- Author: Sonia Tsai
Avoid uncontrollable wild APIs from API inventory to management
With the rapid development of software, APIs have become the bridges of communications between different systems, and allowed the the functions of different application systems to be integrated, so that developers can connect and integrate different systems effectively without the need to have in-depth understanding on the internal operation mechanisms of the applications, optimizing the efficiency of software development.
However, according to research from the F5 CTO Office, the number of APIs created in the next few years will grow exponentially. Too many APIs bring API sprawl. If enterprises lack effective API management measures, many problems caused by wild APIs will emerge and they will be difficult to handle.
Wild APIs are considered API security risks even by OWASP
Wild APIs usually refer to APIs that have not been managed systematically. Information on these APIs is usually only recorded on documents, memories of administrators, and may even have been forgotten already. These wild APIs include APIs that are currently in use and ones that are no longer used, but are still opened publicly, so they can continue to be accessed externally. Since they lack proper supervision, external attackers may exploit wild APIs to access sensitive data and launch attacks, and therefore cause unexpected and severe threats to system securities.
This also made OWASP include “Improper Inventory Management of APIs” as one of the top ten security risks. Compared to traditional network applications, APIs usually exposes more endpoints. Therefore, the creating and updating of record files have become extremely important. If outdated files were used, it would become difficult to find and repair vulnerabilities. Problems such as outdated API versions and exposed debug endpoints can only be reduced through proper management of hosts and deployed API version inventory.
How can the problem of wild APIs be solved?
API inventory helps enterprises identify wild APIs so that consulting services can accelerate management
Wild APIs may cause security risks, reminding enterprises to strengthen API governance continuously. The most urgent thing for enterprises right now is to clarify how many APIs there are in their systems. In other words, they need to take a comprehensive API inventory. The most effective method is to uncover missing APIs through comprehensive combing by API management consultants, while analyzing potential risks and formulating API management processes. Finally, unify and include all APIs in the API management platform for continuous monitoring and tracking.
What else can the API management platform do?
Efficient API management and platform strategies accelerate governance and compliance
The APIM platform has complete ID verification and authorization, traffic protection, and various monitoring and warning mechanisms, adding an extra layer of protective shielding for system APIs. When security incidents occur, the diverse warning mechanisms allow IT personnel to quickly respond. These control mechanisms and protective measures can protect APIs from attacks and improve the security protection of APIs effectively, facilitate the debugging process, and strengthen API governance to further comply with laws, regulations, and standards.
When we look at the API management platforms on the market comprehensively, compared to Apigee, Axway API Management, IBM API Connect, and AWS API Gateway, as a cloud-native APIM platform, digiRunner can help enterprises focus on quick integration, take inventory of existing APIs, and perfect API strategies.
Corresponding functional requirements are provided on API inventory. Existing APIs can be imported directly through the API Swagger file, then they can be categorized and managed through API groups and custom labels, etc. System administrators can also be flexibly authorized to register their their own system APIs into it. After APIs are registered onto digiRunner, they can enter the operational cycle of systematic management and continuous inventory. Administrators can fully grasp the information of all APIs, and quickly perform searches and viewing.
The complete API dashboard and various reports can help API administrators quickly grasp the operation and usage situations of APIs, such as popular APIs, unpopular APIs, or slower APIs, etc, as the basis for decision-making on adding API resources or eliminating APIs. API inventory will not take a long time to search through documents or memory, but be systematized comprehensively.
How to manage APIs effectively has become a major challenge faced by enterprises. If you want to perform API inventory and management through convenient methods, as well as have rigorous and real-time monitoring and warnings, etc, to help enterprises realize effective management and protection of API resources, you are welcome to contact TPI software. We will provide you with professional consulting services for free.