What is API Security?
The practice of protecting application programming interfaces from abuse, unauthorized access, and data exposure, covering authentication, rate limiting, schema validation, and runtime threat detection.
APIs are the connective tissue of modern applications, and they have become a primary attack surface. API security in a SASE/SSE context operates at two levels: securing the APIs that your organization exposes to partners and customers, and controlling how your users interact with third-party APIs (particularly SaaS and generative AI services).
For outbound API control, CASB and SWG policies can inspect API calls to SaaS platforms, detect sensitive data being sent to unauthorized AI services, and enforce token-based authentication for sanctioned integrations. For inbound API protection, some SASE platforms offer API gateway capabilities that validate request schemas, enforce rate limits, detect injection attacks, and apply authentication requirements before requests reach backend services.
The challenge with API security is visibility. REST APIs, GraphQL endpoints, and webhook callbacks do not always follow the same traffic patterns as traditional web browsing, making them harder to discover and categorize. Shadow APIs (undocumented endpoints that developers create and forget) are the API equivalent of shadow IT. Effective API security starts with a comprehensive API inventory, including automated discovery of API endpoints in traffic logs, before layering on threat prevention and access controls.
A security control point between users and SaaS applications that provides visibility into shadow IT, enforces data protection policies, and detects threats across cloud services.
The use of unsanctioned applications, cloud services, and devices by employees without the knowledge or approval of the IT or security team.
The security half of SASE, delivering SWG, CASB, ZTNA, and DLP as cloud-delivered services without the SD-WAN networking component.
A software architecture built from the ground up for cloud environments using microservices, containerization, and elastic scaling, as opposed to legacy appliances virtualized and hosted in the cloud.
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