API Security

APIs are used by businesses to connect to systems and transfer data. Data breaches, when APIs are broken, hacked, or exposed, result in exposure of sensitive data. Hence, it is very important to secure the APIs that you own and use.

The common API implementations are either REST or SOAP. REST APIs use HTTP and support Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption. TLS helps check the data transferred between two systems. SOAP APIs use XML and SAML encryptions to authenticate and authorize.

MuleSoft takes the main components, such as Identity and Access Management (IAM), content privacy, API availability and layered security, to ensure that the API is secure.

MuleSoft’s Anypoint Platform plays a significant role in automating the security of each API.

Security is provided at various levels of an application, such as:

>> Authentication of the application when a request is made.

Example: MFA (Multi-factor Authentication). This is used to enhance login security. MuleSoft supported options are Salesforce authenticators, open verification methods, built-in authenticators, etc.

>> Verification of the message after authentication to ensure the message is not lost or compromised. This is also known as message integrity.

Example: digital signatures. Here, the app creates a signature from an algorithm and code. Further, APIs use the same algorithm with new code to generate a new signature. These two signatures are compared, thereby authenticating the message.

>> Encrypt the message once it’s received and before sending it to the next system.

Example: cryptography. Here, a message is encrypted using a public or a private key, based on a symmetric or asymmetric cryptography method. One key is use to lock the message and the same or another key is used to later decrypt the message.

Mule Runtime Security features include :

• Keystore and Truststore to store TLS certificates.
• Encrypt messages sent to queues and exchanges.
• Runtime has the capability to encrypt and decrypt messages, digitally sign the message, and validate the messages.
• White listing and black listing of IP addresses is available.

Conclusion

Security must always be thought through thoroughly during the design phase and it should be a design-time concern with focused Runtime capabilities. Communications between APIs, servers, and consumers must be mutually authenticated, authorized, encrypted, and governed by policy.