API (Application Programming Interface) testing is a critical component of any application security program. However, to match the speed of modern development, this process must be automated. A comprehensive DAST solution that also functions as an API scanner can detect and test APIs effectively. This significantly enhances AppSec performance and helps eliminate security risks.
Microservices architecture, public web services, integration systems, unified backends for mobile and web applications – all of this (and more) has become possible because of APIs. They are the basis of modern web technologies, but they also have security risks. Manual checks can rarely keep up with the speed and scale of development, so API security scanners are essential tools for scanning in between full-fledged pentests.
What is API security scanning?
API security scanning provides automated analysis of APIs for vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and compliance violations. The process of discovering APIs can be done using a variety of methods. But the main process is deep vulnerability scanning.
While API security is often viewed as a separate area of cybersecurity, it is an integral part of AppSec. Therefore, any website scanner has to also cover APIs. This eliminates the need for separate vulnerability scanning tools. Modern DAST solutions with API capabilities are able to simulate real-world threat scenarios across the entire attack surface of an application, including testing APIs.
The importance of API security scanning
APIs are a key component of the functionality and often the internal architecture of web applications, making them an important part of the attack surface. Compared to graphical UI, APIs are often overlooked in asset inventory and testing. Here are the main reasons why API scanning should be a priority:
- Protecting sensitive data: APIs provide automated access to data and application operations, making them attractive targets for malicious hackers.
- Securing internal systems: APIs serve as a path for attack against them, such as accessing databases through SQL injections.
- Ensuring compliance: regulatory requirements often mandate vulnerability scanning of applications, including APIs.
- Identifying forgotten or undocumented APIs: application programming interfaces that are no longer used but remain accessible (so-called “shadow” APIs) are an expanded vector for data breaches.
- Maintaining security between manual tests: automated scanning allows teams to fill the gaps between full-fledged pentests that cannot always keep up with the pace of development changes.
Why API testing needs special attention
Security testing of APIs presents unique challenges. For example, application programming interfaces cannot simply be scanned as HTML pages, as their specifications and endpoints must first be discovered. A good API scanner should support at least the following features:
- Support for the main API types: REST is the most common type, but SOAP (based on XML) and GraphQ, which is rapidly gaining popularity, are also used. Supporting all major types provides flexibility and coverage in case specialists start creating new types of APIs.
- Comprehensive API discovery: the scanner should be able to find even undocumented or outdated APIs using methods such as traffic analysis or searching for specification files.
- Support for various specification formats: for example, OpenAPI (Swagger), YAML, JSON, GraphQL schemas, etc.
- Advanced authentication: APIs often require authentication, so the scanner should support OAuth 2.0 and other standard mechanisms to ensure full testing.
API security scanning best practices
To build an effective API security strategy, teams have to make vulnerability scanning an integral part of it. Key recommendations include:
- Finding all APIs: incorporating continuous discovery of APIs into the overall AppSec process, which reduces the risk of undocumented or untested APIs being present in production.
- Integrating scanning into DevOps: incorporating testing into a CI/CD pipeline and submitting tickets to issue tracking systems to automate processes and improve security.
- Simplifying vulnerability remediation: reports should be accurate and developer-friendly.
- Centralizing API management: implementing inventory and tracking the latest versions to reduce the threat of “shadow” APIs.
- Defining standards for secure coding: scan results can be used to improve development practices in the future.
Conclusion
APIs are an integral part of modern web applications, both in external interactions and in internal communications between components. Applications are updated too rapidly for manual testing, and APIs are the most dynamic part. Reliable DAST tools are a necessary element of any cybersecurity program, and to be effective, they must cover APIs.
Invicti (formerly Netsparker) provides automated vulnerability detection and scanning for both web applications and APIs. This functionality is delivered through a single platform that seamlessly integrates into existing workflows.
