Hello! We are here to help you put your security on autopilot. The Automations page is your central hub for creating, modifying, and monitoring recurring security assessments. By leveraging these tools, you ensure that your applications and APIs are regularly checked for vulnerabilities without requiring manual intervention every time.

Summary

The Automations page allows you to manage the entire lifecycle of your scheduled scans. Its primary value is transforming security from a periodic task into a continuous, integrated process, providing you with real-time insights and helping you maintain a proactive defense.

Who Should Read This

• Security Leads: To ensure continuous monitoring is in place to meet compliance standards like SOC 2, PCI-DSS, and HIPAA.

• DevOps & Engineers: To automate security feedback loops within your development environment.

• Compliance Officers: To maintain up-to-date reports for audits by ensuring scans run at the required intervals.

Key Functions

The Automations table provides a clear breakdown of your scheduled efforts:

• Target & Type: Identifies the specific application or API and its asset category.

• Name: Your custom label for the specific schedule (e.g., "Weekly Production Scan").

• Scan Type: Indicates whether the automation triggers an Automated Scan or a Manual Pentest.

• Automated Scan Type: For automated runs, this specifies if it is a Full, Lightning, or Emerging Threat scan.

• Status & Frequency: Shows if the automation is currently active and how often it is set to run (e.g., daily, weekly).

• Next Run: Displays the timestamp for the next scheduled execution.

Available Actions

• Create Scan Schedule: Click the button in the hero section to select targets, timezones, and frequencies for a new automation.

• Edit a Schedule: Click on any row in the table to open the edit sheet and modify existing settings.

• Disable a Schedule: Use the toggle in the "Status" column or the three-dot menu (⋮) to pause scans without deleting your configuration.

• Delete a Schedule: Permanently remove an automation via the three-dot menu (⋮) or the button within the edit sheet.

Best Practices

• Optimize Delta Scans: For the most accurate incremental testing, schedule an Automated Crawl (e.g., at 2:00 AM) and then set a Delta Scan to run a few hours later (e.g., 4:00 AM).

• Frequency Matching: We recommend running Lightning Scans daily for common issues and Full Scans at least once a week for deep assessments.

• Timezone Alignment: Ensure you select your local timezone during setup so that scans occur during your team's preferred maintenance windows.

Troubleshooting & FAQ

• Exact Start Times: If you schedule a scan for 4:00 AM, you may see it start at a time like 4:39 AM. This is intentional; our system automatically assigns the best available timeslot within that hour to optimize performance and prevent queuing.

• Scan Quota Exhausted: If you hit your limit, please contact us at help@getastra.com. We can verify your subscription and increase your quota as needed.

• Canceled Scans: Schedules may be automatically canceled if your target is unreachable or if another scan is already in progress for that same target.