An API enables software programs to communicate with one another through the management of requests and their resolution. Thanks to the advent of cloud computing and the move away from monolithic programs to micro services, they have emerged as a crucial component in the modern digital world.
Presently, millions of developers and hundreds of thousands of businesses use more than 24,000 public APIs worldwide.
What is API security?
APIs provide users, programs, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices access to private data and other network resources. However, without strong security, they are extremely susceptible to a wide range of assaults that can result in network penetration and data breaches.
In order for API requests to be completed while the service is busy, they must be authenticated, approved, validated, and cleaned up. The characteristics of API security differ from ordinary web servers, which only need to safeguard a few basic ports and requests in current applications and services because they have many API endpoints that employ various protocols and request formats.
Why is API security important?
As more companies make data and services accessible through APIs, these vectors become a more appealing target for software attacks and data theft.
Insecure APIs are a serious threat. They are frequently the part of the network that is most exposed, vulnerable to DoS attacks, and simple to reverse-engineer and exploit. For instance, API flaws in online services provided by Coinbase, Experian, John Deere, and Peloton may have exposed user information or made fraudulent transactions possible.
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Most common API security risks
When creating an API and whenever one is modified, the following security issues should be taken into consideration:
Broken object-level authorization. When a request has the ability to access or change data that the requestor shouldn’t have access to, such as when tampering with an identifier in the request to get access to another user’s account, BOLA happens.
Broken function-level authorization. This happens when the principle of least privilege (POLP) isn’t applied, which is frequently the outcome of too complicated access control measures. As a result, an attacker is able to access endpoints meant for privileged accounts or execute sensitive commands.
Broken user authentication. Similar to BOLA, an attacker may assume the identity of another user on a temporary or even ongoing basis if the authentication procedure was hacked.
Excessive data exposure: Frequently, API answers to a request return more information than is necessary or relevant. The data can be easily reviewed and could potentially expose sensitive information, even though the user may not see it.
Improper asset management. In rush to release new or updated APIs, thorough documentation is sometimes skipped during API development and deployment. As a result, there are exposed and ghost endpoints and a poor grasp of how to use and implement older APIs.
Lack of resources and rate limiting. When there are no limitations on the type or volume of requests, API endpoints are often accessible via the internet and vulnerable to DoS and brute-force attacks.
Injection flaws. If request data isn’t properly parsed and validated, a hacker may be able to access it or run malicious instructions without permission by using a command or SQL injection attack.
Mass assignment. Software development frameworks frequently have the ability to mass assign all the data from an online form into a database or object with only one line of code, eliminating the need to write endless lines of form-mapping code. This functionality is known as mass assignment. If this is carried out without defining the permitted data, numerous attack paths are made available.