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What is API security?
It is an active security strategy that integrates digital forensics with incidents response strategies to detect unidentified or ongoing cyber threats that are undiscovered within an organization’s network. The main objective of the process is to identify potential threats before they can negatively affect your business.
This is done through:
Monitoring you system’s memory to identify suspicious activities with memory dumps that are snapshots of the RAM memory of a device (RAM) during a certain moment in time.
Examining the disk images of the individual workstations to determine whether anything is an alarm.
Monitoring server images for signs of suspicious activity.
Examining the endpoint security data to identify signs of suspicious activities.
Monitoring your network security infrastructure for alerts or unusual data signals that may signal the presence of a risk, for example, malware.
Types of Threat Hunting:
Threat hunting generally follows one of the three types:
Structured:
During a structured hunt, the threat hunters search for unusual tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) which could be threats. Instead of going after at the data or system, and searching for breaches the threat hunter develops an idea of the potential attacker’s strategy and then seeks out the signs of the attack. Since structured hunting is more proactive, IT professionals who employ this strategy are able to catch or stop attackers swiftly.
Unstructured:
An unstructured hunt an individual who is a cyber-attack hunter looks to find the indication of compromise (IoC)and conducts the hunt from the point of beginning. Because the threat hunter has the ability to go back to search past data to find patterns and clues Unstructured hunts may detect previously undetected risks that still put the company at risk.
Situational:
Situational threat hunting focuses on specific sources and data inside the digital ecosystem. If an organization determines that certain assets or employees have the highest risk they can guide the cyber-security analysts to focus their efforts in preventing or correcting attacks on those who are vulnerable and data sets, as well as endpoints.
The Threat Hunting Process:
The three stages of the process of proactive threat hunting.
1. Trigger:
Threat hunting is generally an encapsulated method. The hunter gathers data about the surrounding environment and formulates theories about possible threats. The hunter then selects an event that warrants further investigation. It could be a specific network, system or that is caused by an announcement of vulnerability or patch, details regarding a zero-day vulnerability or an anomaly in an anomaly in the security data set or a request made from another part of the organization.
2. Investigation:
When a trigger has been identified and a trigger is identified, the hunter’s efforts are geared towards looking for any anomalies that support or refute the idea. Threat hunters often think, “We are compromised or vulnerable to this new exploit” and then goes backwards to establish whether the assumptions are true or not. During an investigation, the threat hunter uses various technologies to aid them in analyzing system logs and looking for irregularities, which could or might not be malicious.
3. Resolution:
Threat hunters gather crucial details throughout the investigative phase, and answer crucial questions like “Who?” , “What?”, “When?” , “Where?” as well as should it be possible using the evidence provided, “Why?” When the resolution phase is completed the information is shared to other teams as well as tools that are able to respond to, prioritize, analyze or archive the data for future use.
When it is clear what the source of threat is identified, security professionals should immediately stop the attack and determine what vulnerabilities caused it initially. This will help rise security and reduce the risk of future attacks.
The Advantages of Threat Hunting:
Threat hunting Advantages are following:
1. Early Detection and Mitigation:
The most important benefit is the quick detection of dangers. By proactively identifying suspicious activities and anomalies companies can spot and deal with threats well before they become full-blown attacks or breaches. Early detection usually outcome in lesser damage and a lower cost.
2. Enhanced Incident Response:
Through continuous hunts for threats teams for incident response are more prepared should major incidents occur. They can draw on the data and intelligence collected during hunts are invaluable when determining the nature of a threat which could benefit speed responses and recovering.
3. Improved Security Posture:
An active approach can boost the company’s security position. As vulnerabilities and threats are discovered and addressed, security measures are refined and strengthened, creating stronger defense mechanisms in the course of time.
4. Knowledge and Skill Development:
Threat hunting is a continuous process. With each cycle that goes on, the security team improves its knowledge. They are better in identifying suspicious behavior, analyzing new attack strategies and applying countermeasures. This continual learning enhances the organization’s overall security capability.
5. Reduced Attack Surface:
Threat hunting helps organizations identify vulnerabilities in their infrastructure–loopholes they might not have been aware of. In identifying and fixing such weaknesses, an threat surface is reduced which makes it difficult for attackers to locate ways to get access.
6. Regulatory Compliance:
A lot of modern standards and regulations stress the importance of active security measures. Involving in threat hunting helps organizations to meet standards of compliance and possibly avoiding sanctions and legal consequences.
7. Stakeholder Confidence:
In an age where data breaches and cyber-related incidents could undermine trust among stakeholders by proactively pursuing threats, a proactive initiative shows a the company’s commitment to security. It will improve the trust of partners, customers, and investors, demonstrating that the company is doing everything it can to protect the security of its digital assets.
Different Types of APIs:
APIs can be classified in various types according to their accessibility, use and target users.
Private APIs:
Private APIs also referred to as internal APIs are designed as well as maintained by an organization to use internally and serve to facilitate communication between various components or services in the infrastructure of an organization. Private APIs are not designed for use by third-party developers.
Public APIs:
Public APIs are created for use to help in providing access to specific functions or data of an application, platform or application. They are available to third-party developers, software applications from third parties and to people in general. Public APIs are typically used to enhance the capabilities of a service or product and also to benefit third-party developers develop integrations or applications.
Partner APIs:
Partner APIs are a subset of public APIs that are restricted for the use of an organization’s specific partners, affiliates, customers, or B2B (business-to-business) collaborators to provide controlled access to certain features or data. The access to APIs is typically granted via authentication and authorization methods.
Third-party APIs:
Third-party APIs are created by outside organizations or individuals to impart capabilities that can be used in other applications. APIs enable developers to access libraries, services as well as data sources to improve their own apps and are extensively employed to aid in the process of software development to reduce time and energy by leveraging existing functions or services. Examples of APIs from third parties include mapping APIs which display customized maps or weather APIs that display local forecasts on travel and tourism websites.
API Security Optimal Practices:
With APIs becoming more widely available, it’s crucial to be aware of the risks of data exposure by using perfect methods to reduce the attacks, eliminate vulnerabilities and detect criminal activity in real-time.
Use Secure Authentication and Authorization Methods:
Make sure that only authorized users have access to the API via authentic methods of authentication that are secure like JSON Web tokens.
Perform Regular Security Assessments:
Check regularly periodically the security of the APIs to find possible vulnerabilities. Examine changes in the API inventory to find APIs that have been exposed and their risk profiles, which include the risk of exposure to sensitive data and vulnerability to internet access as well as vulnerabilities in workloads and at the security levels.
Implement Rate Limiting:
Set up rate limiting for your APIs to stop brute force attacks as well as other malicious behavior. Rate limitation limits the amount of queries that may be sent through one API within a specific time.
Use an API Key:
API keys are API Key is an identifier that’s unique to the API to identify the program making calls to an API and to verify authorization for access. API key is different from tokens for authentication in the sense that they identify an application (or website) which is making an API call, and not the individual with an app (or site). Both are essential security methods. API important storage perfect methods to prevent unwanted calls, access that is not authorized and a potential data breach that could result in the disclosure of personal data.
Know Your Vulnerabilities:
Recognize weaknesses to be aware of weak points in the API lifecycle by constantly searching to find OWASP API Security Top 10 threats. Make use of API scanners and methods to find every API vulnerability and fix it immediately to stop the exploitation.
Use HTTPS:
API requests and responses must be sent together HTTPS for security reasons. assure that they’re secure and encrypted. This is especially crucial in the case of sensitive data.
Educate Teams About Security top Practices:
Integrate security early in the CI/CD pipeline, and offer instruction to rise your developers’ understanding of security threats, including vulnerable authentication, and logical vulnerabilities. Use Develops principles, such as cooperation between security as well as development teams.
Monitor Your APIs:
Handle and manage and monitor API specifications documentation Test cases, API specifications traffic and metrics. Stop unwanted activity including malicious API traffic or bots that are malicious to benefit secure the application from the amount of unnecessary expenses.
Require a Security Token for Authentication:
The requirement of a security token to authenticate is the first step to protect yourself. Security tokens guard APIs against unauthorized access by denying the API call in the event that a user’s token does not pass verification.
Optimal practices, or in a nutshell must begin with awareness and monitoring of your attack surface and a system that automatically detects every web application and API endpoints in your network. Security layers must include policies that cover east-west and north-south traffic that block malicious threats, regardless of whether they originate on the internet or in your own applications.
API Protection Use Cases:
API Protection cases are following:
Financial Services and Open Banking:
Secure API security is an essential requirement to assure the security as well as the integrity and accessibility of financial service data and the use in open banking services. Not just do API security play an essential part in facilitating secure transfer of banking data between various banks, payment processors as well as fintech companies, but it aids in helping assure the compliance of data protection and control of access requirements imposed by rules like Payment Services. API security plays a crucial role in preventing fraud and safeguarding third-party integrations that support Open Banking initiatives.
Mobile App Integration:
Since APIs act as the link between apps for mobile and a variety of platforms, services data providers, as well as third party platforms API security is vital to ensure the integration of mobile apps. Making sure that the APIs are secure for interaction by mobile apps using APIs is crucial to prevent security attacks, securing access and authentication controls as well as maintaining the overall security level of both the application and the associated systems.
Healthcare Data Exchange:
Healthcare data generally includes sensitive and private patient information like medical records diagnosis, treatment plans and billing information, APIs allow sharing of sensitive patient data between healthcare providers, payers as well as other stakeholders. Making sure that there is security of APIs is essential to keeping patient privacy secure, adhering with regulations related to healthcare (such like HIPAA within HIPAA in the U.S.), and keeping the integrity of health care data.
E-Commerce and Payment Gateways:
Secure API security is crucial for online merchants and payment gateway platforms because of the sheer volume of personal data and transactions in financial transactions they manage. Businesses that sell on the internet use APIs at the majority of customer contact points, such as login, search for products and display online shopping carts. APIs can also enable businesses to improve customer experience by recommending new purchases to customers who have already purchased reviewing and rating reviews and interaction with chatbots.
IoT (Internet of Things) Ecosystems:
API security is an essential component of the IoT security, which ensures the IoT devices, apps, and services can securely communicate and secure data and ensure their integrity throughout the whole ecosystem. IoT networks typically also contain numerous devices with distinct identities. IoT devices can communicate with their counterparts as well as edge gateways as well as cloud platforms using APIs. API security guarantees that data that is exchanged between devices as well as other components of the ecosystem remain private as well as authenticated and secured from access by unauthorized users.
3. Change Healthcare
In February 2024, Change Healthcare was hit by a massive ransomware attack that exposed the personal information of over 145 million people. This breach, one of the largest in health care history, compromised sensitive data, including names, addresses, Social Security numbers and medical records. The incident had far-reaching effects on patients, health care providers and insurance companies, prompting many in the health care industry to reconsider their cybersecurity strategies to prevent similar attacks in the future.