API security threat is always a problem. API safety is like driving. Before publishing, you must act carefully and carefully review each link. Otherwise, you will put yourself and others in danger.
API attacks are more dangerous than other attacks. Facebook's 50 million user accounts were affected by API attacks, and the API data attacks on the Hostinger account leaked 14 million customer records.
If a hacker breaks into your API endpoint, it may cause disaster to your project. An unsafe API can get you in trouble, depending on the industry and region. Especially in EU , if you serve a bank, if you are found to use an unsafe API, you may face serious legal and compliance issues.
To mitigate these risks, you need to understand the potential API vulnerabilities that cybercriminals can exploit.
often overlooked API security risks
Lack of visibility and monitoring of APIs means "risk"
If you gradually use cloud-based networks, the number of devices and APIs used will also increase. This will also lead to a lack of visibility into which APIs you leak inside or outside the enterprise.
Shadow, hidden or deprecated APIs are not understood by the security team, creating more opportunities for attackers to launch successful cyber attacks against unknown APIs, API parameters and business logic. Traditional tools such as API gateways cannot list all APIs in full.
must have API visibility, including the following:
- Centralized visibility and listing all APIs
- Detailed view of API traffic
- has visibility to the API that transmits sensitive information
- API risk automatic analysis, accompanied by predefined standard
API function is insufficient
Follow your API calls are important to avoid passing duplicate requests to the API. If both deployed APIs try to use the same URL, it may cause duplicate and redundant API usage issues. This is because the endpoints on both APIs use the same URL. To avoid this, each API should have its own unique URL and optimized.
Service availability threat
With the help of a botnet, targeted DDoS API attacks can overload the CPU cycle and processor capabilities of the API server, sending service calls with invalid requests, thus making the server unable to use for legitimate traffic. DDoS API attacks are targeted not only on the servers running the API, but also on each API endpoint.
Rate limit gives you confidence to keep your application running healthy, while a good response plan comes with multi-layered security solutions such as AppTrana's API protection. Accurate, fully managed API protection continuously monitors API traffic and blocks malicious requests immediately before arriving on the server.
hesitated because of the use of API
B2B companies often need to publish internal API usage figures to teams outside the organization. This can be very helpful in facilitating collaboration and allowing others to access your data and services. But it is necessary to think carefully about who you allow to access your API and what level of access the other party needs. You don't want to open up APIs too widely, posing security risks.
When sharing API calls between partners or customers, they need to be closely monitored. This helps ensure that everyone uses the API as expected and the system is not overwhelmed.
API Injection
API Injection This term is used to describe the injected malicious code along with API requests. After the injected command is executed, the user's entire site can even be deleted from the server. The main reason APIs are susceptible to this risk is that API developers fail to clean up before the input appears in the API code.
This security vulnerability has brought serious problems to users, including identity theft and data breaches, so it is crucial to realize the risk. Add input verification mechanisms on the server side to prevent injection attacks and avoid execution of special characters.
Attacking IoT devices through API
to what extent can the "loops" of the Internet of Things depend on the level of API security management; without this security management, it will be difficult for you to use IoT devices.
Over time and technology advances, hackers will always use new methods to exploit vulnerabilities in IoT products. While APIs support strong scalability, they open a new entry for hackers to access sensitive data on IoT devices. To avoid many of the threats and challenges faced by IoT devices, APIs must be more secure.
So you need to put the latest security patches on your IoT devices to ensure they are protected from the latest threats.
Implement WAAP to reduce API risks
At present, many organizations are constantly threatened by API attacks. New vulnerabilities appear every day, so it is necessary to regularly check all APIs for potential threats. Web application security tools are not enough to protect your company from such risks. To make API protection work, it must be fully committed to API security. Web applications and API protection (WAAP) systems are practical and effective solutions in this regard.
Original link:
https://thehackernews.com/2022/09/6-top-api-security-risks-favored.html
