API Security Testing Services

API penetration testing is designed to identify and address security vulnerabilities within an organization’s API endpoints. It helps ensure the security and compliance of APIs, protecting sensitive data, and preventing potential cyberattacks.

API penetration testing follows a systematic process that includes scoping and planning, information gathering, threat modeling, vulnerability assessment, reporting and remediation, and re-testing and validation. This comprehensive approach helps identify and address vulnerabilities, by simulating real-world cyberattacks on API endpoints, ensuring the API’s security is enhanced based on the identified risks and potential attack vectors.

To begin an API penetration test, organizations must provide details about the API endpoints (usually with an API definition file), access credentials when required, and any specific testing requirements or restrictions. A scoping discussion is always planned with your team to establish the scope and objectives prior to the test.

API security testing is usually performed in a controlled manner to minimize the risk of any disruption and the overwhelming majority of our clients cannot tell any testing is being performed. In any case, the testing team will discuss with your team in a pre-launch call to ensure they understand any potential operational impacts and can conduct tests accordingly.

In most cases, no access or permissions are required, as the goal is to replicate an authentic cyber threat attempting to compromise your API. However, in some contexts, and depending on your objectives, some level of access may be required in order for the test to be conducted effectively. This may include API keys, authentication credentials, and documentation about the API’s functionality. Any access requirements will be discussed with your team prior to the launch to determine if it is required to achieve the desired outcome.

API security testing is a critical step of an organization’s development lifecycle. It helps identify and remediate vulnerabilities in APIs, enhances the security posture, and ensures compliance with industry regulations.

Our testing process is designed to adapt to different API technologies and architectures, ensuring a comprehensive assessment of your API’s security.

1. RESTful APIs: The most common API architecture that uses HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) and follows standard conventions for resource access.
2. SOAP APIs: XML-based APIs that use a predefined contract (WSDL) to define the structure and semantics of requests and responses.
3. GraphQL APIs: A query language and runtime for APIs that enables more flexible data retrieval and manipulation.
4. JSON-RPC and XML-RPC: Remote procedure call (RPC) APIs that use JSON or XML, respectively, for encoding the request and response data.
5. gRPC APIs: High-performance APIs built on the Protocol Buffers serialization format and the HTTP/2 protocol.
6. Custom APIs: APIs that follow proprietary protocols or conventions specific to a particular application or organization.