Security News > 2022 > June > Properly securing APIs is becoming increasingly urgent

The data suggests that large companies are particularly vulnerable to the security risks associated with exposed or unprotected APIs as these mature organizations accelerate digital transformation.

The volume of APIs used by businesses is growing rapidly; nearly half of all businesses have between 50-500 deployed, either internally or publicly, while some have over a thousand active APIs.

Many APIs connect directly to backend databases where sensitive data is stored.

As a result, hackers are increasingly targeting APIs as a pathway to the underlying infrastructure to exfiltrate sensitive information.

"To mitigate the growing volume of API-related security threats, organizations need the ability to discover all the APIs in their environment, and to understand what data is flowing through each API.".

"Protecting API requires a mindset shift; one that is focused on classifying data and understanding how data is accessed by every API in production. This approach requires security and development teams to work together to embed security into the development lifecycle. Until then, cybercriminals will continue to exploit vulnerable APIs to exfiltrate sensitive data in greater volumes."

News URL

https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2022/06/28/properly-securing-apis/