Top 5 API Security Myths That Are Crushing Your Business

There are several myths and misconceptions about API security.
These myths about securing APIs are crushing your business.

Why so? Because these myths are widening your security gaps.
This is making it easier for attackers to abuse APIs. And API
attacks are costly. Of course, you will have to bear financial
losses. But there are other consequences too:

• Reputational damage
• Customer attrition
• Loss of customer trust
• Difficulty in acquiring new customers
• Legal costs
• Massive fines and penalties for non-compliance

In this article, we will debunk the top 5 myths about securing APIs^[1]

Secure APIs Better: Top 5 API Security Myths
Demystified

Myth 1: API Gateways, Existing IAM Tools, and WAFs are
Enough to Secure API

Reality: These aren’t enough to secure your
APIs. They are layers in API security. They need to be part of a
larger security solution.

API gateways monitor endpoints. They provide visibility into API
usage. They offer some level of access control and rate-limiting
capabilities. They authorize and route API calls to the correct
backend services. But most API gateways aren’t built for security.
Developers use them for integration purposes.

We do have API security gateways too. But they can only track
and secure north-south traffic. North-south traffic connects the
front end and back end. This traffic passes through the WAF. API
Gateway is not effective in securing east-west API traffic. This
traffic makes up the connections between servers, containers, and
services. These don’t pass through the WAF.

Further, it does not discover all API endpoints. It cannot
identify and classify different data types. So, it offers limited
visibility. It is a rather unidimensional way to secure your
APIs.

Existing IAM (Identity and Access Management) tools help
authorize and authenticate machine identities. WAF (Web Application
Firewall)^[2]
is a shield between API traffic and server/ API. But these security
tools don’t offer visibility, which is key to API security. They
rely on signature-based detection techniques, which can’t secure
APIs effectively.

All three of these tools only offer low-level security barriers.
They aren’t equipped to detect emerging types of malicious
behaviors. Attackers can easily bypass these defenses and conduct
API attacks. They should be part of a multi-layered, cohesive,
API-specific security solution.

Myth 2: API Security is Simple

Reality: The underlying concept of APIs may
be simple. However, API security is far more complex.

APIs connect two programs. But this doesn’t mean that the
interconnected programs are automatically secure. By its very
nature, APIs expose data and digital assets. Further, you may not
have complete visibility into all your APIs. This leads to shadow
APIs that attackers can exploit. This widens the API attack
surface. Your API security will fall short if you don’t plan and
execute it properly.

Simple API solutions aren’t effective in the agile digital
landscape. You need advanced, upgraded API security solutions to
prevent threats.

Myth 3: Developers Will Always Bake Security into
APIs

Reality: Developers don’t automatically
ensure security by design.

More enterprises are moving towards a shift-left approach. It
intends to find and fix security gaps as early as possible in the
development process. This helps accelerate the speed-to-market of
APIs. It also allows you to avoid the additional costs of fixing
flaws at later stages.

Adopting this approach doesn’t guarantee secure-by-design APIs.
Developers may not bake security into every API by default. There
are several reasons for this:

• The static and dynamic testing tools at their disposal are not
  API-specific. As a result, it doesn’t detect API-specific risks
  effectively.
• Even automated tools can’t find all vulnerabilities.
• Developers aren’t aware of the latest best practices.
• They don’t use AI or behavioral analysis to detect logical and
  unknown flaws.

Want to build secure-by-design APIs?

You need to invest in the best API security solutions. And you
must integrate them early as possible into the development process.
Not just that, you must keep educating your developers on the
latest best practices.

Myth 4: Cloud Providers Secure APIs by
Default

Reality: Not always! And securing APIs is a
shared responsibility.

Cloud providers will offer some level of security. For instance,
they may provide API gateways, API management tools, etc. But these
tools don’t offer the level of protection you need.

Remember that they just must secure the cloud. You are
responsible for the data and apps you run within the cloud. If you
are using cloud services, you need to invest in multi-layered
solutions to secure your APIs.

Myth 5: Zero Trust is Enough to Secure
APIs

Reality: Sole focus on zero trust sets you
up for failure

Most enterprises singularly focus on zero-trust policies to
secure APIs. This doesn’t improve API security much. Why? By their
nature, APIs need access to function properly. But zero trust
architectures restrict access. Attackers can hijack authenticated
sessions too.

Conclusion

Avoid these flawed approaches to your API security. With
attackers expanding their abilities, your security strategy needs
to enhance its scope as well.

Singular tools and traditional approaches don’t secure APIs
effectively. You need API-focused, multi-layered, fully managed
solutions like Indusface API
Protection^[3].