What measures protect APIs exposed to external entities from unauthorized access and malicious attacks?
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What measures protect APIs exposed to external entities from unauthorized access and malicious attacks?
Securing APIs exposed to external entities involves implementing several measures to prevent unauthorized access and malicious attacks. Some common methods include:
1. Authentication: Ensure that API consumers authenticate themselves before accessing the API, using mechanisms like API keys, OAuth tokens, or other forms of user authentication.
2. Authorization: Implement access control mechanisms to determine and enforce what actions users can perform within the API based on their roles and privileges.
3. Rate limiting: Implement rate limits to prevent abusive usage of the API, such as limiting the number of requests that can be made over a certain period of time.
4. Data encryption: Secure sensitive data transmitted between the API and consumers using encryption protocols like TLS/SSL to prevent eavesdropping and data breaches.
5. Input validation: Validate and sanitize input data to prevent common security vulnerabilities like SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and other injection attacks.
6. Logging and monitoring: Implement logging and monitoring mechanisms to track API usage, detect anomalies, and investigate security incidents in real-time.
7. API Gateway: Utilize API gateways to centralize security policies, manage traffic, authenticate users, and provide an additional layer of security for the API.
Implementing a combination of these measures can help protect APIs from unauthorized access and malicious attacks.