This paper argues that API security starts with runtime visibility because decentralized teams often ship managed, unpublished, shadow, and deprecated APIs without consistent oversight, creating risks like hidden parameters, sensitive data exposure, weak authentication, and business-logic abuse. It recommends a runtime solution that gives both security and developers clear answers on API inventory, usage, conformance, hidden elements, encryption, and regulated-data access. It lists six must-haves: centralized API inventory, detailed traffic pattern monitoring, discovery of sensitive data sent in plaintext, continuous spec conformance checks, validation of authentication and access control, and automated risk scoring based on consistent criteria to prioritize remediation.

Join for free to read