Secure Your APIs: The 5 Key Considerations

In the current digital world, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are essential for digital transformation and business innovation, allowing companies to create new products and services for customers. But with every good thing, there are also challenges. APIs are great connectors, however, these connections pose certain risks and if overlooked, can lead to dangerous consequences. Big players like Tesla, Peloton and many more have experienced API breaches, making it clear how important it is to prioritize API security. In this article, I will highlight the key considerations for API security.

Make Sure to Protect All APIs

API security should be taken into consideration regardless of the API being exposed to the external environment or not. This aligns with a zero-trust architecture – where access to an API is verified – and requires all APIs to be protected. It is important to remember that internal APIs can be as vulnerable as external ones, and external actors can breach the perimeter security and penetrate deeper into the infrastructure if internal services are unprotected.

Always Use an API Gateway and a Central OAuth Server

An API gateway is essential for authenticating and authorizing access to backend services. It also helps centralize common features used across APIs, which would otherwise be reinforced one by one. This gateway requires proof of who the caller is, usually done by a token-based manner where the token represents the end user and includes information about the client application. Using OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect standards to define how tokens are issued is the most secure way.

Use Access Tokens Wisely

JSON Web Tokens (or JWTs) are widely used for access tokens and can be validated by the service itself. However, when tokens are exposed outside of your infrastructure to third-party clients, you should use opaque tokens instead of JWTs. This is because opaque tokens are opaque strings that do not have any meaning to the client and must call the issuer to verify the token and get the data. On the other hand, when JWTs are used, the receiver is not required to call the issuer, so it is impossible to revoke a JWT.

Limit Trust on Incoming Traffic

Applying a zero-trust approach to your APIs is essential. This means creating a system where no one is trusted and any user or service accessing data is always verified. Authentication is critical to any successful implementation of a zero-trust architecture and it is vital to determine who the user is, what part of the organization the user belongs to, and what service is requesting information from another service.

Always Test, Monitor, and Audit

To make your APIs and the whole system effective against security threats, it is essential to continuously test and monitor which APIs or endpoints pose a risk. Setting up security measures should be followed by establishing governance over them. It is always a good idea to have a dedicated team of experts actively monitoring and auditing your API security system.

When it comes to API security, it is important to remember that prevention is better than cure. Following the best practices outlined in this article will help you stay ahead of the curve and ensure the safety of your system and its data.

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