As organizations increasingly rely on APIs to power digital services, they also expose critical entry points to potential cyber threats.
APIs facilitate seamless communication between systems, applications, and users, but if not properly secured, they can become vectors for data breaches, unauthorized access, and service disruptions.
With the rise in API-related attacks, implementing strong API security measures is crucial.
This article outlines five essential strategies your organization can adopt to secure its APIs, protect sensitive data, and maintain the integrity of its digital infrastructure.
1. Use API gateways
First on the list is to use API gateways. It’s always a good practice to use gateways because they act as a bridge between incoming requests and your API architecture to offer security-related services such as filtering requests, rate limiting, proper logging and enforcing user authentication and authorization.
Without API gateways, each API endpoint is directly responsible for its own security. As a result, API providers would have to implement unique security features at each endpoint. Something API gateways simplify.
2. Use Scopes for Coarse-Grained and Claims for Fine-Grained Access Control
Scopes in a JSON web token (JWT) determine what a token bearer can do i.e. read or write. Claims, on the other hand, control which data or resources a client can access.
In this regard, you should always issue tokens with limited permissions or capabilities. It’s a proactive way of securing your API. If hackers happen to steal an issued token, they can do much with it. That’s for coarse-grained access controls.
Fine-grained access controls focus on restricting calls for a requested endpoint. Your organization’s API should be implemented in such a way that a client reaching a particular endpoint has the right to access it.
3. Consider Using JSON Web Tokens Internally
Using JWTs internally allows services to extract claim data for efficient authorization decisions. However, exposing JWTs externally—especially to third-party clients—raises privacy and security concerns, as the tokens are easily decoded.
It also risks tight client dependencies on token contents, leading to breaking changes. To address this, organizations should use opaque tokens externally and JWTs internally, maintaining privacy while benefiting from stateless authentication.
This can be implemented using the phantom token or split token approach via an API gateway to securely bridge the external and internal token formats.
4. Conduct regular audits
APIs are increasingly targeted by cyberattacks as they become critical to business operations. These attacks pose serious risks and offer valuable opportunities for threat actors.
Conducting regular security audits and risk assessments helps identify vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and other API security issues.
This visibility enables security teams to prioritize threats, design appropriate controls, and implement effective defences to manage API-related risks. Continuous assessment ensures that API security remains aligned with evolving threats and operational changes, helping organizations maintain a strong and proactive security posture.
5. Use SSL/TLS Encryption
API requests and responses often contain sensitive information such as user credentials or financial data. Without protection, attackers monitoring network traffic can intercept and exploit this data.
Implementing SSL/TLS encryption secures API communications by authenticating the server and encrypting the traffic. This helps prevent eavesdropping, data tampering, and man-in-the-middle attacks.
Ensuring all API traffic is encrypted using SSL/TLS is a fundamental step in protecting sensitive data during transmission.
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