security
RASP built into observability (DevOps)	✅ Datadog (Sqreen)
CDN-integrated protection	✅ Signal Sciences (Fastly)
Compliance-focused app protection	✅ Imperva RASP
Learning or OSS exploration	🔄 OWASP AppSensor

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