APIs, short for Application programming interfaces, make it a mere cakewalk to develop and innovate software by allowing programs to share data and functionality securely.
Software applications now have a powerful means of interaction and communication thanks to the high-end application program interfaces. API security best practices allow access to vast volumes of data, including potentially sensitive client data, while avoiding browser security measures.
Keeping an eye out for SQL injection and XSS problems is no longer adequate. However, a better idea to hop on is that you should pay more attention to specific individuals who might seem pretty malicious and have the ability to paginate through every record and piece of data related to clients. But before moving forward, let’s have a brief overview of API.
What is API & How Does It Benefit Businesses?
Companies can make the data and functionality of their applications available to internal company departments and external third-party developers and business partners through application programming interfaces or APIs.
To interact with other software and services, programmers merely use the interface; they are not required to understand how an API is implemented.
Also, Read | Key Difference Between Microservices vs APIs
Over the past ten years, the use of APIs has increased to the point that many of the most well-liked web services today would not be viable without them.
Types of API Protocols
A number of protocols have been established to give consumers a set of defined rules that specify the acceptable data formats and commands as the use of online APIs has grown. These API security tools actually make it easier to share standardized information:
1. SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol)
Users can transmit and receive data using SMTP and HTTP thanks to the SOAP API protocol, which was created with XML. Information sharing across apps or software parts running in various contexts or developed in multiple languages is made simpler by SOAP APIs.
2. XML-RPC
In contrast to SOAP, which employs a proprietary XML format, XML-RPC uses a standard XML format to transfer data. Although SOAP is newer, XML-RPC is simpler and more lightweight in comparison because it needs less bandwidth.
3. JSON-RPC
As remote procedure calls (RPCs), JSON-RPC is a protocol similar to XML-RPC but transfers data in JSON rather than XML format. Each protocol is easy to follow. Calls may include various criteria, but they only anticipate one outcome.
4. REST (Representational State Transfer)
There are no official standards because REST is an architecture set for web APIs (unlike those with a protocol). The interface must follow some architectural restrictions in order to qualify as a REST API (also known as a RESTful API). Although the two standards can be combined to create RESTful APIs, they are typically seen as rival ones.
Top API Risks and Best Ways to Mitigate Them
Gartner forecasted that API assaults would be the most common enterprise threat vector in 2022, about a year ago. In order to prevent API exploitation, strengthening API security must be at the forefront of cybersecurity strategy.
The majority of API security efforts should focus on the most widespread vulnerabilities that are the leading cause of a wide range of hacks, data theft, and other unfavorable outcomes, including financial penalties to your company. Some of the most common API risks, along with their mitigation tips, are listed below. Let’s take a look!
1. Excessive Data Exposure
This is known as excessive data exposure when the API answers give the client application access to too much data. Due to this dependency on the client-side, end users may receive an overwhelming amount of information.
Sadly, threat actors know these data exposures and may try to get around the client or examine traffic to intercept overly detailed API answers.
Sensitive user information, especially the kind of personal data covered by compliance requirements and subject to severe penalties, could be compromised by excessive data exposure.
In 2019, a computer science student gained access to private transactions made using Venmo’s services, a digital wallet provider. The student discovered a public API endpoint that was returning transaction data. Without permission, he swiftly put together a Python script using straightforward GET queries to download over 100,000 transactions daily.
Mitigation tips:
- Filter response information through the API rather than the client.
- Only provide details in API answers that are required to fulfill a client’s request.
- Control the use cases for sending sensitive personal information with care.
2. Broken Object Level Authorization (BOLA)
BOLA is a straightforward API vulnerability that arises when external parties alter the IDs of objects provided in API queries. There needs to be a procedure in place to establish who owns those items. The bad actors gain access to information they shouldn’t have by simply changing the ID in a request.
The consequences of BOLA include the following:
- Unwanted information disclosure
- the capacity to change or remove data
- Account takeover
One of the crucial API security issues in the 2019 Uber API breach was BOLA; client requests weren’t checked, therefore merely changing a user ID gave access to that user’s information.
Mitigation tips:
- Identifiers and a check to see if the current user has access to the resource should be combined.
- Instead of using values that are simple to guess, use random and unpredictable values for IDs.
- Consider completely obscuring resource identifiers.
3. Injection Flaws
Hackers can send harmful data or commands to an API through user input forms by submitting them as parameters or file uploads, which is known as an injection vulnerability.
Attack-injection techniques include Javascript, SQL, NoSQL, and OS command lines. The API security tools execute the malicious commands when there are injection weaknesses in the code, such as when client-supplied data is directly linked to SQL/NoSQL, Javascript queries, or OS commands.
Mitigation tips:
- To ensure that the API only accepts correct values, use a library to validate the data.
- Implement dependency injection for JavaScript.
- Utilize security tools that automatically detect unusual client-side behavior, such as unforeseen scripts, arguments, or other code injections.
4. The Changing API World
The API ecosystem is constantly evolving like the rest of the tech industry. As industry standards develop, potential security concerns, as well as fresh thoughts and techniques, emerge.
Too frequently, when deciding whether to employ new technologies for a project, API security best practices are not taken into account. You need to consider what is common and expanding. Despite the fact that it has many advantages, the fact that the data is off-site introduces a new set of possible dangers. Due to the servers’ remote location, physical security cannot be ensured, and hardware protection is also constrained.The API ecosystem is constantly evolving like the rest of the tech industry. As industry standards develop, potential security concerns, as well as fresh thoughts and techniques, emerge.
Too frequently, when deciding whether to employ new technologies for a project, API security best practices are not taken into account. You need to consider what is common and expanding. Despite the fact that it has many advantages, the fact that the data is off-site introduces a new set of possible dangers. Due to the servers’ remote location, physical security cannot be ensured, and hardware protection is also constrained.
Mitigation tips:
You can minimize the danger by assuring regular backups and utilizing top-notch server security methods.
5. Security Misconfiguration
Virtual machines, containers, on-premises infrastructure, and cloud infrastructure interact in a sophisticated way to form the API ecosystem. There is a lot of room for security misconfigurations within each layer, from the specification of each API through its related infrastructure.
Misconfigurations include:
- Missing security patches
- Not encrypting data in motion
- Too long error messages
- Leaving unlocked and accessible cloud storage buckets
Threats from security misconfigurations can include hacks of internal systems or the leakage of sensitive data.
Mitigation recommendations: Shift security to the left to make sure that DevOps procedures are used to test APIs for vulnerabilities, not at a later stage.
Set rate-limiting rules over request volumes to prevent DDoS attacks. Review and evaluate API security tools on a regular basis, ideally utilizing an accurate and current inventory of all your APIs.
6. Improper Asset Management
In the haste 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 need for a better grasp of how to use and implement older APIs.
7. Weak Authentication
Authentication establishes the legitimacy of users or devices. There may not even be an authentication mechanism in place when there is poor authentication.
Misconfigurations or incorrect settings degrade authentication in the more frequent cases, including
- Weak password complexity
- High account lockout thresholds
- Relying solely on API security best practices for authentication.
Weak authentication has the ability to allow outsiders to take control of user accounts or sessions, steal personal data, or conduct fraudulent activities.
Mitigation recommendations:
- Enforce using secure passwords
- Don’t rely on API keys to verify user identities.
- Think about using multi-factor authentication to bolster protection against the threat of account takeover.
Wrapping Up
Modern SaaS, web, and mobile app development is all based on API security best practices. Because of this, preventing API exploitation is essential for maintaining company continuity. Secure your APIs right away!
Only if they are implemented securely can APIs offer enterprises a plethora of opportunities to enhance and deliver services, engage customers, and boost productivity and profits.
We at RV Technologies are here to help you strengthen the technical arm of your business. Our seasoned professionals assist in navigating all your API integration issues while providing the best-in-class approaches to avoid them.
Speak to us today and get started in no time!