Api Security Best Practices

Step 3: Rate Limiting & Throttling

• Implement per-user and per-IP rate limits
• Use sliding window or token bucket algorithms
• Return proper 429 responses with Retry-After headers
• Consider API key-based tiered limits

Step 4: Data Protection

• Enforce HTTPS everywhere
• Encrypt sensitive data at rest
• Implement proper CORS configuration
• Mask sensitive data in logs

Step 5: API Security Testing

• Regular security audits
• Automated vulnerability scanning
• Penetration testing for critical endpoints
• Monitor for anomalous API usage

Best Practices

✅ Do This

• Use strong, unique API keys
• Implement request signing for sensitive operations
• Log all authentication events
• Use security headers (HSTS, CSP, X-Content-Type-Options)

❌ Don't Do This

• Don't expose stack traces in error responses
• Don't use basic auth over non-HTTPS
• Don't store raw passwords
• Don't trust client-side validation alone

OWASP API Security Top 10

1. Broken Object Level Authorization
2. Broken Authentication
3. Broken Object Property Level Authorization
4. Unrestricted Resource Consumption
5. Broken Function Level Authorization
6. Unrestricted Access to Sensitive Business Flows
7. Server Side Request Forgery
8. Security Misconfiguration
9. Improper Inventory Management
10. Unsafe Consumption of APIs

Security Checklist

Authentication & Authorization

• JWT tokens properly validated
• Token expiration configured
• Refresh token rotation implemented
• RBAC properly enforced
• API key rotation supported

Input Validation

• All inputs validated server-side
• SQL injection prevented
• XSS prevented
• Request size limits set

Rate Limiting & DDoS Protection

• Rate limiting implemented
• Per-user limits configured
• DDoS mitigation in place

Data Protection

• HTTPS enforced
• Sensitive data encrypted
• CORS properly configured
• Security headers set

Monitoring & Logging

• Auth events logged
• Anomaly detection in place
• Alerting configured

Related Skills

Works well with: api-design-principles, api-security-testing, security-auditor