12 Questions to Ask Your API Security Vendor

APIs are the connective tissue that powers digital transformation for many businesses. From online customer experiences to business partner collaboration to powerful new capabilities like the Internet of things (IoT), APIs unlock limitless possibilities for innovation and growth.

But the same flexible access to sensitive data and application functionality that makes APIs so powerful for business innovation also makes them an irresistible target for bad actors. As a result, security teams now face a fast-evolving set of risks, including: 

• Stolen API credentials
• Undetected API reconnaissance
• Misconfigured authentication and authorization
• Unprotected shadow and zombie APIs
• API vulnerabilities that allow remote code execution, injection, local file inclusion, and other attack techniques
• Data leakage or exfiltration
• API scraping
• Business logic abuse

As these threats intensify and API security shoots up the priority list, security executives often find themselves staring at a parade of security vendors claiming that they have the answer. While many bring innovative new techniques to the API security problem, cutting through the vendor noise and zeroing in on the most important product attributes can be challenging for even the most seasoned security pros.

This was precisely the audience we had in mind when we created a short guide called “12 Questions to Ask Your API Security Vendor”. In it, we’ve assembled some pointed questions that will help security leaders challenge prospective vendors to demonstrate that they can contend with the modern API threat landscape in an effective and scalable way.

Topics covered include:

• Completeness and frequency of API discovery
• The relationship between API security techniques and documentation
• Time and ease of product deployment
• Risk identification and prioritization techniques