APIs have become the glue that binds together modern digital systems. Whether it’s an app communicating with a server or two services exchanging information behind the scenes, APIs bring it all together. But along with that convenience, risk also comes. If your APIs are not safe and secured, then your entire business is open to attackers. That’s why choosing an appropriate API security solution for your business is not merely a technical choice but a strategic one.
So, how should you go about making the right choice?
Well, picking a tool with the most bells and whistles or a tool costing you the most money is not it. Picking an option that fits your requirements, secures your data and does not drive your teams crazy during implementation is what truly matters.
In this blog post, I have listed some key factors you should consider to choose the right API security solution for your business.
Let’s start!
What are API Security Solutions
API security solutions are designed to protect APIs (application programming interfaces) from threats like unauthorized access, data breaches, and cyberattacks.
Since APIs facilitate communication between different software applications, they are a prime target for attackers. That’s why businesses invest in reliable API security solutions to keep their digital systems safe and protected.
How to Choose the Right API Security Solutions
Here are some primary factors you need to think about to make an informed choice:
Start by Understanding What You are Really Safeguarding
Take a moment before you go shopping for API security solutions to think about what you are trying to protect. All APIs are different. Some work with sensitive customer information. Others can initiate financial transactions or access critical business services. Without a clear understanding of what’s in play, you won’t be able to determine what level of security you require.
Look at where APIs exist—are they publicly exposed, or are they internal or somewhere in between? Do you have a handful of APIs or dozens or hundreds spread throughout several teams? Getting a handle on your API landscape is the first step toward zeroing in on your security requirements.
Know Your Risks and Pain Points
Each company has diverse risks depending on which industry you’re operating in, how you’re operating, and what type of information you’re dealing with. A financial services firm is going to have entirely different security issues than an ecommerce site.
If you’re dealing with healthcare, your API security must comply with regulations such as HIPAA. If you’re ecommerce, keeping customer information safe and out of fraudulent hands could be your biggest concern. You also need to know your pain points. Do you want to detect and prevent malicious traffic? Are developers getting APIs into production before you and your security team can inspect them? Are your current security controls unaware of what is happening within and through your APIs?
The clearer you are about what you’re trying to solve, the simpler it’s going to be to identify a solution that really delivers.
Seek Visibility and Real-Time Monitoring
API attacks are not necessarily noisy or overt. Much of the time, attackers slowly probe for vulnerabilities or misuse endpoints without triggering standard alarms. That’s why you require visibility, not logs or simple analytics, but real-time insight into how APIs are being consumed (or misused).
A good security product should be able to make you aware of which APIs are active, which are under attack, and where anomalous behavior is emerging. It should be able to tell you when suspicious activity is taking place, and best of all, provide you with context to react quickly. Visibility is your complete warning system, and you need it to be going 24/7.
Consider How it Manages Authentication and Authorization
Access control is one of the earliest defenses for any API, ensuring that just the right people or systems can access it. Your API security solution must be capable of applying strong authentication (such as OAuth 2.0, JWTs, or API keys) and fine-grained authorization rules. But beyond that, it must make governing those policies simple.
You don’t need to be tinkering around for hours each time something happens. The best solutions make this all simple to comprehend and maintain, and still provide you with the ability to safeguard sensitive information.
Go Beyond the OWASP Top 10
OWASP API Security Top 10 security threats is an excellent starting point when it comes to understanding common API vulnerabilities—such as broken object-level authorization, excessive data exposure, or absence of rate limiting. But you can’t stop there. Requests from real-world attackers are not going to fit into those ten neatly. That is why you need an API security solution that provides beyond just standard defenses.
The solution must employ methods such as anomaly detection, behavior analytics, and intelligence-based threats to identify stealth attacks that could otherwise go unnoticed. If the product merely protects against identified vulnerabilities, then it is already lagging behind.
Pick Scalability and Flexibility
As your business grows, so does your API footprint. A small API security tool may be sufficient today, but will it still hold up after you double traffic or add five fresh services? Be sure to look for solutions that are scalable and won’t bog you down under load.
Additionally, your security requirements will shift over time. You may move into new markets, be subject to new regulations, or create new types of apps. Your security solution must be flexible and scalable to grow with you, not one that confines you to a specific method of working or constrains your future options.
Don’t Forget Cost and Support
Let us discuss the practicalities. Cost is important. Some API security products bill by number of APIs, others by volume of traffic, and some have flat rate pricing. Be sure you know how you are going to be billed and if it is appropriate for your access pattern. A very low-cost product that fails to meet your requirements isn’t an actual bargain. Paying an excessive amount of money for features you don’t need isn’t wise either.
Support is another area where you need to pay close attention. If anything goes wrong, they need to be there to help you right away. Look at what kind of support is available, which time zone you get coverage from, and how quickly they respond. Having a quality support team working for you can be a lifesaver when you need it most.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, picking an API security solution is about finding a tool that aligns with your company’s requirements, not pursuing new buzz or whatever is trending among competitors. The ideal solution is one that provides you comfort, secures your information, integrates into your process, and enables your teams to be agile without taking unnecessary risks.
Take your time. Ask tough questions. Test out a few different kinds of options if you can. The clearer you are about your own environment and issues, the simpler it’ll be to identify a security solution that doesn’t feel like a weight and rather like a safety net. Since APIs drive everything these days, keeping them secure is not a choice—it’s a necessity.
