APIs Security is waxing and a great challenge for the companies as the involvement of third party APIs is going up and security preaches are becoming a greater threat for the applications using APIs.

Whenever a security loop hole is detected, without and further investigation, the questions are raised on the methods of programming. So, the developers should not allow the unprotected code to be written while developing an application. Many times, we become sure of the coding of API but the same is not true. APIs are developed for the general use, it is the responsibility of the developer to reduce the risks and integrate them ensuring the security of application.

Winning the Real Battle

Openness and security are two opposing priorities. Intelligent API design ensures that the apps developed meet all the requirements and acts as a balancing factor. The way in which you open up API and integrate with the outside world is a deciding factor for overall security of the app.

A good API is restricted to be used and have fixed boundaries which limits the resources of the application. The team of Matrix Marketers, a web development company discusses the design pitfalls to secure APIs.

Lack of TLS/SSL

Encryption at the transport layer is the first step towards secure APIs. If the transportation of data is at risk than anybody can temper the data and the application becomes highly risky , so, make sure of the security while transferring data using HTTPs instead of HTTP protocol.

Acquiring a TLS certificate is inexpensive and straightforward. We wrote about transport layer security (HTTPS) in last week’s dispatch, and we’ve also touched on it here.

Use of Encryption Doesn’t Ensure Trust

By mere implementation of encryption, the app can’t be made secure. The SSL certificate is must for the web applications especially doing the commerce activities on the web. The certification must be authenticated and validated. This validation process is not always straightforward and if not planned properly it creates potential certificate validation loopholes.

It is observed that vulnerability allows hackers to create fake usernames, passwords, API keys and crucially they manage to access the data.

Here is how it works. An attacker forges a malicious certificate—anyone with an internet connection can issue” self-signed” SSL certificates—and gets the clients to trust it. It is observed that the weak validation is even more dangerous to the application as you think that the application is secure but actually it is not.

Make sure the clients are properly validating certificates (pertaining to the specific sites they access) with a trusted certification authority. The intervening of certificate validation permits the user data to be accessed.

SOAP and XML

SOAP is a messaging protocol that relies on XML as its underlying data format.

The main problem with SOAP is that it’s been around for far too long. SOAP is implemented with the XML data layer which is not so commonly used. All in all, it is a complex stack mirrored by various attack vectors including XML encryption issues, external entity attacks (XXE), and denial of service (Billion Laughs), among others.

Another issue with the SOAP tends to stay in production for a long time because numerous systems rely on it, and little to no effort is spent investigating the security implications of such arrangements.

It is a blessing that SOAP recognizes server-side vulnerabilities easily and provides immediate notification of the same.

So, make sure you don’t overlook SOAP when auditing your security. A professional 3rd party API can be exclusively used to find out the vulnerable endpoints throughout your stack and advise on how to patch them.

JSON/REST are also used as an alternative from the last few years. The use of JSON /REST has prevailed over the more complicated SOAP/XML for most scenarios, except perhaps legacy systems and corporate environments. JSON is the last preference for adopted by the entrepreneurs.

Business Logic Flaws

Official API calls are designed to provide access to a subset of endpoints, i.e. data is very sensitive and a method should be there to access the data. That’s the reason of APIs restricting the support to common applications.

We must take precautions as the attackers can break the boundaries. A few noteworthy organizations that fell victim to business logic flaws attacks had implemented the top most security packages and even then the data was leaked.

To make sure that security is prevailed, it is better to manually audit API’s. A good general practice is to expose the minimum amount of data possible (principle of least privilege).

The high security packages are to be used when the sensitive apps are run and most important data has to be exchanged. An affordable solution is to crowdsource the pen testing of APIs to big companies.

Insecure Endpoints

API endpoints are often overlooked from a security standpoint. They can be used to make developers and sysadmins think and fear less of breaking legacy systems relying on APIs. Endpoint hardening can be deployed at the initial phase of API development.

Conclusion

To make sure you don’t miss a beat, get tuned with the latest APIs developed. Matrix Marketers has a team of experts that have up dated information. The website security checks must be considering, and at the same time server security must be ensured. To ensure security in you web application, you can hire the developers from Matrix Marketers which will surely build secure applications.