The increasing prevalence of APIs has made them attractive targets for malicious attackers, leading to significant financial losses for businesses. As a result, API security has become a top priority for cybersecurity professionals. In order to address the challenge of API sprawl and protect APIs from potential threats, organizations need to adopt a security-first approach.
The first step in addressing API sprawl is to ensure visibility into API endpoints. Often, APIs are created by developers without oversight from IT or security teams, meaning they may not be managed through standard security and compliance controls. To overcome this, organizations should use continuous API discovery tools to identify and categorize existing APIs, as well as map their interactions and data exposure. It is important to employ tools that leverage machine learning capabilities to distinguish between normal API traffic and potential threats. This will help organizations identify forgotten or unsecured APIs that were built without proper governance and controls.
Once APIs have been identified and inventoried, organizations can work with developers to deprecate unnecessary or unauthorized endpoints. They can then evaluate the security risks associated with the remaining APIs based on factors such as the sensitivity of the data they handle and their criticality to the organization’s operations. By prioritizing efforts to address the most significant security risks first, organizations can ensure that all APIs are subjected to app and API security controls for monitoring and enforcement.
One of the primary security vulnerabilities for APIs is improper access control, including authentication and authorization. Organizations should conduct audits of existing API endpoints to ensure proper access control policies and to identify any business logic errors that may grant unrestricted access to sensitive data.
In addition to addressing security vulnerabilities, organizations should also consider ways to reduce complexity, especially in multi-cloud environments. Using the same tooling across API gateways, web application firewalls (WAFs), and other infrastructure, regardless of the environment, can help reduce errors and facilitate the application of consistent security policies.
API security is a shared responsibility that starts early in the software development lifecycle. Organizations should work with engineering teams to fix any deployment gaps and adopt contract-driven API operations to improve collaboration. By writing the API contract before any code is written, organizations can ensure that developers, infrastructure operators, and security teams are all on the same page. Automation of API deployment and security can help prevent the deployment of shadow APIs and enable organizations to address vulnerabilities proactively.
To ensure consistency and scalability, organizations need to define API governance policies and processes. This requires collaboration between engineering teams, infrastructure operators, and security teams. API governance should strike a balance between control for security and infrastructure teams and agility for engineering teams. A federated model, where shared infrastructure is provided as a service, can empower API developers to deploy APIs as code and manage configurations for their services while ensuring security and compliance.
In conclusion, API sprawl and its associated security risks continue to be a challenge in today’s technology landscape. By adopting a security-first approach and implementing proactive measures to address API sprawl, organizations can navigate the complexities and maintain the integrity and security of their IT infrastructure.