My company went through an acquisition six months ago, and shortly after, we found ourselves with over 200 APIs handed off to our security team, most of which were undocumented. It's been a daunting task because some of these APIs are live, handling sensitive payment information and personal data. With my four years in AppSec, I was ill-prepared for this level of chaos. I've noticed that this isn't uncommon; statistics suggest broken authentication is a leading cause in breaches, with many APIs going undetected for too long. While I know the OWASP API Security Top 10 provides a framework, the challenge lies in systematically auditing so many APIs spread across different systems and data types. What helped us was developing a triage methodology first, focusing on the most critical endpoints and working our way down. It was a tough road at first, and after eight months, we managed to establish a process that offers better coverage. I'd love to hear from anyone who's been in a similar situation and what strategies worked for you to tame the post-acquisition API chaos.
4 Answers
Getting thrown into a situation like this can really turn your world upside down! When we faced something similar, we found it helpful to categorize APIs into three buckets: those exposed to the internet, internal ones, and endpoints that nobody could confirm were still in use. The last group can be particularly alarming since they might still be getting traffic from old integrations. Before diving into a deep audit, we created a rough inventory listing each API’s owner (if any), recent usage, auth type, and data they handle. This way, you could avoid blindly scanning everything while critical risks just get lost in the noise.
You’ve hit the nail on the head: understanding your systems is just as important as knowing them. Once you’re managing a huge number of APIs from various teams, the reality is that you’ll find behaviors you can’t fully control. The main challenge is visibility. It’s not just about mapping out endpoints; it’s understanding how requests flow through different components. Small variations can change everything, resulting in a very different execution path even for the same request.
Exactly! The hidden variation in behavior made it overwhelming for us too. Security is more about managing the changing behaviors in these API environments rather than just locking down endpoints. Our triage efforts helped highlight high-risk areas, but the underlying variability is something we’re still grappling with.
I totally relate to what you’re describing. Post-acquisition chaos isn’t just a rare case; it’s becoming the norm! It’s important to approach this systematically. Start with a detailed inventory, look for behavioral inconsistencies, and think of flows rather than isolated endpoints. Tools like ApyGuard can help a lot by flagging undocumented or shadow endpoints, which is super useful during the initial assessments.
This is a typical situation nowadays. Such API sprawl leads to major visibility challenges before security ones even come into play. Your tactic of focusing on PII and payment flows is wise. It really helps narrow down the uncertainties. I recommend building an inventory of endpoints and grouping them based on their authentication patterns and data sensitivity. Look for mismatches in behavior across APIs; that’s often where the real security issues arise.
That three-bucket method sounds a lot smarter than our approach. We jumped straight into risk ranking based on data sensitivity, but we lacked visibility for the ghost APIs. It wasn’t until we discovered those endpoints with live traffic from ancient partnerships that we realized how vital inventorying was, especially to avoid scanning low-risk endpoints while the real dangers went unnoticed.