What Is OWASP API Security Top 10: A Deep Dive

The widespread adoption of agile development practices, like shift left, has made it possible for IT decision-makers to unlock higher revenues. 83% now implement DevOps strategies to keep their pipelines on track. Let us show you how shift left can help your business and explore some best practices to get you started. Why is Shift Left Beneficial for DevOps? DevOps is all about speed, agility, and efficiency. To achieve these goals, organizations need to shift left. This means moving away from the traditional "waterfall" methodology and towards a more agile approach. A shift left strategy ensures security is taken into account as early in the development lifecycle as possible. There are many benefits to shifting left. Here are the ones with the most impact: Increased Quality The main benefit of shift left is that it reduces the number of defects in a final product, increasing its overall quality. Companies that implemented shift left methods experienced a 45% increase in quality. By identifying and resolving issues early in the development process, before the product is released, there are fewer chances for those defects to make it into the finished product. Enhanced Communication In addition, shift left encourages collaboration and communication among team members. Businesses that use agile methods typically see a 60% improvement in team productivity and a 70% improvement in visibility. By involving testers earlier on, developers can get feedback on their code and make changes accordingly, leading to a more positive and productive development process overall. Faster Time to Market Shift left also helps shorten development timelines. Businesses that implement agile practices, such as shift left, have seen their delivery times quicken by 64%. When defects are discovered early, before they can snowball into larger problems, they are easier to address, which allows development teams to focus on new features and improvements instead of fixing bugs. Reduce Costs Shift left reduces the costs associated with development. The earlier a vulnerability is found in the development process, the cheaper it is to fix. Early identification and resolution of defects eliminates the need to rework code, leading to significant savings for development organizations. DevOps Shift Left Best Practices Shifting left in your DevOps practice can be a challenge, but it's definitely worth doing if you're serious about improving your process. Here are a few tips to help you successfully implement shift left: 1. Collaborate to Create Deployment and Testing Procedures There are many reasons why failures in production often go unnoticed. One of the most common is that developers and operations teams use procedures and tools that differ from one another. To be successful, operations and development need a shared understanding of deployment procedures. Having your teams aligned will enable them to detect and resolve issues more quickly and efficiently. 2. Implement Shift Left Gradually There's no one-size-fits-all answer on to how best to implement a shift left strategy within your organization; however, we recommend starting small and gradually increasing the scope and depth of your shift left efforts over time. One way to do this is to start by identifying areas with a high level of waste or inefficiency. These are typically areas where manual processes are still being used when automated ones would be more effective, such as penetration testing. Once you've identified these areas, you can begin to implement shift left principles in a way that makes sense for your organization. 3. Simulate Production Environments Throughout the SDLC The more similar the development and production environments are, the easier it is to avoid errors. You can simulate a production environment with the right patterns and cloud technologies. 4. Test Early and Often Testing is an essential part of quality assurance, and it needs to happen throughout the development process. Continuous testing allows you to find issues sooner, so fixing them will be less costly. 5. Use Automation to Implement Continuous Integration and Delivery CI/CD automates the software development process so that changes are made and tested more quickly. This means that issues are found and fixed earlier in the development cycle before they cause problems in production. The more automation teams incorporate during the coding and deployment phases, the faster they can develop code, run more tests, integrate changes, and spend less time on each activity. There are three common types of automated tests: API tests: API tests include integration tests that check whether an API works as expected in terms of security, functionality, reliability, and performance. Unit tests: Unit tests are a great way to ensure your code works as expected within a specific environment. User interface tests: This is a technique for identifying defects in software utilizing graphics by testing the GUI. Make Shift Left Testing Work with APIsec Many businesses don’t have the budget to hire expensive developers and pen testers for every step of their development process. So how do they successfully implement shift left strategy? With APIsec. Their continuous testing platform analyzes your API, generates reports, and executes custom attack scenarios so that you can be confident in the safety of your API's data. APIsec is the only way to ensure that your API security practices are up-to-date and in line with industry best practices. Give your DevOps team the tools they need to effectively implement shift left. Contact a specialist.

The idea of shifting testing to earlier phases in the software development lifecycle (SDLC) has gained momentum as the cost and time spent on fixing bugs found through traditional testing models grew. In fact, 87% of companies take this agile approach to software testing. The goal of shift left testing is to reduce the number of bugs found in a project's code by performing early and frequent tests on your software development initiatives. In this article, you will learn whether shift left testing is the right framework for your project as well as how to get the most out of this approach. Traditional Testing, Shift Left Testing, and Shift Right Testing: What's the Difference? Testing is an essential part of the product development process because it helps ensure that what you are developing will actually work when completed. One of the best ways to visualize production is to imagine a conveyor belt running through a factory. Different components are added before forming a completed product as the process moves along its journey. But where is the optimal point in the process to test? This question has been hotly debated among experts for some time now. Some argue that testing needs to be performed when your application programming interfaces (APIs) and graphic user interfaces (GUIs) are complete, while others feel there are areas worth testing before they're deployed. They typically fall into two camps: traditional and agile or shift testing (with the new majority finding themselves here). Traditional Testing This approach to testing often happens before this final stage (the right side of the conveyor belt versus the left, if you will), which makes sense because there's more product to check for errors. That being said, the use of traditional, manual testing methods to verify the safety and functionality of a product immediately before releasing it into production has its difficulties. Since this testing occurs so late in the development cycle, the discovery of bugs or usability issues often leads to a delayed release until those problems have been fixed, causing a bottleneck. This led many companies implementing traditional testing to start doing unscheduled releases, so these issues don't hold up progress anymore. In addition, as you get closer to the finish line, the cost of fixing those bugs and flaws skyrockets. This fact alone may cause major cost and budget overruns that can delay or even derail the entire project. Pros: Identifies the maximum number of defects due to its incremental process. Ensures a quality product due to issues being resolved before pushing the product live. Cons: Impedes time-to-market due to the scope of the changes that need to be made to fix even simple flaws. Adds increased cost for extensive documentation and time needed to complete resolutions. Unexpected errors may occur if the requirements are modified or poorly communicated. Shift Right Testing Unlike traditional testing, this form of agile testing initiates testing post-production or all the way to the "right" of that conveyor belt. Using a shift right approach, you will test a complete and functioning application to ensure performance and usability. Targeted users provide feedback on their experience to improve the software even further. Common testing techniques that utilize right shift testing include: A/B testing Canary deployment Chaos testing Fault injection testing While this agile approach allows you to collaborate with users to enhance your product, this testing is only effective in a post-production environment. It needs to be supplemented with shift left testing to give you comprehensive results. Pros: Enhances customer experience due to its continuous feedback loop from its users. Uncovers critical issues by finding bugs that occur in a live environment and letting developers modify features as needed. Cons: Limited scope since it can only test fully developed environments. Unforeseen costs and risks may arise trying to implement changes in complex environments. Shift Left Testing To prevent bugs from becoming big, costly problems, shift left testing literally pushes testing to the "left" by identifying and resolving issues as early in the development process as possible. It's important to note that shift left does not mean shifting your testing to an earlier stage and neglecting to test again. On the contrary, shift left testing encourages developers and testers alike to start testing sooner and continually check for errors rather than just focusing on one stage of development at a time. With APIs, the key is to be able to test a functional application as early as possible so that you can exercise all the functionality and see if there are any logic flaws, loopholes or security vulnerabilities. For example, to address a BOLA/IDOR flaw in an app, you'd want to run tests to validate that User A is not able to view/modify/delete a transfer belonging to User B. The USPS data breach is a perfect example of that vulnerability in action - where a user was able to authenticate and then look up any other user in the system, including their email address, phone number, street address, and other PII. The main benefit of shift left testing here is that if there is a flaw in the application, you're going to find it before it goes to production, where someone malicious might find it first. This methodology requires more than just process changes. It's also about shifting the mindsets of those involved so that they continue to provide feedback throughout each stage. Shift left testing is a great way to avoid problems before they start, not just react after the fact. The more tests a developer runs before pushing their code to version control, the better. Pros: Increases delivery speed since problems are addressed and resolved well before the product is released. Reduces cost as it finds errors earlier, which are typically cheaper to fix. Improves quality since the changes to design and functionality are made throughout the entire process versus trying to remedy the finished product. Cons: Needs a culture change for the process to be correctly implemented. Requires myth-busting that some team members may have about the process; for example, QA teams and developers work closely together during testing versus QA teams becoming obsolete. How to Maximize Your Shift Left Strategy The best way to apply shift left testing is with small iterative changes that are made across teams. Here are some changes to start implementing: 1. Understanding the Difference Between Testing the Entire Process vs. Processes in Time As a first step, you'll need to help your team understand the benefits of shift left testing by identifying how this approach needs to be applied across the entire SDLC, not just as a process in time. The best way to reduce risk is by performing testing at various stages and continuing your efforts as you move down the line. Remember, shift left testing doesn't mean moving testing to an earlier stage and neglecting to test later on. This will lead to an inefficient process with missed defects or vulnerabilities that could have been remediated if they had been tested more thoroughly. You'll want to focus on: How will testing at an earlier stage mitigate risks? What is the earliest stage that will provide actionable information? What are the risks if we don't test at this point? 2. Avoid Waste During Shift-Left Testing While testing earlier in the process is the main goal of shift left testing, there is a fine line between testing early and practical testing. This means that you don't want to shift your testing too far to the "left" that it occurs before it will provide actionable information. To avoid creating shift left testing waste, you need to evaluate: What are you doing currently in the process? Why are you doing this at this point? Can you test parts earlier in the process? If you test earlier, what is the risk for waste? What testing spots will allow you to pass the most information forward? 3. Encourage Collaboration for Developers and Testers In a shift left approach, developers and testers are supposed to work together. When developers test individual units, they are able to achieve a higher level of quality code before it is merged into the main system. Additionally, QAs should know some basic coding to help them be more effective. Coding skills allow testers for quick fixes wherever possible, which will make their job easier when it’s time to fix bugs. To encourage maximum collaboration, you'll want to ensure they have access to the same testing practices, like Test-Driven Development (TDD) or Behaviour-Driven Development (BDD). This encourages everyone to stay on the same page. 4. Deploy Automated API Testing Solutions APIs account for 80% of total internet traffic, and Gartner even reported that APIs are well on their way to becoming the main attack vector in 2022. Since APIs are the backbone of many digital efforts, you need to ensure they are secured. Without an automated testing solution, shift left testing is relatively ineffective because you'll accrue major development costs along the way. One way to mitigate this is to use a tool that makes it possible to reduce or eliminate the need for additional dev resources. Partnering with an automated API security testing platform, like APIsec, lets you perform API security testing for every release and time you change the source code. The platform will analyze the APIs architecture, develop tailored attack scenarios, execute playbook attacks, and generate a comprehensive report. Find out how APIsec is helping businesses harness the full power of the shift left approach by contacting a specialist.

With APIs projected to become the main attack vector in 2022, companies that downplay the importance of API security risk making the headlines as the next victim of a major data breach—losing customer trust for years to come. While most API threats are relatively easy to catch using vulnerability scanners, some can remain undetected for years. This makes them a ticking time bomb until bad agents spot them. Today, we're going to cover one of them. Broken Object Level Authorization (BOLA) vulnerabilities sit at the top of the OWASP API Security Top 10 list. Why is that the case? Keep reading to find out the answer and learn how to protect yourself from it. What is Broken Object Level Authorization, and Why Is It #1 on the OWASP Top 10 List? Object-level authorization is a security measure that controls which users can access which objects, be it database records or files. For example, a user might be allowed to view specific files but not edit or delete them. Broken object-level authorization (BOLA) vulnerabilities occur when a user is able to access other users' data due to the flaws in authorization controls validating access to data objects. BOLA vulnerabilities are often caused by insecure coding practices, such as failing to properly validate user input or check permissions before granting access to an object. This happens when an API uses overly permissive access controls or when API resources are not properly protected. BOLA vulnerabilities lead to devastating data breaches and other ramifications. The USPS hack, one of the largest data breaches in history, happened because of, you guessed it, broken access controls. “The USPS hack is a classic example of a broken authorization vulnerability. User A was able to authenticate to the API and then pivot and access user B’s and 60 million other people’s information.”- Dan Barahona, Head of Marketing at Biz Dev at APIsec How to Protect Your APIs from BOLA Vulnerabilities Since BOLA vulnerabilities are the most dangerous cluster of API threats, companies need to take proactive steps to prevent them. Here are the most effective ones. 1. Enforce Robust Authorization Mechanisms Enforcing robust authorization mechanisms is the first step any organization should take to combat BOLA vulnerabilities. Many organizations think their APIs are secure because they have strong authentication. But that's not really going to help a whole lot when it comes to BOLA vulnerabilities. To keep your APIs safe, you need strong authentication mechanisms, but the bigger challenge is ensuring you've got well-controlled authorization policies that you are testing rigorously and continuously to make sure they're free of logic flaws or loopholes.2. Use Random Universally Unique Identifiers (UUIDs)The next step is redefining how you approach the process of generating and managing IDs within your API ecosystem. Auto-incrementing IDs absolutely have to go. As an alternative, use random IDs when creating and accessing APIs. These IDs, commonly referred to as UUIDs, are designed specifically to be difficult for cybercriminals or unauthorized users to guess. UUIDs are made up of a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols that have no inherent meaning or pattern, making them virtually impossible to guess or reverse-engineer. Using UUIDs minimizes the risk of malicious tampering, one of the root causes of BOLA vulnerabilities.3. Laser-focus on Your Business Logic Layer BOLA vulnerabilities are so tricky because they often lurk in the business logic layer of your APIs. The implications? It means that BOLA vulnerabilities typically occur due to the flaws in the design of the legitimate functionalities of your APIs rather than bad agents using complex exploits to break into your systems. That's why it's critical to meticulously test your business logic layer to spot vulnerabilities that are impossible to reliably address upon each release with vulnerability scanners. “BOLA is already #1 on the OWASP API Security Top 10 list - and for good reasons. API providers do a great job at making sure that users are authenticated to the API, so they want to make sure that legitimate users have access. But the number one thing that's often overlooked is authorization, ensuring that user A can't access user’s B resources. And it's one thing to hide the resource IDs, but the important factor there is that user A should not be able to access, interact with, or alter user B's resources - at all.”- Corey Ball, Cybersecurity Consulting Manager and Author of "Hacking APIs"4. Implement the Zero-Trust Security Model Enforcing the zero-trust security model is another step organizations typically take to protect APIs from BOLA vulnerabilities. In a traditional security model, authorized and authenticated users are trusted by default. However, in the zero-trust security model, all users must be authenticated and authorized before accessing any resources. Additionally, the authorized users are constantly monitored to prevent insider threats. Based on this model, each API call must be authenticated and authorized before it can be executed. Once the user has been authenticated, the authorization mechanisms in place determine whether the user is allowed to access the requested resource. If the user is not authorized, then the API call will not be executed, making it more difficult for attackers to exploit BOLA vulnerabilities.5. Ensure Continuous API Security Testing This is arguably the most effective way to protect APIs from BOLA vulnerabilities. However, here's the rub. Traditional API security testing tools aren't reliable since vulnerability scanners don't take into account the unique architecture of your API while pen testing is impossible to scale to ensure full coverage with each update. This is where APIsec comes into play. APIsec is an industry-leading solution that leverages the power of AI to dissect your API and generate custom-tailored attack scenarios aimed at identifying business logic vulnerabilities. APIsec is the only reliable way to automatically secure your API from BOLA vulnerabilities and, most importantly, business logic flaws while ensuring full coverage and eliminating human error. Sounds too good to be true? Get in touch with our team today to get a free demo.

Due to the ever-changing cyber threat landscape, it's more important than ever for businesses and governments around the world to recognize and protect themselves from potential cybersecurity risks. Even if you think that your company's security measures are on point, there's always a chance they won't be enough to prevent an intrusion. Penetration tests uncover cybersecurity weaknesses in your systems and reveal how attackers could potentially exploit them before it becomes too late. These tests are an essential security practice where you intentionally attack your applications, networks, APIs, and computer systems to find and exploit vulnerabilities. By following our best practices for effective results, you ensure that your organization gets the most out of its penetration testing initiative. Pen Testing Best Practices No matter what stage of the testing process you're in, we have aligned our best practices with your needs to provide the most helpful information. Scope1. Set Clear Objectives The first step in developing a secure test is to plan it by setting your scope. This involves selecting specific objectives and conditions for your test that will affect the outcome. For example, you might want to cover an entire network, certain applications within that network, test the security of your APIs, or even specific users who work remotely from home offices. The objectives and goals of a penetration test often vary greatly, from improving security to ensuring compliance with regulations. You'll need to clearly understand, "Why are we even doing a pen test?" To avoid wasting time and resources on unimportant areas, focus on the high-risk vulnerabilities that are likely to be exploited first. During this process, your team should clearly: Evaluate the reasons for conducting pen testing Define the target environment Identify resourcing requirements Establish and define liabilities Determine the testing to be conducted Discuss follow-up activities 2. Establish your Budget Your budget is one of the most important things to take into consideration when you're looking for a security solution. The price you pay for security depends on the value of your assets and what kind of objectives you are trying to achieve. Factors that affect your budget: In-house testing versus hiring an external service provider Type of testing you want to do (black, white, grey, or red teaming)The amount of time needed to conduct the test The scope and coverage focus One way to keep your costs down is to use automated testing instead of manual testing. Another way to eliminate costs is by using white box testing, which gives the tester all the information they need to find vulnerabilities faster. Remember, there is no one-fits-all solution because every organization has its own needs that translate into dollar figures—the more coverage you want, the more you pay. Expertise3. Choose a Penetration Testing Methodologies There are five common methods you can use for a penetration test, and the results will vary depending on which one is employed. Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual (OSSTMM): This peer-reviewed methodology provides technical details for identifying what needs to be tested, how to measure the results, and what to do during every step of testing. Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP): This industry-leading organization is dedicated to improving cybersecurity by providing lists of the most common cyber threats as well as tools, forums, and documentation to anyone who needs them. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST): The methodology by which NIST approaches security assessment of information technology systems is less comprehensive than the OSSTMM; however, their approach is more accepted by regulatory agency standards. Information System Security Assessment Framework (ISSAF): This peer-reviewed framework provides field inputs for security assessments for real-life scenarios. Penetration Testing Execution Standard (PTES): This methodology was created by industry specialists and provides a common language standard for penetration testing. Pro Tip: External pen testers use varying methods. Make sure their methodology aligns with what's necessary for this test, and make it clear from day one which objectives need completion before they start testing.4. Find the Right Pen Testers When hiring pen testers, make sure you ask the right questions and find the right experts for your target domains: if it's API security, look no further than those who specialize in this field. An expert will know how systems are built as well as their common weaknesses, so they'll help guarantee the success of any pen test by taking advantage from all possible angles. Advantages of hiring external penetration testing providers: They have experienced staff dedicated to conducting highly-effective tests. They complete independent assessments that provide a comprehensive analysis of your security posture. They conduct a wide variety of testing that satisfies any environment and objective.5. Prepare for the Pen Test In order to ensure your pen test yields maximum results, you'll need to: Request sample reports from your pen tester. If anything, in particular, catches your eye or interests you (for example, missing data points on important metrics or the findings don't include enough non-technical corrective actions), indicate this when making queries during regular meetings. Clean up the test environment by restoring it back as close to its original state. Ideally, you want to test in a live environment, but many perform their tests in development test environments to avoid disruptions. Make sure your team is ready for anything by identifying those who will review the test report and fix any issues that were discovered during testing. Grant proper authorizations to conduct testing if needed.Monitor6. Establish Monitoring Solutions Make sure that your security monitoring solutions are in place before starting a pen test. Not only will this help you oversee the testing performance, but you'll also be able to make sure appropriate actions are taken when necessary. To do this, we recommend: Implement logging: This is a vital component in security monitoring and investigation because it provides insights into pen tests' impacts on your systems as well as identifying potential vulnerabilities before they become threats. Establish risk management processes: They should cover many areas, including tests that don't work as planned or problems caused by penetration testing gone wrong. Additionally, they should look for breaches in contract/codes for both company and individual policies regarding security vulnerabilities and provide ways for effective resolutions when needed.Remediation7. Prioritize Pen Test Results Now that we have all of this data, it's time to take action! Schedule a team meeting with your security leaders and specify which vulnerabilities need immediate attention. Your pen testers should provide you with: How the vulnerabilities were discovered Potential outcomes if they are exploited The risk level for each vulnerability Remediation advice The tester will use their technical expertise to determine the most pressing vulnerabilities. You should review their prioritization and decide which ones make the most critical impact on your business to tackle first. Ask yourself: Should we fix this? What happens if I don't? How will that affect my company? If we can't fix the vulnerability, can we mitigate the damage if exploited? Remember, defects may arise from mistakes made during design or implementation, new attack techniques that were unknown at the time of testing, or simply coding errors. Your development team needs to identify areas where they can improve their process for them to have successful products. Pro Tip: When selecting a pen tester, make sure their reports include both technical and non-technical terms so that your entire team has access to this information. If the report is too complex for audiences outside of tech-related fields, it may not provide enough information needed to justify adjustments within an organization's business practices.8. Review Vulnerabilities and Adapt After you've prioritized your results, you'll begin remediation. During this process, we recommend: Keep communication channels open by providing regular feedback and being available for quick meetings to provide clarity or address questions and concerns. Assign a dedicated task force to handle any uncovered vulnerabilities, ensuring they have all the resources necessary and an appropriate amount of time and experience for this job. Identify the root cause of the vulnerability and develop strategies to take corrective action for each one. Re-evaluate your security measures after they have been fixed to ensure that any previously found vulnerabilities were indeed eliminated. Maximize Your Security Posture While penetration tests are a great way to identify vulnerabilities, they have clear limitations. The main one is that it only captures a snapshot of a specific point in time. To get the most out of your security processes, you need to pair it with a robust security partner that has the ability to test your system and processes continually. APIsec offers a fully automated and continuous testing solution that runs comprehensive attacks on every endpoint in your network—giving you the most up-to-date information. Ready to start securing your APIs and networks? Reach out to one of our security specialists for more information.‍

Business constraint exploitation, commonly known as business constraint bypass, is not a typical data breach where sensitive data is stolen; rather, this vulnerability occurs when an application's business logic constraints are circumvented by an attacker. Since this flaw is more challenging to discover than OWASP vulnerabilities, we've put together an article that discusses the importance of identifying it and what you can do to test for potential attacks. Why It's Important to Identify Business Constraint Bypass? Business Constraint Bypass is an overlooked threat that can seem harmless at first. But if left unchecked, this simple exploit could lead to serious problems for your company's data and applications—from getting access where it shouldn't have to DoS-based attacks. For example, your website has a flash sale of a product, but each customer is limited to 10 items per transaction. When a web application or an API has a loophole, malicious users are given carte blanche to modify and exploit this parameter (limit per customer to purchase more, therefore bypassing your business constraint. If you've tried to get your hands on a new gaming system during its initial launch, you've experienced this type of exploit from a customer's perspective. Let's see ways to correct business constraint exploitations. How to Combat Business Constraint Bypass Vulnerabilities? The best way to get more information from a program is by looking at its controller. This can be done in two ways: finding parameters that may be changed or examined and then modifying them to have better data sets for your analysis. Modifying a program's parameters to return more data than necessary is an effective way of finding bugs in the application. Usually, this involves looking at all its possibilities and then choosing which ones can be modified for better results. Here are some other remediation steps you could take: Monitor API Calls: Make sure they are being used as intended. If an API call is available on the internet, someone has a chance to exploit it. Set Limits on API Keys: Regular users should never have limitless capabilities or access. Set User Limits on Dynamic APIs: Limit requests by user or use cases, including session data in requests themselves. Observe HTTP Traffic: Look at both request and response blocks. Analyze POST/GET Requests: Malicious actors might use POST/GET requests with typical parameters either in name-value pair, JSON, or XML. Search Hidden Parameters: Look for hidden parameters and their values, analyzing specific calls as these constraints on a business can become targets if the end-user of your application or website does not understand them. Start Securing Your Business Constraints with APIsec Finding business constraints on your own is time-consuming, and you still risk missing a flaw. APIsec is leading the industry with its innovative, comprehensive, and continuous API testing. Here's how they find the often undiscovered constraint flaws: API Analyzer: With API Analyzer, you can dissect your company's APIs down to every endpoint, call, and input parameter so that the engine knows how best to attack it. API Attacker: API Attacker is an attack generator that applies hundreds of different scenarios and maps them onto your API to create custom-tailored attacks based on your unique API architecture. API Scanner: The engine that searches for anything unexpected in the test generated by API Attacker and generates a report. APIsec's solution makes it possible to continuously test APIs with each release - not just once or twice per year. Don't wait until you've been exploited; contact an API security specialist to schedule a free demo.

In the early days of the internet, you had to type "http://" before entering the web address of a website. Redirects have made our lives easier in that sense, but HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) still plays an integral part in applications across the web. Since this application-layer protocol for transferring hypermedia documents, such as HTML to render pages, is so common — it’s also a popular attack vector for cybercriminals. What Are HTTP Verbs? The HTTP verbs specify how the server should handle data identified by the URL. Often called "HTTP methods," they're called verbs because they are simply actions. Web servers accept many different HTTP verbs, but some of the most common instances are: GET - Returns a representation of a specified resource. Only retrieves data. POST - Submits an entity to the specified resource, often causing a change in state or side effects on the server. PUT- Writes the request payload to the specified location. PATCH - Makes a partial change to an existing resource. DELETE - Deletes the resource at the specified location. GET and POST are traditionally the two most commonly used HTTP verbs. For example, when you want to visit a website like Google, you’re performing a GET HTTP verb, retrieving the data from the website to your device. Performing a POST HTTP verb often shows up as entering information into a form on a website. You're "posting" new data, or a state change, on the web server. Links with the standard style trigger a GET request, while forms submitted with the 'POST' method trigger a POST request. In the absence of an HTTP verb, the form sends data via GET by default. As you can see, there’s not much difficulty in being able to change HTTP verb inputs. Attackers easily perform sensitive functions like DELETE once it's evident that there are vulnerabilities in the HTTP configuration. How Does HTTP Verb Tampering Work? HTTP verb tampering attacks take advantage of vulnerabilities in authentication and access control mechanisms of HTTP methods. The most common HTTP methods allow access with limited security because that’s how the authentication mechanisms were intended. Sites that required authentication originally were deemed secure with only password protection. As the Web got smarter, so did cybercriminals. Because most HTTP verbs are not fully secure, tampering is as simple as manipulating a password-protected area, allowing unauthorized access to restricted resources. HTTP verb tampering tends to be caused by misconfigured security settings either in the web application or the backend server. An attacker will exploit the vulnerability to bypass authentication and access sensitive data—with the option to manipulate or delete data by simply changing the request method. Common Attack Scenarios Insecure default configurations: Analyze whether any of your endpoints run on out-of-the-box settings and allow the usage of all HTTP verbs by default. Storing HTTP verbs in URL strings: Attackers can extract which HTTP verbs are allowed if stored in the URL strings. Ensure that your URLs do not contain HTTP verbs that can allow the URL to be easily manipulated. Using hidden fields to store status information: Hidden fields might be great and easy to use at design time, but attackers can easily read those hidden fields by inspecting the web page and then tamper with the information in them. Man-in-the-Middle attacks: Two servers are communicating without encryption, which allows an attacker to intercept and monitor traffic and communication. Lack of authorization and authentication of API endpoints: API vulnerabilities are commonly caused by inadequate authorization and authentication controls. An attacker can compromise an account protected by a single layer of authentication and abuse a lack of checks to expose information. Insecure coding: A web developer often applies specific filters to mitigate particular vulnerabilities within the written code, but leaves the code insecure by not applying those filters to all HTTP verbs. HTTP verbs being transferred between the client and the server: An attacker hijacks the message being passed between client and server to tweak the HTTP verb. How to Combat HTTP Verb Tampering Vulnerabilities There are a few actions you should take immediately to prevent HTTP verb tampering. Check Configurations: Make sure your code is not set to "allow all" in your security configurations. Failure to do so means attackers can use alternative HTTP verbs like HEAD or arbitrary character strings in their requests to gain access. Test: Penetration testing (or pen testing) involves simulating attack scenarios on your HTTP verbs to look for vulnerabilities that could lead to HTTP verb tampering before they're exploited. If you're regularly conducting pen tests, checking for problems like modified data or request smuggling will help prevent any issues from happening later. Be sure to include not only whether or not they're accessible, but what may happen once access has been granted. Automate the process: Automation saves time and resources all around. Automating your pen-testing means more quality analysis in finding potential vulnerabilities and preventing them before they happen. APIsec is the only automated API security testing solution that covers both vulnerability scanning and pen testing. APIsec provides ten times the coverage of manual pen testing at one-tenth the cost. APIsec doesn’t stop there, though. When vulnerabilities are uncovered, APIsec automatically provides a detailed description of the attack playbook used, giving you an actual "recording" or wire logs of the successful attack and remediation recommendations. Engineers never have to waste time investigating issues; instead, they can focus on remediation of the underlying problem. Schedule a demo today to see how APIsec can automate API security testing for your organization. ‍

The amount of sensitive data we share with outsiders has skyrocketed thanks to the technological advances that undoubtedly make our lives easier. However, these same advancements come with a cost—increasing exposure of our personal data. So, how is sensitive data exposed? What Is Sensitive Data Exposure? A sensitive data exposure occurs when an organization unknowingly exposes its customers' private information, leading to accidental destruction, alteration, or distribution of sensitive data. Personally identifiable information (PII) such as financial, business, and personal data is not the only sensitive information that needs to be protected. Other forms of sensitive data that need rigorous safeguarding include: Race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, political associations, or philosophical beliefs Passwords/login credentials Genetic and biometric data Trade-union membership Health-related information Details surrounding an individual's sex life or sexual orientation Sensitive Data Exposure vs. Data Breach It's important to remember that sensitive data exposure is different from a data breach, even though these terms are often used interchangeably. A data breach occurs when a third party with malicious intent gains unauthorized access to sensitive information. This typically occurs when sensitive data is exposed; however, breaches still happen without a preexisting exposure. On the other hand, it's possible for an organization to have sensitive data exposure without having their information breached. Just because an exposure exists doesn't mean it will be breached, but it significantly increases the chances. How Do Sensitive Data Exposures Lead to Attacks? The more you know about how data is prone to exposure, the better equipped your organization will be at mitigating potential attacks on this sensitive information. And since regulations, like the GDPR and CCAP, require organizations to protect sensitive data or face serious consequences, it's essential to know specifically where your company's sensitive files may run into trouble. Digital data is found in several different states, and to better understand where attacks occur, we need to take a quick look at them first. Data at Rest Many web applications typically store data at rest in servers, files, networks, and databases. While this data appears to be less vulnerable to attacks, the security of this information is entirely dependent on the protocols in place to protect it. Cyberattacks such as SQL injections or malicious payloads are used to circumvent security measures and gain unauthorized access to stored data. Data in Motion As data is exchanged between servers, channels, and application programming interfaces (APIs), it's at risk of interception by third parties along the way. Cybercriminals take advantage of security flaws that exist when two applications or servers communicate without encryption. One common attack is known as a man-in-the-middle (MITM), where the attacker intercepts and monitors traffic and communication. Data in Use Unlike data in motion or rest, data in use is a reflection of the current activity happening within an organization's IT infrastructure. This means that it can be actively updated, processed, or erased at any time, rather than simply being stored for later access. Data in this state is equally vulnerable to attacks and even more likely to be initiated by insider attacks. Now that you know where data can be attacked, let’s look at the way these attacks happen. Common Ways Data is Infiltrated: Broken access controls - Broken access control attacks rank #1 on OWASP's Top 10 list for web applications in 2021 and occur when an unauthorized user breaks through preexisting security barriers put in place to protect your data and applications. Weak or missing TSL/HTTPS - Lack of or weak encryptions is also a major cause of sensitive data exposure. Storing plain text files containing personal information onto your website leaves it vulnerable to exploits. SQL injection flaw - SQL injections occur when attackers introduce malicious queries into the system to extract information about users or other important details with a simple command. Phishing - Phishing attacks are designed to mislead users and get them to provide sensitive information via emails, instant messages, and text messages. Insider attacks - Insider attacks occur when current or former employees with authorized access initiate an attack by breaking in and stealing data, often going unnoticed because most organizations focus on outside attacks rather than those coming from within. How to Prevent Sensitive Data Exposure While web applications and web surfaces have their own vulnerabilities, however, Gartner predicts that APIs will be the main attack vector by 2022. To help prevent exposures, OWASP suggests you take these minimum steps against cryptographic failures (another name for sensitive data exposure). Identify, filter, and classify client data Avoid storing non-essential data Encrypt data at rest Update algorithms regularly Encrypt data in transit (with TSL) Disable caching for sensitive data Enforce authorization for all APIs (even internal) Address excessive data exposure vulnerabilities While these steps offer a great starting point, taking advanced measures will ensure your data is well protected. We recommend taking some advanced security measures. Advanced Recommendations Automated security - Use an automated end-to-end vulnerability scanning solution to improve your security posture by benchmarking web applications against the OWASP Top 10 list. Automated API testing platforms detect potential problems before they grow into something major. Continuous testing - Integrating security into software that includes continuous testing from development through production gives you complete coverage and ensures there are no loopholes for attackers to exploit.. As the world continues to accelerate development cycles, organizations should never compromise security to meet the demands of digital transformation. With APIsec, you won't have to. APIsec is the only platform that offers an automated, comprehensive way to test your company's API security. With ten times the coverage of manual pen testing, APIsec enables in-depth security assessments for your entire breadth of APIs. The automated platform tests against both known vulnerabilities and newly found threats to give you peace of mind with every vulnerability test. Reach out to a security expert and see how APIsec protects APIs from sensitive data exposures, or run a free API pen test to see how your API may be vulnerable right now.

The OpenAPI Specification (OAS) defines a standard, language-agnostic interface to RESTful APIs which allows both humans and computers to discover and understand the capabilities of the service without access to source code, documentation, or through network traffic inspection.[1] APISec supports 1.0, 2.0, 3.x versions of the OpenAPI specification (OAS) as well as Postman and RAML formats. The following is a list of some libraries and resources which can be helpful in generating an OpenAPI Specification (OAS) document for your existing REST API application grouped by implementation technology. ASP.NET Core The two main OpenAPI implementations for .NET are Swashbuckle and NSwag. They are explained nicely in the Microsoft ASP.NET documentation - ASP.NET Core web API documentation with Swagger / OpenAPI | Microsoft Docs The OpenAPI.NET SDK contains a useful object model for OpenAPI documents in .NET along with common serializers to extract raw OpenAPI JSON and YAML documents from the model - GitHub - microsoft/OpenAPI.NET Spring Springfox supports automated JSON API documentation for API's built with Spring - GitHub - springfox/springfox The springdoc-openapi Java library helps automating the generation of API documentation using Spring Boot projects - GitHub - springdoc/springdoc-openapi Java For JAX-RS based projects(Jersey/RESTEasy/Mule), Swagger Core provides examples and server integrations for generating the Swagger API Specification, which enables easy access to your REST API - GitHub - swagger-api/swagger-core The Swagger Maven Plugin is a JAX-RS & SpringMVC supported maven build plugin, helps you generate Swagger JSON and API document in build phase - GitHub - kongchen/swagger-maven-plugin Python Flask-RESTX is an extension for Flask which provides a coherent collection of decorators and tools to describe your API and expose its documentation properly using Swagger - GitHub - python-restx/flask-restx Falcon-apispec is an apispec plugin that generates OpenAPI specification (aka Swagger) for Falcon web applications - Github - alysivji/falcon-apispec drf-yasg - Yet another Swagger generator helps in automated generation of real Swagger/OpenAPI 2.0 schemas from Django REST Framework code. - GitHub - axnsan12/drf-yasg drf-spectacular is a sane and flexible OpenAPI 3 schema generation for Django REST framework - GitHub - tfranzel/drf-spectacular Node.js swagger-autogen performs the automatic construction of the Swagger documentation - swagger-autogen - npm NestJS provides a dedicated module which allows generating OpenAPI (Swagger) - Github - nestjs/swagger swagger-express is a simple and clean solution to integrate swagger with Express - swagger-express - npm express-oas-generator automatically generates OpenAPI (Swagger) specification for existing ExpressJS 4.x REST API applications - express-oas-generator - npm Hapi-swagger is a OpenAPI (aka Swagger) plug-in for Hapi When installed it will self document the API interface in a project - hapi-swagger - npm PHP swagger-php is a php swagger annotation and parsing library which generates interactive OpenAPI documentation for your RESTful API using doctrine annotations. - GitHub - zircote/swagger-php Ruby rspec-openapi generates OpenAPI schema from RSpec request specs - Github - rspec-openapi rswag seamlessly adds a Swagger to Rails-based APIs - Github - rswag zero-rails_openapi is a concise DSL for generating OpenAPI Specification 3 (OAS3) JSON documentation for Ruby application - GitHub - zhandao/zero-rails_openapi The grape-swagger gem provides an auto generated documentation for your Grape API - GitHub - ruby-grape/grape-swagger Swagger::Blocks is a DSL for pure Ruby code blocks that can be turned into Swagger JSON - .GitHub - fotinakis/swagger-blocks openapi-rails is a CRUD interface for Rails models with OpenAPI (Swagger) specification support and Swagger UI integration - GitHub - slate-studio/openapi-rails Go swag automatically generates RESTful API documentation with Swagger 2.0 - GitHub - swaggo/swag go-swagger (golang implementation of Swagger 2.0) is a complete suite of fully-featured, high-performance, API components to work with a Swagger API: server, client and data model - Github - Swagger 2.0 implementation for go APISec seamlessly integrates with most of the popular API gateways and automatically pulls the API specs in OAS format for easy API registration. For the purpose of document completion and developer curiosity, a select few are mentioned below. AWS API Gateway get-export is a CLI command to export OAS from AWS API Gateway - get-export — AWS CLI 2.4.27 Command Reference Google Cloud Endpoints Generating the OpenAPI document is described here -, Adding API management | Cloud Endpoints Frameworks for App Engine Azure API Management API developers can export API definitions in OAS format - Export API definitions from API Management developer portal | Azure updates | Microsoft Azure Apigee Edge Apigee Edge Proxy to OpenAPI 2.0 conversion tool. - GitHub - anil614sagar/apigee2openapi Postman Convert Postman Collections v2.1/v2.0 to OpenAPI v3.0 - postman-to-openapi - npm IBM DataPowerHow to get OAS for an API from IBM DataPower Gateway (v5 compatible) and DataPower API Gateway - https://docs.apisec.ai/oas-ibm-datapower/. Help us improve this article by sending your suggestions and comments to support@apisec.ai. Thanks! References: OpenAPI Initiative

Business logic vulnerabilities often go undetected for years. Nothing makes cybercriminals happier than an application with vulnerabilities they can exploit without any special tools—simply working within the normal functionality of the app. Since most vulnerabilities are exposed in the development phase, catching them during the design phase will require new strategies beyond what has been the industry norm. “Without proper testing, you’re leaving those APIs exposed and just ripe for the picking.” - Corey Ball, Cybersecurity Consulting Manager & Author of "Hacking APIs" We’ve identified common business logic flaws and provided our top tips for eliminating them during application design. 1. Ensure Proper Authorization and Authentication Measures From Day 1 Attackers often gain access to sensitive data through vulnerabilities in authentication and authorization resources that they should not have access to. Here are the most common business logic flaws associated with this cluster of API threats and how you address them from the start: Unprotected APIs: Implement stringent authorization and authentication for all internal and staging APIs so they can’t be compromised to pivot to other systems. Weak credential policy: Restrict the use of insecure or previously exposed passwords to guard yourself against automated brute force attacks. Flawed credential recovery process: Ensure that permit recovery or credential reset can’t be triggered with insufficient information. Broken authentication: Make it impossible to view, modify, or remove the data of another account without the corresponding user privileges. Read More: API Security Checklist: What You Need To Know 2. Eliminate Data Input And Client-Side Loopholes Malicious attackers can alter a database query without using any exploits to make the application execute unauthorized commands. To combat this, we recommend evaluating the most common business logic flaws related to data input and client-side vulnerabilities. Critical parameter manipulation: Inspect HTTP request parameters (the values sent in the request body) to make it impossible to tamper them to query the database. Cookie tampering: Encrypt session and cookie data to prevent the attacker from reverse engineering business logic and modifying cookie parameters to launch a privilege escalation attack. LDAP injection attacks: Check LDAP parameters for any business logic flags to prevent bad actors from changing them to bypass the business layer. Client-side vulnerabilities: Examine your business routines embedded in JavaScript, Flash, or other client-side languages. Read More: Drilling Down Into Excessive Data Exposure: How to Protect Your APIs Sensitive Data 3. Eliminate Logic Flaws From Processes and Workflows When application workflows or processes have design flaws built into the business logic, users short-circuit them in unintended ways to bypass security checks and gain unauthorized access to data and functionalities. That’s why it's essential to meticulously test every action and task the user can perform to uncover potential loopholes. These business logic vulnerabilities would be a great starting point: Business constraint exploitation: Ensure that no hidden user fields contain values that control the constraints or restrictions defined by the business logic layer. Business flow bypass: Break down your application workflows to verify steps can’t be hijacked, skipped, or bypassed to perform a certain task. Denial of Services (DoS) with business logic: Check for the possibility of short-circuiting processes with infinite loops to overload or crash the system. Auto-increment IDs: Graduate from using automatically-incrementing identifiers when generating database records to make it impossible for the attacker to automatically harvest all of your records should you find your defense lines compromised. Read More: What Is API Privacy and How to Protect Your Sensitive Data 4. Ensure Critical Data Is Secured APIs and web applications often leak credentials and sensitive data without an organization ever knowing it happened. By following these best practices, you help to ensure that your API is secure: Identity extraction: Examine the parameters that control user profiles and make it impossible for the attacker to reverse engineer or guess tokens to harvest user data. Getting entire database objects: Ensure that the server returns only the values requested by the user, not entire database objects. Never leave data filtering to the client. Unauthorized file URL access: Dissect the mechanisms that generate temporary links to restricted files to ensure they can’t be reverse-engineered or hijacked with a custom API call. Read More: How Improper Assets Management Leaves Your APIs Vulnerable to Attacks The Only Automated API Security Testing Tool that Detects Business Logic Flaws Armed with this list, you will drastically reduce the likelihood and severity of data breaches caused by this vulnerability cluster. APIsec is the only fully automated API security testing solution that identifies business logic vulnerabilities at scale. By automating the process of identifying these flaws, APIsec helps organizations protect their applications and data from being compromised. If you want to learn more about how APIsec can help you identify and fix business logic flaws, contact us for a free demo.

Business logic refers to the rules and procedures that govern a business, including things like pricing, discounts, inventory levels, customer eligibility, etc. Application logic, on the other hand, is the code that implements those business rules within a specific application. The key difference between business logic and application logic is that business logic is all about the data inputs based on your business, while application logic is all about how the user interacts with the app. For example, business logic is concerned with calculating interest on a loan, whereas application logic is concerned with what happens when the user clicks the "Get pre-approved" button on a website. To better understand why this distinction matters, it is important to fully understand how these logics function and how they work together to ensure that your applications are more reliable and scalable. What is the Function of Business Logic? Business logic encodes real-world business rules that determine how users interact with the application and how data should be created, exchanged, and managed. This code is typically written in if-then statements or decision trees and sits between the user interface and the database. It is responsible for ensuring that all data that passes through it is valid, consistent, and accurate. "If a user makes an out-of-state purchase over $500, flag the transaction as suspicious." Business logic should be written independently of the technology used to implement it. That way, if the technology ever needs to change, you won't have to rewrite your business logic. Or, if your business rules change, then alterations can quickly be made to the business logic. Business logic is also responsible for handling all of the behind-the-scenes work that needs to happen in order to keep the data safe and secure. If the logic isn't sound, a loophole occurs. This is known as a "business logic flaw," and it has serious consequences. What Goes Wrong with Business Logic? One of the most common problems with business logic is that it becomes outdated as a business changes. This leads to inaccurate calculations, bad decisions, or simply an inability to function correctly. Malicious actors frequently exploit business logic flaws. If there are security holes in the system, attackers use them to gain access to sensitive data, disrupt operations, or even take control of the entire system. Adopting security measures to test your logic for any loopholes or flaws is one way to protect your business logic. What is the Function of Application Logic? Application logic is the engine that bridges the gap between business logic and the user interface: It takes the back-end business logic input and turns it into the front-end output that the user sees. In short, the actions run with application logic have nothing to do with business, it simply outlines a series of actions triggered by an event. "If a user clicks this button, a tab will open in a new window." It contains all of the rules and processes that control how the user interacts with the data. Its main responsibility is to ensure the user interface is easy to navigate, providing a good experience. Unlike business logic, application logic is typically written in high-level programming languages, including C++, Java, or Python. This code is what makes the system work. Without proper application logic, an application would be nothing more than a bunch of disconnected code snippets. What Goes Wrong with Application Logic? The complexity of the programming in the application logic is what also makes it susceptible to errors. If the code is poorly written, if there are bugs in the system, or if the data that's being used is incorrect—the entire app can collapse. Since application logic is user-facing, any glitches will directly affect consumers. This could cause problems ranging from minor inconveniences to completely losing customer loyalty. The good news is that these bugs are much easier to find than vulnerabilities in business logic. How do Application Logic and Business Logic Work Together? Even though they each have distinct functions, business logic and application logic work together to ensure that a business runs smoothly and efficiently. Companies rely on both types of logic to automate tasks, keep data safe, and provide a consistent user experience. The two types of code are often combined within an application or program. For example, an e-commerce application might have business logic that defines the process for adding items to a shopping cart and application logic that actually adds the items to the cart. When an application needs to perform a task, it uses business logic to determine how to carry it out. The business logic will tell the application what rules to follow and in what order they should be performed. The application logic will then use this information to carry out those steps. The important thing to remember is that business logic and application logic need to work together in order for a company to be successful. They are essential for creating a successful web application that is both efficient and user-friendly. Read More: Why APIs Are Your Biggest Security Risk Protect Your Application from Business Logic Vulnerabilities with APIsec With APIs well on their way to becoming the primary attack vector in 2022, business logic flaws are the most dangerous type of vulnerabilities that can't be detected with traditional scanners and testing tools. APIsec is the only fully automated API security testing solution that identifies business logic flaws at scale. With thousands of attack scenarios tailored to the unique architecture of your APIs, APIsec investigates every corner of your API and leaves it completely covered. Reach out to a consultant to get set up with a free demo.

Business logic flaws are considered to be the most dangerous cluster of API vulnerabilities - and for good reason. While some vulnerabilities are relatively easy to spot with scanners and penetration tests, business flaws are typically hard to detect as they occur within the bounds of your system's legitimate functionalities. A rapidly growing list of organizations falling victim to major cybersecurity incidents resulting from business logic flaws serves as a cautionary warning for anyone overlooking thorough API security testing processes. Business Logic Vulnerabilities 101 A business logic vulnerability refers to a flaw in the design of an API that can be exploited to achieve a malicious goal. These flaws allow attackers to gain unauthorized access to sensitive data without turning to malware or exploits by using the API as it was designed in ways unintended by developers. Because of this, business logic flaws can go undetected for years without triggering any alarms, making them a favorite target for bad actors. That's why companies must have a process for identifying and fixing business logic vulnerabilities before they are exposed and exploited. Read More: Why Business Logic Flaws Are Your #1 API Security Risk These 5 Major Data Breaches Were Caused by Business Logic Flaws Companies that don't take data security seriously often find themselves in trouble. A data breach may result in a tsunami of lawsuits, massive financial losses, and permanent damage to an organization's reputation. In fact, nearly a quarter of Americans stop doing business with companies that have experienced a data breach. To help you avoid becoming a statistic, below we'll break down five real-world data breaches caused by business logic flaws and provide actionable tips on protecting yourself against them. 1. USPS Data Breach: 60 Million User Records Exposed In 2018, the United States Postal Service (USPS) became a data breach victim when a cyberattacker opened the system to allow anyone with an active account at usps.com to view - or even view modify - account details of other users. What Information Was Lost or Exposed? Approximately 60 million records of users were exposed as a result of this major data breach. The incident led to the unauthorized access of real-time delivery data, exposing all sensitive personal information on the affected accounts, including email addresses, user IDs, usernames, phone numbers, and street addresses. How Did This Breach Happen? The USPS data breach happened due to broken access controls in their informed delivery API. This business logic flaw allowed attackers - or any authorized user for that matter - to gain access to other people’s sensitive data without any exploits by abusing the flaws in the legitimate authentication mechanisms. How to Combat This Business Logic Flaw Companies can take several steps to protect their APIs from this business logic vulnerability - some of the best examples include: Authenticate all API requests to ensure that user A can’t access user B’s information. Adopting the zero-trust security model to monitor both unauthorized and authorized users. Eliminating Basic Authentication (the standard combination of a username and password) and implement OAuth, JWT, or OpenID instead. Avoiding auto-increment IDs to drastically reduce the severity of a data breach should one occur. Considering the use of short-lived access tokens. 2. Citi Data Breach: Over 350,000 Customer Records Stolen Since financial institutions contain large amounts of highly sensitive data that can be sold on the dark web, they have traditionally been a prime target for cybercriminals. In 2011, Citi announced the security of its online banking platform was compromised, leaking personally identifiable information. What Information Was Lost or Exposed? A seemingly minor vulnerability allowed attackers to gain unauthorized access to 350,000 customer records of North American cardholders. The breach exposed the names, account numbers, and contact information of the customers. While sensitive financial data was not leaked, the company suffered major reputational losses. How Did This Breach Happen? The data breach occurred due to a parameter tampering attack targeting their business logic layer. An attack using this method involves manipulating certain parameters exchanged between the client and server. In this type of attack, web elements like cookies, URL strings, and hidden form fields can hijack a request to the database and gain unauthorized access to sensitive data or elevate their user privileges. Read More: How Cybercriminals Acquired 350K Citi Customer Records (In-depth Analysis) How to Combat This Business Logic Flaw Several methods exist to prevent parameter tampering attacks on web applications and APIs: Ensure that the application or API validates and sanitizes all input parameters before they are used. Many techniques can be used to accomplish this, including regular expression matching, whitelist validation, and blacklist validation. Enforce cookie encryption to prevent parameter tampering. Do not include parameters in URL query strings. 3. HealthEngine Data Breach: 59,000+ Containing Personally Identifiable Information Leaked Black market sales of medical records are on the rise since they contain all of an individual's personal information. Fraudulent transactions and blackmail can easily be carried out using these data sets. Over the last three years, 93% of healthcare organizations experienced a data breach - including HealthEngine, a marketplace and review platform for healthcare services. What Information Was Lost or Exposed? The data breach exposed over 59,000 records of patients’ personally identifiable information. The incident brought the attention of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission that went in to audit the company and fined HealthEngine $2.9 million for violating privacy and consumer laws. How Did This Breach Happen? The attacker didn’t need to use any sophisticated hacking techniques to harvest the records as the data breach was caused due to a pretty common vulnerability known as excessive data exposure. Excessive data exposure vulnerabilities occur whenever an API returns more information than a user needs to perform a given task or action. In HealthEngine’s case, the backend of the system sent healthcare practice review data along with all the personally identifiable information of the patient who had submitted the feedback. Since the client was responsible for data filtering, it was easy for anyone to analyze network calls to collect the records. Read More: How Cybercriminals Acquired Patients' Personally Identifiable Information from HealthEngine (In-depth Analysis) How to Combat This Business Logic Flaw Excessive data exposure is a common yet overlooked cybersecurity issue that plagues web applications and APIs. Consider the following measures to reduce the attack surface: Avoid returning entire database objects in API responses. Never rely on the client for data filtering - simply hiding certain fields doesn’t prevent cybercriminals from accessing them. Minimize the amount of data in your API responses to the bare minimum needed to execute a certain task. Make sure your error pages don't contain any information that can help bad actors identify your tech stack. 4. Symantec Data Breach: 23,000 SSL Certificates Revoked In 2019, Symantec, one of the largest cybersecurity companies in the US, found itself on the receiving end of a data breach, which resulted in severe reputational and legal repercussions. What Information Was Lost or Exposed? After thousands of private keys were exposed, DigiCert, a leading provider of digital certificates, revoked 23,000 Symantec SSL certificates. How Did This Breach Happen? The incident was caused by a broken access control vulnerability in the business logic. The API failed to properly validate whether a given user was allowed to access sensitive data. The compromised records allowed the attackers to perform Man-in-the-middle attacks. Read More: How a Common API Flaw Gave Attackers Access to Symantec's Customer Certificates (In-depth Analysis) How to Combat This Business Logic Flaw This business logic flaw can be averted by implementing the following measures: Analyze all possible ways for authorized and unauthorized users to authenticate to your APIs Implement rate-limiting to prevent automated attacks Enforce multi-factor authentication 5. Venmo Data Breach: Over 200 Million Transactions Harvested In 2019, the money transfer site Venmo (owned by PayPal) became a victim of one of the largest data breaches in recent years. What Information Was Lost or Exposed? Approximately 200 million transactions were exposed along with massive amounts of sensitive data associated with them as a result of the data breach. As a result, it was possible to analyze the entire transaction history of the compromised users, including the recipients, the amount of money sent, and even the purpose of those transactions. How Did This Breach Happen? The attacker scraped millions of Venmo payment records through their unsecured API that was leaking data. The developer API was open to unauthenticated requests, making it possible for anyone to harvest highly sensitive data. This business logic flaw is related to security misconfiguration, a cluster of API threats that ranks #7 on the OWASP API Security Top 10 list. This vulnerability occurs when an API is left unsecured or poorly configured, leaving loopholes for attackers to take advantage of. How to Combat This Business Logic Flaw Consider implementing the following security measures to protect yourself against this cluster of vulnerabilities: Limit administrative access across all of your APIs. Enforce authorization and authentications mechanisms for all of your APIs - even for private or staging assets. Eliminate insecure default configurations. The Only Automated API Security Testing Tool that Can Tackle Business Logic Flaws Business logic flaws are almost impossible to spot using vulnerability scanners and penetration testing since each API is built in a unique way. Popular API testing tools can only give you a surface-level view of the API while leaving critical issues unaddressed. That’s where APIsec comes into play. APIsec is the only automated API security testing solution that leverages the power of AI to deeply analyze your APIs, generate hundreds of custom-tailored attack scenarios, and execute them within minutes - not hours or days. This approach allows APIsec to successfully identify business logic flaws for a fraction of the cost of manual pen-testing. Sounds too good to be true? Get in touch with our team today to schedule a free demo.

You may think it requires writing hundreds of lines of code to break through the most secure network defenses. In reality, cybercriminals typically gain access to your sensitive data through the standard functionalities of your API, used in a way you didn't anticipate. These loopholes are called Business Logic Flaws, and they are your biggest threat to your API security. What Are Business Logic Flaws? A business logic vulnerability is a flaw in an API's design that lets an attacker manipulate legitimate functionalities, data, or workflows to reach a malicious goal. Business logic flaws are so prevalent that four of the top five OWASP API attack vectors are related to this cluster of vulnerabilities, making it vital for you to understand how they work. From elevating user privileges to destroying databases, the key factor is that these flaws occur due to incorrect assumptions about how different parts of your systems work and interact. As a real-world example, a business logic vulnerability was the root cause of a massive data breach involving the United States Postal Service and 60 million records of sensitive user data, leaving a permanent mark on the organization's reputation. Read More: What is API Security and Why It's Important How Do Business Logic Flaws Happen? APIs are the pipelines that are allowed through the firewall. And if they're not tested properly, they could be vulnerable - essentially, by design - with business logic flaws. Corey Ball, Cybersecurity Consulting Manager & Author of "Hacking APIs" When an attacker tries to access your network systems using malware, SQL injections, or other techniques, even the most basic security measures will likely trigger an alarm and warn your security teams about an ongoing cyberattack. With business logic flaws, it's an entirely different story. Imagine a scenario where your dev team overlooks restriction protocols that allow HTTP request methods on the page displaying the current balance of a user's bank account. The attacker could potentially use the PUT method to edit the value or delete the record entirely. Since logic flaws like this happen within the bounds of legitimate API functionalities, they typically don't trigger any alarms until long after your data has been compromised - if ever. Businesses suffer financial losses, decreased customer confidence, damaged reputations, and even bankruptcy due to data breaches. Read More: What is API Testing Automation? What Are the Most Common Types of Business Logic Flaws? While business logic flaws are unique vulnerabilities based on the architecture of a given API, we can single out the most common types of them to help you stay ahead of cybercriminals. 1. Misusing HTML Elements and Other Client-side Code Web pages are often built using HTML, with dynamic elements that can be changed on the client-side using scripting languages like JavaScript. But these same elements can become a huge security risk when they are left vulnerable to manipulation by outside actors. If an attacker can alter these elements to make unauthorized queries, they can bypass any firewalls to access sensitive data. 2. Authorization Bypass A vulnerability known as authorization bypass allows certain users to access information that should be beyond their authorization level. Since this is a very broad umbrella of vulnerabilities, it's no surprise that many levels and instances of cyberattacks fall under this category. Broken Object Level Authorization (BOLA) is already #1 on the OWASP API Security Top 10 list - and for good reasons. API providers do a great job of ensuring that users are authenticated to the API, so they want to make sure that legitimate users have access. But the number one thing that's often overlooked is authorization, ensuring that user A can't access user’s B resources. And it's one thing to hide the resource IDs, but the important factor there is that user A should not be able to access, interact with, or alter user B’s resources - at all. Corey Ball, Cybersecurity Consulting Manager & Author of "Hacking APIs" The two most common subtypes of authorization bypass include: Lateral movement: accessing data of another account at the same privilege level Privilege escalation: accessing data that the current privilege level isn't supposed to have access to Strong authorization and authentication protocols - such as oAuth or OpenID - should be implemented to prevent authorization bypass and protect your systems against this attack vector. 3. Failing to Handle Unconventional User Input An attacker can trigger an unexpected response from your systems by providing inputs to an API that a developer failed to anticipate, potentially exposing sensitive data. Many APIs lack the security controls that other attack vectors have in place, making them the equivalent of the Death Star's thermal exhaust port: a path to doom and destruction for businesses. Corey Ball, Cybersecurity Consulting Manager & Author of "Hacking APIs" Businesses have to be very careful when it comes to handling unconventional user input and meticulously test for all data types, including unexpected values and characters. They can do this by running a series of fuzz tests to feed the systems with different kinds of random user input. 4. Putting Excessive Trust in Users Many IT systems trust their authorized users too much, creating a host of security potential security vulnerabilities. If an attacker can access the login credentials of real admin users - whether as a result of a phishing attack or by simply buying that data on the dark web - they can easily sneak in, access the database, and cause a data breach - similar to one led to the exposure of three billion Yahoo records. To keep yourself safe and protected, you have to assume that every user is a potential security threat, whether authorized or not. That's what the zero-trust security model is all about, ensuring that every user is properly authorized and authenticated - all while monitoring their behavior even after letting them in. 5. Domain-Specific Flaws Domain-specific flaws are the weaknesses in your system that are only present in a specific area. Unlike general vulnerabilities that affect your entire application, domain-specific flaws are only found within a particular module or function. This key aspect makes them harder to identify and fix because you need to deeply understand the objectives attackers may try to achieve by abusing domain-specific flaws. The more information you have about what your end users are doing, the easier it is to identify and flag suspicious actions accurately. A good starting point would be utilizing your API management tool's analytics and reporting capabilities to identify and analyze usage patterns. Read More: API Security Checklist: What You Need To Know How to Prevent and Test for Business Logic Flaws in Your API Security Effective API security testing is critical. And if we think back to the USPS data leak, that was tested a month before a leak of 60 million instances of private data. It’s not that you’re just testing APIs generically but that you’re using the right tools and techniques that will help your API security vulnerability management program to do a good job at preventing these sorts of attacks. Corey Ball, Cybersecurity Consulting Manager & Author of "Hacking APIs" Now that you know the most common types of business logic flaws, it’s time to do something about them. Here are some tips for testing for business logic flaws in your API security: 1. Ensure that Your Test Cases Cover All Possible Scenarios The first step towards ensuring that your API security is airtight is to craft as many test cases as possible to cover all possible attack scenarios. The more attack scenarios you test against, the higher the chances of identifying the underlying business logic vulnerabilities. That’s where you need a deep understanding of all aspects of your API to create test cases that actually move the needle. APIs have direct access to sensitive data. They connect to your application servers, your microservices, and your database applications, so they have to be really secure. And a lot of APIs are overpermissioned - with some of them, you don’t even realize they’re probably leaking credentials. Cecil Pineda, Co-Founder at CISO XC 2. Validate All User Input Treat user input as a security threat by default. This approach entails validating all user input, regardless of where it’s coming from or who submits it. That way, you’re protecting yourself from an entire layer of API vulnerabilities and drastically mitigate the risks related to insider threats. All invalid input should be logged and eventually monitored to uncover potential chinks in your armor that can lead to a data breach. The zero-trust security model has proven to be effective in reducing the number of cybersecurity incidents, so it’s a good idea to apply it to your APIs. Read More: What Is API Privacy and How to Protect Your Sensitive Data 3. Improve Your API Documentation Make sure that your APIs are adequately documented so that developers can understand how it works. This will boost your adoption rates and help you catch any errors or inconsistencies in your business logic. A well-documented API will make it easier for you to test for security vulnerabilities. 4. Monitor for Unusual Behavior and Review All Access Logs Regularly API logging and monitoring are absolutely vital to protect your users from cyberattacks. No system can ever be completely secure, so it’s crucial for your team to constantly track and analyze all auditable events - from failed logins to large transactions. Some user actions may point you toward a critical business logic vulnerability, so eye your logs like a hawk. 5. Use Automated API Security Testing Tools Automating your security testing is a great place to begin if you feel overwhelmed by this information or don't know where to begin. The problem is that business logic flaws are incredibly difficult to identify and detect, even when having a team of developers at your disposal. Often, your developers are the most expensive employees on your payroll. Popular API testing tools lack the depth needed to truly protect your APIs because security is not their specialty, allowing you only to automate the execution of thousands of test cases that you still have to create manually. That's where APIsec comes into play. APIsec runs on every release, not just once or twice a year with the pen test cycle, constantly updating the playbooks and making sure that any new code gets evaluated. APIsec is the only API security testing tool that automatically creates and executes thousands of test cases and actually makes it possible to identify business logic flaws based on the unique architecture of your API. Our customers ask us what we’re doing to protect their sensitive data on Seismic, and once they see what we have done with APIsec, their confidence grows. Tim Dzierzek, VP of Information Security Request a demo today to learn about APIsec’s one-of-a-kind technology to keep your APIs and data safe.

IT staff turnover is a normal part of doing business, but it’s also one of the biggest threats to API security. When employees leave your company, they take your organizational knowledge with them - which could include technical details that, when lost or overlooked due to improper assets management, lead to a high-risk API security vulnerability. Improper assets management is severe and common enough to regularly appear on the OWASP API Security Top 10 list of the most dangerous risks to your APIs. Keep reading to learn more about improper assets management and how you can mitigate the risk to your API security. What Is Improper Assets Management? Improper assets management is a security flaw that occurs when developers do not correctly document and manage their APIs. Improper assets management can occur when teams neglect obsolete APIs, use outdated or unpatched software, launch APIs prematurely, trust unsecured connections, or fail to vet third-party providers thoroughly. Improperly managed APIs are a prime target for cyberattacks because it is typically much easier to exploit them to access sensitive data and systems - and often can go undetected when APIs are no longer actively managed. How Improper Assets Management Flaws Occur & And How To Fix Them Improper assets management is a significant security threat to your business, but there’s a silver lining: it’s completely preventable. How you manage your company’s digital assets is up to you – and that means there are several measures you can take to avoid improper management and mitigate your security risk. Let’s look at the most common reasons this happens and how to avoid it for your business. Incomplete or Missing API Documentation Incomplete, inaccurate, or missing API documentation makes it easy to forget, overlook, and neglect proper security checks in the dev process. If the only person who understands how an API is built leaves the organization, a new team member is almost sure to miss critical flaws. The Solution: Keep An Up-To-Date Inventory of All APIs & Review It Regularly A simple but effective strategy requires your development teams to maintain accurate and up-to-date inventories of all APIs and related systems. Your team should record the location, purpose, security status, version, and access controls for every single digital asset they create – no exceptions allowed. Review your inventory regularly and take action to update security controls or decommission obsolete code as needed. We’ve already covered how knowledge lost during developer transitions leads to improper assets management and security risks. Avoid this problem by including processes to record and transfer essential knowledge when API developers leave your organization. Improper Management of User Roles & Responsibilities When you assign responsibility to everyone, you assign it to no one. When teams don’t know who is responsible for API documentation and security, they’re likely to leave it at the bottom of their priority list - focusing on consistently urgent fires that tend to pop up daily for most developers. The Solution: Clear Roles & Responsibilities It’s vital to have a clear understanding of who is responsible for managing different types of digital assets. Make sure everyone on your team knows who is responsible for securing and monitoring your APIs and other assets – and who is responsible for taking appropriate action if a breach occurs. Mismanaged Access Controls & Monitoring Unsecured APIs can provide cyber attackers with a foothold into your organization’s systems and data. Successful cyberattacks occur frequent;y because someone made public an API that should have been private. The Solution: Limit Access to All Public & Private APIs To avoid this, you should use a combination of role-based access controls (RBAC) and federated identity management (FIDM) to authenticate users, limit access to only those who need it, and control the type of actions users are allowed to take. Lack of Comprehensive API Security Throughout the Dev Cycle Insecure APIs and other asset management problems are missed due to a lack of comprehensive API security measures such as frequent testing and monitoring - often until a data breach forces you to examine your system's security. APIs are often hacked when they're in staging - these temporary pieces of code can and will become a security risk if they're not documented and maintained as well as more permanent ones. You can reduce your risk by constantly monitoring and controlling which APIs make requests to your data servers and what data they are accessing - but this can also be very resource-consuming when done manually. The Solution: Comprehensive API Security Testing API Testing software has revolutionized the way companies secure their APIs. APIsec specifically provides 100% automated, continuous API security testing that works at CI/CD speed. APIs are getting more powerful, versatile, and used in all kinds of industries, including financial services, healthcare, retail, and even professional services like legal firms. At the same time, cybercriminals are continually working on new tactics to breach and compromise data at firms of all sizes. With APIs becoming critical to the foundation of businesses, proper management of the APIs has never been more important. If you want a free vulnerability assessment of your APIs. Our experts will evaluate your network, answer your questions, and help you implement practical tools and effective strategies to keep your APIs secure. Reach out to us for a free vulnerability scan today.

Navigating the landscape of IT involves an understanding of software architecture. The business logic layer is critical in modern applications. It's the linchpin that holds everything together, but it's also the weakest link from a cybersecurity perspective. Understanding how the development process works is essential for everyone involved, including non-technical employees. In this article, you'll learn what the business logic layer is, how it works, and how cybercriminals take advantage of it. What is a Business Logic Layer & Why Does It Matter? The business logic layer is the connector between the database and the application, defining the rules and restrictions of how the database data is used. In the three-tier architecture, the BLL acts as the engine of the application, separating business rules from presentation and database layers (which do not interact directly). The BLL is often powered by APIs, making them susceptible to cyber-attacks. In fact, API attacks are projected to become the main attack vector this year. "The business logic is the prime target for attackers because business flaws - cyber threats that occur when cybercriminals exploit the legitimate functionalities and workflows of the application to reach their malicious goals - spare them the trouble of having to do the dirty work of actually hacking your application. What a normal criminal attacker could be going after would be data, right? So, normally, you'd have to get past the firewall and have exploits at your hands in order to gain access to a single system. Once you have that access to that system, you could pivot to other systems on the network, hoping to find the database filled with private user data that could be valuable on the dark web. But instead of doing that, you could learn how to use the API. And if the API is not protected, you don't need to do any of that fancy hacking. Instead, you can use the API as it was designed and make queries for other users' data, and get handed everything you were looking for from the very beginning. So without proper testing, you're leaving APIs exposed and just ripe for the picking. - Corey Ball, Cybersecurity Consulting Manager & Author of "Hacking APIs" How Attackers Can Attack Your Business Logic Layer Whenever the phrase "data breach" appears in the news, it's likely to be another instance of cybercriminals abusing the business logic layer. Venmo, USPS, Peloton, Instagram - just a few of the companies that have suffered devastating API attacks through business logic flaws. Let's explore some of the most common ways attackers can take advantage of your BLL. Tampering with Data: Attackers manipulate data inputs to inject malicious code or run unauthorized commands. Denial of Service: Attackers disrupt business operations by flooding the BLL with more requests than it can handle. Spoofing: An attacker fabricates data and bypasses defenses to gain access to the system's data or functionality by posing as a known, trusted source. Elevation of Privileges: Attackers exploit the BLL loopholes to gain more privileges than they're entitled to or even take over the entire system through its API. How to Protect Your Business Logic Layer for API Security Here are some steps you can take to protect this layer from such attacks and others like them: Restrict Access to the API: Only provide access to the API to authorized users. A user can be authenticated and authorized based on their role within the organization. Enforce Strong Authentication and authorization mechanisms: Use robust authentication methods, such as oAuth and OpenID, to ensure that attackers can't gain access to the API. Use Encryption: Protect the data being passed between the client and the server with encryption methods that prevent attackers from being able to read sensitive information. Implement Rate Limiting: Use throttling to prevent attackers from flooding the system with requests, preventing DDoS and DoS attacks. Log Access Attempts: Log all auditable events so that you can monitor them for suspicious activity or unauthorized requests. Adopt AI-based API Security Testing: Implementing AI testing platforms ensures comprehensive and continuous testing of your APIs that manual tests can’t provide. While many API testing tools include security as part of their package, this is not enough to prevent attacks on your business layer since issues with the business logic arise from issues with the design of your legitimate workflows. APIsec is the only fully automated API security testing tool that can write and execute tests capable of identifying business logic flaws. The platform pressure-tests the entire API to ensure that no endpoints are left vulnerable, unlike traditional security solutions, which just look for common security issues. You can do what you do best while APIsec automates your API security testing to ensure complete coverage at all times. Find out how APIsec can redefine how you approach API security by scheduling a free consultation.

The information age is upon us. Every day, more and more of the world’s data moves to digital formats—from financial transactions to medical records. But with this transition comes new risks: By 2025, cyberattacks are projected to cost businesses $10.5 trillion per year globally. One major attack can cripple an entire organization for years to come, not just in terms of finances but also in customer trust and brand reputation. With APIs powering the entire financial sector, many companies have started adopting API security strategies. This article will discuss the role of APIs in financial services, some of the most common threats faced by APIs today, and how the FinTech industry can take proactive steps to fight back against cybercriminals. What Is an API and Why It’s Important for the Financial Sector? An API, or application programming interface, is a type of interface that allows data to be shared with other applications. Think of it as a server at a restaurant that acts as a middleman between the customer and the kitchen, helping serve food faster while enhancing operational efficiency for the chef. By the same token, APIs often provide a more streamlined way for businesses to interact with an organization's services. These APIs can be used to programmatically create, read, update, and delete database records, allowing organizations to run complex process chains within seconds - by the time the money you sent to your friend reaches their account, the transaction may have gone through dozens of APIs. Read More: API Terminology: A Complete List of Terms for Beginners APIs are important for the financial sector because they allow for the easy sharing of financial data between different banks, FinTech services, and other institutions. Most of the major banks and financial services firms in the US have an API available for public use. In fact, 78 percent of banks rely on banking APIs to provide a better customer experience and develop new revenue streams. The most common example of an API is the Stripe API, which makes its data easily accessible for third-party apps and services. With unprecedented monetization opportunities, implementing APIs is becoming more and more popular in the financial sector. A good example may be a bill-paying service offered at many banks that can now be integrated directly into other banking sites utilizing APIs rather than requiring users to log into the bank's site and initiate usage of the service from there. This integration eliminates intermediaries or potential points of vulnerability when sharing highly sensitive information between banking entities. The biggest concern with APIs is security. With a solid security strategy in place, APIs are relatively safe compared to using direct web services calls or other methods of data exchange because they provide a layer of abstraction between both ends of the connection. APIs also provide an easier way to filter out traffic that should not be allowed to access specific resources on either end. Suppose someone wants to implement check imaging into their application but doesn't want other applications calling it directly. In that case, they can create a rule in the authentication scheme that requires applications to be authenticated via the API to access that resource. In this way, APIs can provide faster data exchange while still being relatively simple and easy to use for developers. Read More: What is API Security and Why It's Important The 7 Most Common Types of Attacks Against APIs Unfortunately, the rise of APIs and open banking did not go unnoticed by hackers - APIs are projected to become the main attack vector in 2022. API attacks come in many different forms, but they all have one common goal - to steal or manipulate data. Below, we explore some of the most common types of API attacks that can cripple financial institutions and lead to disastrous reputational and financial losses. 1. DoS & DDoS Attacks One of the most common clusters of API attacks is an application-level denial of service (DoS) and distributed DoS (DDoS) attacks. In this type of attack, the hacker sends a massive number of requests to the API to overwhelm it and prevent legitimate users from accessing it. Using this approach, the attacker tries to overload your API with requests until it's unable to handle them and shuts down. There are several ways to protect your API against DDoS attacks, including using a load balancer or an intrusion prevention system. 2. SQL Injection Attacks In a SQL injection attack, the attacker tries to gain unauthorized access to databases by injecting malicious code into database requests. To protect your API against SQL injection attacks, you should use parameterized queries and ensure that all requests to your API are authorized, authenticated, and validated. 3. XML External Entity (XXE) Attacks When an XXE attack occurs, the hacker tries to access files on the server or other external services using specially crafted XML documents. You can prevent your API from being exploited with XXE attacks by configuring your XML parser correctly. 4. Cross-site Scripting (XSS) Attack Another common type of API attack is a cross-site scripting (XSS) attack. In an XSS attack, the attacker tries to inject malicious scripts to steal sensitive data or gain unauthorized access to the functionalities of your APIs. You can protect your API against XSS attacks by configuring it to use X-Frame headers and Content Security Policy (CSP) headers. 5. Brute Force Attacks A brute force attack entails using automated tools to try different username/password combinations until they guess the correct one and gain unauthorized access to the system. To protect your API from brute force attacks, you should use rate limiting and IP address restrictions on your API. 6. Cross-site Request Forgery (CSRF) Attacks A CSRF attack occurs when the attacker tricks authenticated users into clicking a specially crafted link to make unauthorized requests to your API on behalf of the attacker. To protect against this, you can use a CSRF Protection library and custom tokens in your requests. 7. Man-in-the-middle (MITM) Attacks A man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack occurs when the bad agent intercepts traffic between two parties to access private information. An easy way to defend against MITM attacks is to ensure that your connections are secure using SSL/TLS encryption. Another option is enforcing client authentication - when both the user and the API request certificates from a trusted third party before exchanging data. This stops MITM attacks from occurring because both parties have been validated by an authority figure, blocking unauthorized requests from getting through in between. Read More: Critical API Security Risks: Understanding Cyber Threats to APIs How to Protect your FinTech Business Against API Attacks While these tips are helpful to cover some of the loopholes in API security, it’s nowhere near enough to provide a safe space for your customers. Let's cover the building blocks of any API security strategy to empower you to tackle this issue systemically. 1. Zero in on Business Logic Flaws Business logic flaws, the practice of abusing the legitimate functionalities of an API to reach a malicious goal, are the #1 security risk in apps and APIs. This cluster of vulnerabilities is the most dangerous and the most difficult to detect. Hackers might exploit a business logic flaw to access your API's back-end systems, leading to a data breach or other nefarious activity. Some examples of business logic flaws include: Hardcoded credentials: This involves storing usernames and passwords within the source code, making it easy for anyone to access login credentials. Insecure direct object references: This occurs when an application identifies an object by its primary key rather than using an ID from an associated table, giving more context about the model being used. Dynamic SQL statements: This entails using dynamic SQL queries to query databases or other back-end systems. Hackers can exploit it if your application uses dynamic SQL statements without first parameterizing all user input. Loosely Defined Business Processes: Without proper security measures, anyone who knows how to act within the bounds of a loosely defined process can use it in a way unintended by developers to access sensitive information. 2. Use Strong Authentication and Authorization Mechanisms Authorization and authentication vulnerabilities took the top spots of the OWASP API Security Top 10 list, making them the most common types of API vulnerabilities. Read More: What Is OWASP API Security Top 10 & Why It's Important That’s why enforcing robust authentication and authorization mechanisms should be a top priority for both traditional financial institutions and innovative FinTech startups alike. Things like Basic Authentication (using the standard combination of a login and password to authenticate users) and hardcoded credentials should be banished from your APIs - forever. Instead, use OAuth or OpenID to validate the identity of your users and add an extra layer of security with two-factor authentication (2FA) like Google Authenticator to drastically reduce the likelihood of a successful API attack. SMS forms of 2FA can be used in a pinch, but it’s not very secure as it’s easy to bypass. As an added benefit, proper authentication and authorization will keep your FinTech business safe from identity thieves looking to gain access using social engineering. 3. Keep Your Data Separate & Safe Many applications make it easy for hackers to find and steal data because they keep everything together in one extensive database rather than segregating sensitive data into different entities. That means a hacker only has to compromise one database to get access to all of your data. It's a lot easier to secure a system if you can compartmentalize different parts – for example, if you have an account management app and a banking app, make sure they're entirely separate. Restricting access to sensitive information is one of the best things you can do to protect your API from being hacked, which entails creating security groups with limited permissions on what they are allowed to see based on their job functions. Lastly, whenever possible, make sure only trusted APIs can access your APIs so that you know who's behind API requests and to make it easy to flag suspicious activity for an audit. Read More: Drilling Down into Excessive Data Exposure: How to Protect Your API's Sensitive Data 4. Enforce the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Encryption Security Protocol SSL communication adds another layer of security by ensuring no unauthorized third parties can read communication - even if it's intercepted. Your customer will first connect to a server controlled by you, which uses a certificate to synchronize a secret key with your customer's browser. This means that all communication is encrypted, and no one can hijack data in transit. There's also HTTPS encryption, which makes sure that any information sent between your site and customers is encrypted as well as authenticated using SSL certificates. 5. Invest in Cyber Security Training for Employees Employees should be educated on how to identify an API attack and what steps they can take to prevent one from happening. Ensure that your employees are aware of the dangers of API attacks and how to protect themselves. This could be something as easy as flagging any suspicious activity for a security audit or removing compromised accounts from your system immediately. Another great way to prepare is to implement cybersecurity tabletop exercises that include the most common API scenarios. They should also be aware of the consequences of a successful API attack. This way, they'll know what to do if or when an API attack occurs. 6. Have a Contingency Plan in Place in Case of an Attack But even with all this protection, you still need to remember that no matter how many firewalls and authentication procedures you have in place, API attacks are almost impossible to safeguard yourself against completely. This means it's also important to know what needs to be done when an attack does occur immediately to mitigate the damage caused to your organization. It can be something as simple as notifying your customers that their login credentials have been compromised to help them take proactive steps until it's too late. As FinTech continues to gain popularity, the threat of API attacks will only grow unless businesses take steps like these necessary to keep themselves safe from hackers who want access to their data. Read More: API Security Checklist: What You Need To Know 7 Use API Security Testing Solutions to Ensure Full Coverage API security is a critical issue for the financial services industry. As we have seen from the news, API breaches can have severe consequences for consumers, businesses, and third-party providers. To ensure the safety of your data, it is vital to take steps to protect your APIs from hackers. Using automated API security platforms can make all the difference in protecting your business from data breaches and other cyber threats, allowing your to ensure continuous and comprehensive API security testing around the clock for a fraction of the cost of hiring a cybersecurity specialist. APIsec is one of the best API security testing solutions available on the market. While this claim might be a bit biased (only slightly), here's what separates APIsec from everybody else: On top of continuously monitoring your APIs across a massive list of known vulnerabilities, our AI-based platform is the only solution that can automatically write and execute thousands of test cases generated based on the unique architecture of your APIs. If you are in the financial industry, APIsec is your best choice for API security. For more information on the benefits of using APIsec to secure your APIs, reach out to our team today for a free vulnerability assessment.