You may or may not have heard of APIs, but whether you’re aware of them or not, you’re already using them in your day to day activities.
API stands for Application Programming Interface. To put it simply, an API acts as an intermediary between two applications that are interacting with each other.
So whether you’re shopping online, checking your bank account, ordering food or browsing a social media app on your smartphone, chances are, you’re interacting with API.
Take, for example, when you reload your e-wallet or transfer money from your bank to someone else’s digital wallet. This transaction is made possible by what’s known as a transfer fund API, which “talks” to both your bank and the e-wallet provider, validates your identity and banking information and facilitates the actual transfer—securely and in real-time.
Or consider a car comparison site that uses insurance APIs to communicate with multiple insurance companies. The API in this case “asks” for quotes and pricing as requested by a potential client, collates the different responses and makes them available—again, securely and in real-time.
While APIs may be a convenient way that allows any website or app to quickly share information, authenticate users and much more, they may also open up new security gaps and vulnerabilities that can and will be exploited by today’s threat actors.
Due to the lack of API security maturity and awareness, we are now seeing incidents involving API leaks and exploits make headlines on a frequent basis.
What are the security risks that APIs bring? Do the benefits outweigh the risks? What’s the best way for your organisation to leverage APIs securely?
Tune in to find out the answers to these questions and to learn more about APIs!
