Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are the connecting tissue that enables the communication between applications, internal and external, and facilitate data exchange on a massive scale. In a world where information is the crown jewel of an organization, APIs are driving the delivery of digital services to customers and partners. While their usage is already exploding, the growing popularity of cloud-native technologies and microservices has only accelerated API adoption. Organizations of all sizes, across all sectors, are tapping the potential of APIs to improve business velocity and gain a competitive edge.
However, APIs by nature are highly visible, exposing application logic and sensitive data such as Personally Identifiable Information (PII). This made them the most-frequent attack vector exploited by cybercriminals to conduct cyberattacks and data breaches. Even the most secure APIs can be exploited by malicious actors in the form of business logic abuse. And with the ubiquitous nature of APIs, the challenge of securing the organization’s API infrastructure without hampering their usage and growth is becoming increasingly severe and critical. This is where Unified API Protection comes in.
Before we delve deep into Unified API Protection, let’s understand what are Unified APIs;
A Unified API enables the communication between multiple APIs, including ones with different backend data models. Simply put, it is an abstraction layer that aggregates APIs in the same software category, facilitating easier integration with standard endpoints, authentication, and normalized databases. Now users can view and access their resources on a single platform.
Leveraging a unified API approach improves developer experience while decreasing the amount of time needed to build API integrations in-house. It eases developers from integration hassle and helps them drive their focus toward innovative ideas. Some other benefits of unified APIs are as follows:
Modern organizations must guard their entire API footprint against ever-evolving security and compliance risks. They need a unified and fully integrated approach that takes care of the entire API lifecycle, securing all APIs, across all channels, environments, user groups, and use cases. The approach must provide comprehensive API protection of all managed and unmanaged APIs. This is where Unified API Protection comes in.
Unified API Protection goes beyond fragmented or incomplete API security practices. It eliminates unknown and unmitigated API security risks, autonomously discovers & creates a complete runtime inventory of all APIs, and provides native inline resolution.
Unified API protection is based on the following foundational pillars:
Here are six best practices that help you achieve these three pillars of Unified API Protection:
AppSentinels delivers comprehensive, seamless protection against unknown and known API attacks through its multi-layer defense shield. A few of its salient features, detailed below, will depict how it operates in alignment with the principles of Unified API protection:
Leverage our AI Powered Multi-Layered Defence Shield to protect your APIs and applications against all unknown and known attacks. Our Intelligent Stateful API Test Platform shifts-left AI/ML learnings from the production environment to uncover business logic vulnerabilities in your application. The platform also provides SoC teams with all data required to defend against external attacks. It also delivers deep insights to developers to help them remediate security issues.
Ensure Unified API Protection with AppSentinels!
