Every day, the applications, software, and platforms we use send and receive millions upon millions of data requests. Behind every one of these requests is an Application Programming Interface (API), which processes requests and initiates an appropriate response. As the central connective system that facilitates communication between applications, webpages, and servers, APIs are vital in modern software development architecture.
While their extensive utility makes them vital for connecting components and applications, it also makes APIs a target for cybercrime. As huge volumes of data pass through them, advanced API security is critical to avoid potential vulnerabilities and exploits. Let’s explore how we use APIs in applications and touch on the best practices to keep them safe and highly functional.
The Vital Role of the API
Application programming interfaces are standardized connectors that streamline communication between servers and applications. APIs are absolutely everywhere, with every application and virtually every website using them to send information from the user-side to the server-side.
Any action in a mobile application that relies on the exchange of data will do so through an API. For example, when you click on an icon or a link in an app, an API will transfer that request to the server to trigger a certain response. Equally, APIs can fetch data from a server to display on an application, like pulling weather data and automatically updating it on a mobile device.
Mobile applications aren’t the only place you find APIs. An increasingly common use case for APIs is within cloud microservices. Each microservice handles a specific function or action. These services use APIs to send and receive signals, make data requests, and trigger actions in other services. Imagine APIs as the digital bridges that connect larger cloud ecosystems.
APIs work internally and externally, acting as a flexible method that promotes data connectivity, sharing, and high-efficiency functionality. Yet, due to their vital nature in software development, it’s equally important that organizations understand the gravity of APIs as a potential security risk and take factors to mitigate them.
Best Practices for API Security
As the facilitator of data exchange and connectivity, a vulnerability in an API is a direct point of access for cybercriminals. Exploiting APIs can lead to hackers being able to expose sensitive data, access private resources, and disable internal operations.
Recent studies suggest that only 6.1% of businesses claim to have no security concerns about the state of their API security. The vast majority of companies lack visibility over all of their active APIs, don’t understand what data APIs have access to, and fail to follow best security practices to enhance API stability and protection.
Due to the critical nature of API systems in modern software development, it’s vital that businesses understand the best practices to keep them safe. Here are some of the most important strategies to take into account:
● Use Access Control Systems: When users attempt to establish a connection through an API and request certain data, your business needs to be able to determine whether or not to allow that connection to occur. Creating access control systems that ensure only certain authenticated users can access specific pieces of data is an essential way of protecting sensitive information.
● Server-Side API Data Validation: Malicious users may alter or manipulate code to disrupt an API. By creating server-side data validation and monitoring, you can avoid potential attacks through strategies like XSS and SQL injection. Where possible, use server-side rules, logic, and data validation to build up your own strict standards of what you allow.
● Employ Modern API Protection Strategies: Where possible, businesses should endeavor to employ modern cybersecurity infrastructure to protect APIs from the broadest possible spectrum of attacks. For example, organizations can use Web Application and API Protection (WAAP), Runtime Application Self-Protection (RASP), and next-generation WAFs to enhance their security.
● Use Encryption: The data that flows through APIs can be sensitive and private. To keep this high-value data away from bad actors, you should encrypt all the traffic that moves through your APIs. At the very least, you should ensure your APIs require an HTTPS connection, which is a secure encryption protocol for data. Especially if your business works in a highly regulated industry, you must ensure your data is safe across all points of transmission, necessitating encryption.
● Increase Visibility: Over 50% of companies, coming in at 52.8%, doubt that they are aware of all of the APIs in their network. Without complete visibility into a company’s attack surface, they are unable to take effective steps to protect from potential malicious actions. Improving API visibility by conducting audits, executing software component reviews, and implementing better governance strategies will help to streamline security posture.
The attack surface of a business is constantly expanding, making effective API security an ongoing battle. Constantly monitoring, auditing, and pushing to gain further visibility of your API infrastructure, points of connection, and access points will lead to a stronger security posture and more comprehensive defenses.
Securing Your Organization’s APIs
APIs are a driving force of digital innovation, allowing software developers to create increasingly complex applications, rapidly exchange data, and create pathways for automatically fulfilling services. Yet, despite their utility, the widespread nature of APIs also makes them a prime target for cyberattacks.
Businesses should endeavor to follow the best practices for API security to minimize the opportunity for bad actors to take advantage of these systems. Coupling these practices with modern cybersecurity systems like WAAPs, WAFs, and RASP technology will help to build a robust security posture and keep your company as safe as possible.
