The security of Application Programming Interfaces (API)

A key element of innovation in today’s app-driven world is the API. From banking, retail, and transportation to IoT, autonomous vehicles, and smart cities, APIs are a key part of modern mobile, SaaS, and web applications and can be found in customer-facing, partner-facing and internal applications.  

By their nature, APIs expose application logic and sensitive data such as personally identifiable information (PII), so they have increasingly become a target for attackers.  

Without secure APIs, rapid innovation would be impossible. Therefore, API Security focuses on strategies and solutions to understand and mitigate the vulnerabilities and security risks unique to application programming interfaces (APIs).  

Application Programming Interface (API)

APIs are mechanisms that allow two software components to communicate with each other using a set of definitions and protocols.  

For example, the weather bureau’s software system contains daily weather data. The weather app on our smartphone communicates with this system via API and displays daily weather updates on the phone. 

API stands for “application programming interface.” In the context of API, the word “application” refers to any software with a distinct function.  

We can think about the interface as a service contract between two applications. This contract defines how these two parties communicate with each other using requests and responses. The respective API documentation contains information on how developers should structure these requests and responses.  

By simplifying the integration of new application components into the existing architecture, the API promotes collaboration between administrative and IT teams.  

To remain competitive and respond to constantly changing digital markets, where new competitors can revolutionize an entire industry with a new app, companies must adapt quickly and support the development and deployment of innovative services.  

What is API Security?

Application Programming Interface (API) security refers to the practice of preventing or mitigating attacks on APIs. As mentioned, APIs serve as the backend structure for mobile and web applications. Therefore, it is critical to protect the sensitive data they transfer.  

In particular, with the rise of IoT, API security has become increasingly important. Crucial and sensitive data is transferred between users, APIs, and the applications and systems they interact with. 

An insecure API can be an easy target for hackers to gain access to an otherwise secure computer or network. Attackers can try to perform man-in-the-middle (MITM), distributed denial-of-service (DDoS), injection, broken access control and more. 

API Vulnerabilities

If not adequately protected, API endpoints can allow malicious actors to gain unauthorized access to sensitive data, cause disruption of services, or both, with potentially devastating consequences. Common threats include:  

• Authentication-based attacks – in which hackers attempt to discover or steal user passwords or employ weak authentication mechanisms to gain access to API servers.  
• Man-in-the-middle attacks – in which a malicious party steals or modifies data (e.g., login credentials or payment information) by intercepting API requests or responses.  
• Code injection/injection attacks – in which the hacker transmits a malicious script (to introduce false information, delete or reveal data, or disrupt app functionality) via an API request, showing weaknesses in the API user agents that read and translate the data.  
• Security configuration errors – when sensitive user information or system details are exposed due to inadequate default configurations, overly permissive cross-origin resource sharing (CORS), or incorrect HTTP headers. 
• Denial-of-service (DoS) attacks – these attacks send dozens of API requests to stop or slow down the server. DoS attacks can often come from multiple attackers at once, in what is called distributed denial-of-service (DDoS).  
• BOLA (broken object-level authorization) attacks – occur when cybercriminals manipulate object identifiers on API endpoints to expand the attack surface and gain unauthorized access to user data. BOLA attacks are particularly common because implementing proper object-level authorization controls can be difficult and time-consuming. 

Best practices for API security

In a dynamic digital economy, APIs are critical to business agility, but their open nature can pose significant data security risks. API security breaches have led to massive data losses, even for large and trusted companies.  

Moreover, in such a global technology environment, security vulnerabilities threaten the supply chain of all major service providers, regardless of industry or geographic location.  

Implementing rigorous API security protocols protects the data, apps, and services shown by API endpoints while ensuring their availability to legitimate users.  

API security, however, is not just about protecting endpoints. It also prioritizes the security of network interactions, such as data transmissions, user requests and inter-app communications throughout the API lifecycle.  

Some of the most common API security solutions to strengthen IT infrastructures include authentication and authorization protocols, encryption, input validation, rate limiting, quotas and throttling, security headers, API gateways, monitoring and logging, error management, API monitoring and patching, version control and documentation, and security testing. 

API Penetration Test: the API Security from Telsy

In response to the clear need for practical and reliable solutions for API security, Telsy offers the API Penetration Test service.  

Telsy’s API Penetration Test, by verifying and identifying the exact number of APIs involved including so-called “shadow APIs,” provides organizations with the cognitive tools needed to proactively address vulnerabilities and improve the security of their API interfaces.  

This process strengthens the protection of sensitive data and helps to establish strong digital trust between customers and the organization as well as enabling risk plans, security posture elevation with granular identification of exposure perimeter.  

Through unique, made-in-Italy technologies, Telsy’s Penetration Test API provides a managed service, delivered by the company’s SOC, that follows industry best practices with a mix of artificial intelligence and machine learning-based technologies and a specialized platform for API Security.  

Learn more about Telsy’s API security and other Vulnerability Management solutions or contact us at contact@telsy.it.