API security risks should never be ignored. Learn about API security best practices and checklist to mitigate risks and protect your APIs.
API Security Best Practices
1. Always Use a Gateway
A gateway is essential for API security. A gateway centralizes API requests, enforcing security policies like authentication, authorization, rate limitation, and traffic encryption.
By routing all API traffic through a gateway, companies may better monitor and regulate API access, ensuring only authorized clients and users can use the services.
2. Always Use a Central OAuth Server
Centralizing authentication and authorization with an OAuth server improves security. Clients receive access tokens from OAuth to access protected resources on behalf of users.
A centralized OAuth server can standardize API authentication, enforce access control regulations, and reduce security risks associated with decentralized authentication.
3. Only Use JSON Web Tokens Internally
Party claims can be represented securely using JSON Web Tokens (JWT). Internally using JWTs for authentication and authorization improves security by validating token integrity and claim authenticity.
JWTs should not be exposed directly to clients to avoid security risks. Install token validation and verification in your API architecture.
4. Use Scopes for Coarse-Grained Access Control
Scopes define coarse-grained API access control policies. Organizations can restrict resource and function access by allocating scopes to users or client apps based on roles and permissions.
This ensures that only authorized parties may access sensitive data or conduct privileged API functions, improving security. Scopes allow enterprises to establish a more granular access control approach, decreasing illegal access and data breaches.
5. Trust No One
To reduce insider and external threats, zero-trust security is important. In zero-trust environments, all requests—internal or external—are considered malicious.
Organizations use strict access restrictions, encryption, and authentication to verify parties’ identities and integrity before providing resources or services. Organizations can better protect APIs from unauthorized access and exploitation by adopting a mistrustful posture and employing strong security measures.
6. Do Not Mix Authentication Methods
A safe API ecosystem requires authentication consistency. Using multiple authentication methods in the same environment can create security risks.
Instead, enterprises should use a solid authentication method like OAuth 2.0 and enforce it across all APIs and services. By simplifying authentication processes, companies can decrease authentication-related security risks and improve security.
OpenID Associate convention stretches out the OAuth 2.0 convention to include a verification and character layer, which enables processing customers to confirm the personality of an end-client dependent on the confirmation performed.
