Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) have become crucial in the application development industry and online services because they act as intermediaries by enabling communication between different systems and applications, fostering integration and collaboration in the enterprise.
APIs primarily allow companies to seamlessly connect their diverse applications and systems, enabling the exchange of data and functionality efficiently. This improves agility and productivity and maximizes the utilization of existing resources.
In addition, they accelerate the development of companies because, thanks to APIs, it is optional to create the functionalities from scratch. Therefore, development time is significantly reduced since companies can use previously developed and tested external functionalities. They also enable rapid adaptation to changing market demands by leveraging up-to-date solutions and services.
However, implementing APIs in enterprises poses significant challenges for the digital environment, increasing the risk of cyber-attacks and threats. Therefore, robust security measures are crucial to protect business information and ensure the confidentiality of data transmitted via APIs.
This eBook will explore the cybersecurity challenges associated with using APIs and discuss best practices and strategies to mitigate these risks. This way, you can understand and address these challenges so that your company can take full advantage of the benefits of APIs without compromising the security of your systems and data.
An Application Programming Interface, or API, is a set of standards and protocols that allow applications to communicate effectively. It is an intermediary that establishes how two software components must interact to share information and perform operations.
In general, APIs allow different applications to connect and share data and functionality securely and efficiently by providing an abstraction layer that hides the internal details of an application and exposes only the interfaces needed to interact with it.
An API is responsible for defining the methods and parameters that can be used to send and receive data through it. For example, a social network API can provide ways to authenticate, obtain user profile information, or publish content.
The way APIs work may vary depending on the type of API used. However, they all follow a fundamental operation that includes the following steps:
There are several types of APIs, each with its characteristics and approaches; some of the most common types are as follows:
The use of APIs offers several advantages compared to other systems integration approaches; some of the key advantages are:
However, there are also some potential disadvantages of using APIs in enterprises, such as:
Secure API Design and Implementation
Application Program Interfaces are a vital component for the operation of business organizations because they make their internal processes more efficient and beneficial for members, as they simplify business and internal operations by simply logging in from their accounts. In addition, they favor direct communication and information exchange. Still, their implementation poses several challenges, focusing precisely on the security of the large volume of data processed through them.
Let's take a look at the proper implementation for the appropriate safeguarding of your most valuable resource.
According to OWASP, 10 main weaknesses are linked to adopting API within organizations, which must be taken care of for optimal performance. We select the 5 most concerning and describe the associated risks, together with the prevention methods suggested by these standards:
Object authorization is an access control measure that sends a code to the user to validate their access to data. When members view access and use an object, they must validate their session and have permission to execute each action.
A broken object-level authorization is an easily exploitable weakness that allows hackers to exploit API endpoints and alter, modify, or delete the ID of a submitted object from numbers, passwords, accounts, strings, etc. The problem is that some applications do not fully track the client's state. To control access to these objects, the access request is sufficient for server acceptance.
Here are six future trends and challenges to cybersecurity through APIs.
According to a survey conducted by Salt Security, in the first half of 2023 alone, information cybersecurity attacks via APIs have seen a 400% increase. However, the most striking results are that 78% of these violent accesses to organizations' sensitive data occurred through supposedly authenticated interfaces.
An estimated 4,845 attackers were operating worldwide by December 2022 alone. Still, new and more sophisticated ways of accessing user data and credentials have been found, so the number of attackers will triple in the next year.
Only in the first quarter of 2023, almost 60% of organizations had problems incorporating APIs into their internal processes due to the detection of security issues with handling and accessing information. Under the use of AI and other sophisticated tools capable of breaking security barriers using multiple combinations to gain access, constantly updated security patches become indispensable to contain attacks.
API security problems will increase; this year alone, 94% of users observed some issues in their information security. According to the survey, these vulnerabilities include: 41% reported problems with authentication, and 31% expressed having suffered from the exposure of their confidential information.
Case of Study and Lessons Learned
We have mentioned that there are multiple cybersecurity problems caused to companies due to the set of vulnerabilities that APIs have in the authentication processes and access to essential data and that leave the door open for cybercriminals to gain access to applications and thus obtain, extract, and seize information, without the members noticing the security flaw. To better visualize the weaknesses, present in these tools, we analyze the case of T-Mobile in detail.
T-Mobile Inc. is an American company founded in 1994 that offers telecommunications services through wireless networks; over the years, it has positioned itself as the American Un-Carrier, offering 4G and 5G networks to the US and Europe.
At the beginning of 2023, T-Mobile surprised its users by announcing that an attacker had successfully accessed the confidential information of 37 million customers due to a flaw in its API. Given the event's seriousness, the telecommunications giant was the subject of an investigation conducted by the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), which explained that although the attack had begun in November 2022, its security teams did not detect the malicious access until January 2023.
The cybercriminal accessed customers' personal information such as names, dates of birth, account numbers, emails, addresses, phone numbers, and the plans and services each customer enjoyed. However, the company clarified that payment information such as card numbers, ID numbers, and social security numbers were safe.
Application Programming Interfaces (API) have been designed to become critical allies for organizations of any kind, allowing access, availability, and exchange of information directly and efficiently between different applications or integrated tools. But it is precisely this ability to exchange information from various sources that needs to be further strengthened, as the lack of updates, security patches, and broken authentication can be easily exploited by attackers.
There are several areas for improvement in API, either in their design or authentication processes; in some cases, the application does not have one, or the existing ones need to be fixed or more and easily expose data or deliver the ownership of objects without proper validation. This set of flaws allows cybercriminals to gain unauthorized access to endpoints and steal data, accounts, complete transactions, etc., from your customer base.
To address these weaknesses, organizations must follow an implementation process based on the information security standards set by OWASP that enables them to prevent the top ten risks associated with APIs, rely on risk management tools, and have a more robust information exchange structure. The main measures to be considered require validation processes that include two-factor authentication, biometric verification, control of object ownership, access levels so that not every user who logs in can manipulate the data, recovery processes with authentication methods such as tokens, captcha, biometric patterns, etc. A key point to take care of is the continuous updating of permissions and API documents to ensure that the organization is up to date with security methods.
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