With the rise of new technologies comes heightened opportunities for bad actors to worm their way into your cyberspace. And while nobody wants these bad actors lurking around where they shouldn’t be, unfortunately, today they are a cut above the rest and becoming increasingly intelligent by the day.
What is this threat and how do we eliminate the risks it poses to organisations?
This sophisticated, disruptive, and ever-developing threat is focused on Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) as the primary attack vector, spreading to a variety of different industries already.
Why are these API attacks becoming more common?
Today, more and more businesses are evolving to a compulsory digital approach. Many are beginning to build their own complex web and mobile applications to reach their customers more efficiently and frequently. These applications are built on APIs, which offer an effective and consistent means to share data and provide connectivity between disparate systems.
APIs open up doors for innovation and growth as they simplify the integration with internal and 3rd party services, reduce time to market and improve return on investment for businesses. APIs are a necessity and at the heart of today’s businesses and securing them adequately cannot be overlooked. They’re ubiquitous, their growth is exponential, and they’re being used to share sensitive data, much of it personally identifiable. It would be extremely foolish of organisations not to take cognisance of this very real threat.
APIs-based attacks are growing at a fast rate because they are the path of least resistance for hackers to draw on, not requiring low-level knowledge of technologies to succeed. An organisation needs to be continuously monitoring this attack surface area in order to protect both their and their customer data.
What are some common threats to API security?
- Malware and DDoS Attacks
- A DDoS attack is a Distributed Denial of Service attack which includes a large amount of traffic being sent to a target website which tends to overwhelm the site and causes it to crash and become unavailable for visitors to access the page.
- These attacks are typically carried out by groups of compromised IoT devices that are tainted by malware and turned into bots that constantly send requests back and forth. These are called botnets.
- Irregular API asset management
- The older your API version is, the more open to attacks and data breaches you become. Irregular assets management is similar to improper documentation which leaves sensitive data open to exposure from unidentified threats. Finding vulnerabilities when this occurs is challenging. Attackers find legacy API versions that are poorly protected to employ in an attack.
- Misconfigured APIs
- Attackers exploit API servers, that haven’t been set up properly as well as any unpatched systems or files/folders that are not protected. Incorrect HTTP headers, insecure default configurations and verbose error messages also leave organisations at risk for an attack.
- Unmonitored APIs
- APIs that are left unmonitored leave organisations at risk from attackers, as these attacks are long, drawn-out events often lasting weeks to months. Having zero visibility of the type of data exposed (often sensitive) presents a large organisational risk.
This threat vector is rising to the top of the cybersecurity landscape due to the continued prevalence of APIs, the valuable information they’re exposing, and the ease and speed which attackers are often able to exploit them. Securing your organisation against these threats requires:
- Continuous discovery of your APIs and their sensitive data exposure.
- Runtime monitoring of API usage with rich and relevant context.
- Efficient response to attacks and suspected attacks.
- Prioritised remediation to improve your API security posture.
Salt Security’s API Security Platform provides a truly unique approach to meeting these requirements. Contact us to help you secure your APIs.
