DETROIT – APIs (Applications Programming Interfaces) have been in existence for a long time. They were originally used for communication between two servers. However, this has so far changed due to microservices. Today, APIs are used to dictate the communication and sharing of data between multiple applications and servers.

Today, businesses are using APIs for almost all operations. The good news is that with proper implementation, APIs can get the job done without any problems. But do developers follow the right API security checklist and best practices when using APIs?

APIs are not always secure. In addition, they are constantly accessed from public networks, making them a target for cybercriminals. 

Here is a complete API security checklist and best practices to follow when building, implementing and consuming APIs;

Eliminate Hidden Form Fields

Cybercriminals try every loophole that can gain them access to your APIs to steal data and other information. Hidden form fields can be used by those who want to manipulate your APIs.=

When checking if your API is secure, you need to identify any hidden form fields that might exist. You can do that by inspecting your APIs using your browser. If you identify these form fields, then supply them with random inputs to see how your API responds. 

Always make sure that all observations are documented for future reference. If you are not satisfied with the response of your API, then you need to eliminate the hidden form fields. This will ensure that your APIs are secure.

Authorization and Authentication

You need to be very thorough when it comes to the authorization and authentication of your APIs to ensure that they are secure. One way of checking this is by entering user data to identify any loopholes that might be exposing sensitive information on the client side.

In addition, data filtration should not be implemented on the client side but the server side. It is important to note that legitimate users might not see sensitive or additional data but a cybercriminal will. They (cybercriminals) know what they want from your APIs.

You can also prevent Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks through throttling and rate limiting. If you do not limit your API users to a certain number of requests that they can send to your API, then cybercriminals can send thousands (or millions) of requests to crash your server.

OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project) Threats

OWASP has come up with a list of ten threats that every API developer and/or owner needs to check when building, implementing and consuming APIs. They are also referred to as the OWASP API Security threats.

Cyber security threats have been increasing every year. This means that whether you are a developer, consumer, or reviewer, you need to ensure that the API security strategy that you choose to implement covers all the listed API security threats.

These threats have been documented well, something that makes it easy for developers and API consumers to understand every one of them. This way, they can implement the right strategies to ensure that their APIs are always secure.

SQL and NoSQL Injections

Sometimes, you might find it difficult to handle SQL and/or NoSQL injections. Cybercriminals use these injections when attacking an API for them to gain access to unauthorized data on your server.

They can also use command injections to directly manipulate your servers and gain access to sensitive information. When implementing strategies for the security of your APIs, you should ensure that your API inputs are appended with OS commands. 

You can also use monitoring and alerting tools to monitor your APIs for performance issues related to injections. When doing this, check the response of your server to make sure that everything runs as expected and eliminate any loopholes.

Check API Security Configurations

The security configurations of your APIs are among the most important things you need to consider when it comes to evaluating how secure your APIs are. If these configurations are not correct, then you will be creating a loophole that can be exploited by cybercriminals.

Things such as an API update that is compromised or developers who do not understand all the processes of API security can lead to API security misconfigurations.

All API stakeholders should understand that building and consuming an API with these flaws will allow cybercriminals to gain access to their APIs and sensitive data. You should, therefore, check the security configurations of your APIs to enforce their (the APIs) security.

APIs have become the connecting dots between applications and are driving digitization, innovation, and automation in businesses. This has made their security very important. Following the checklist and best practices discussed above, you will be able to ensure that your APIs are secure.

This article provided by José Luis Martín Cara