About
Helios Dev was a pioneering runtime observability and application security posture management (ASPM) tool designed to close the gap between code-level security and live production environments. By collecting real-time runtime data, Helios enabled teams to understand how their applications actually behaved in production — going far beyond static analysis to reveal which vulnerabilities were truly reachable and exploitable at runtime. Helios gave security and engineering teams a unified, enterprise-wide view of application risk, enabling smarter prioritization by focusing remediation efforts on vulnerabilities that actually posed a threat in running systems. This approach reduced alert fatigue and helped teams work more efficiently across the software development lifecycle (SDLC). The platform was especially valuable for organizations with complex software supply chains, offering insights that spanned from the first line of code through to deployed services. Its runtime telemetry capabilities fostered tighter collaboration between developers, security engineers, and operations teams. In January 2024, Helios was acquired by Snyk, where its runtime insights technology was integrated into Snyk AppRisk to enhance application security posture management at scale. The combination brought together Snyk's code, open source, container, and IaC security with Helios's runtime data layer, creating a more complete ASPM solution for enterprise teams.
Key Features
- Runtime Data Collection: Monitors applications in their live, running state to surface real-world behavior and actual vulnerability reachability.
- ASPM Risk Prioritization: Combines runtime context with code-level findings to help teams focus remediation on vulnerabilities that pose genuine risk in production.
- SDLC-Wide Visibility: Provides a unified view of application security risk spanning development, staging, and live production environments.
- Cross-Team Collaboration: Streamlines communication and workflows between developers, security engineers, and operations teams with shared runtime insights.
- Software Supply Chain Insights: Delivers deep visibility into complex software supply chains, tracking how dependencies and components behave at runtime.
Use Cases
- Security teams prioritizing which CVEs to patch first based on actual runtime reachability in production systems.
- Engineering organizations seeking a unified ASPM dashboard that spans from code commits to deployed services.
- DevSecOps teams integrating runtime observability into their SDLC to reduce mean time to remediation (MTTR).
- Enterprises managing complex software supply chains who need runtime visibility into dependency behavior.
- Security leaders building collaborative workflows between developers and security engineers using shared runtime risk data.
Pros
- Reduces Alert Fatigue: By surfacing only vulnerabilities that are reachable and exploitable at runtime, Helios cuts through noise and prioritizes what truly matters.
- Bridges Dev and Security Teams: Provides a shared source of truth across developers, security, and ops, improving collaboration and accountability.
- Production-Accurate Risk Assessment: Runtime telemetry ensures that risk assessments reflect real-world application behavior, not just theoretical code analysis.
Cons
- Acquired — No Longer Standalone: Helios was acquired by Snyk in January 2024; the product is now integrated into Snyk AppRisk and is no longer available as an independent platform.
- Enterprise-Focused Complexity: The platform was designed for larger engineering and security teams, making it less accessible for smaller organizations or individual developers.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Helios Dev do?
Helios Dev was a runtime observability and ASPM platform that collected data from live applications to help security and engineering teams understand real vulnerability reachability and prioritize remediation efforts.
Is Helios Dev still available?
Helios was acquired by Snyk in January 2024. Its runtime insights technology has been integrated into Snyk AppRisk, Snyk's application security posture management product.
What is ASPM and why does runtime data matter?
Application Security Posture Management (ASPM) provides an enterprise-wide view of application security risk. Runtime data matters because it reveals which vulnerabilities are actually reachable in a live system, enabling more accurate risk prioritization than static analysis alone.
Who was the target audience for Helios Dev?
Helios Dev was built for enterprise development, security, and operations teams — particularly those managing complex applications and software supply chains who needed to align code-level findings with production reality.
How does Helios integrate with Snyk?
Following the acquisition, Helios's runtime telemetry capabilities were folded into Snyk AppRisk, allowing Snyk users to apply runtime context when assessing and prioritizing vulnerabilities found by Snyk Code, Snyk Open Source, and other Snyk products.
