What is API Security?
API Security is the discipline of protecting application programming interfaces (APIs), the data they handle, and the business functions they expose. It addresses risks at the interface and integration layer, including authorization failures, weak authentication, excessive data exposure, unsafe input handling, resource misuse, insecure configuration, undocumented or unmanaged endpoints, and unsafe consumption of external APIs. API Security is part of application security, but it requires attention to the object-level and function-level access decisions that APIs make on every request.
Its scope applies to APIs used by web and mobile applications, service-to-service integrations, partner connections, and internal platforms. Interface inventory is therefore as important as a control applied to a single endpoint, and the OWASP API Security Top 10 provides a useful risk-oriented reference.
What is API Security used for?
Organizations use API Security to define and verify controls across API design, implementation, testing, deployment, and operation. Practical measures include strong identity handling, authorization checks enforced server-side, input and schema validation, rate and resource controls, inventory management, secure defaults, and monitoring aligned to business workflows.
