What are API Security Risks and How to Mitigate Them?

API Security Risks are on the rise at an alarming rate, as 57 percent of organizations have had APIs exposed in the past two years and have become victims. Meanwhile, 37% of companies experienced API security incidents in 2024, up from 17% in 2023. Almost 61% of these unauthenticated attackers were able to access their API without using a security protocol. Indeed, generative AI risks will expand attack surfaces for organizations, but API abuses are predicted to become the most common attack vector in 2025. This indicates the importance of having a strong defense for the APIs. But how to get started? Let’s find out!

Top Api security risks and solutions

Risk 1: Broken Object Level Authorization (BOLA)

Often, an endpoint will allow an attacker to manipulate the ID on which the object is based and thus access unauthorized data (e.g., /users/{id}). For example, changing {id} would allow an attacker to retrieve other users’ sensitive information.

Mitigation –

• Ensure granular authorization checking based on the user-provisioned IDs every time data is accessed via the function.
• Instead of direct object references, use indirect reference maps (e.g., UUID) to mitigate them.

Risk 2: Broken Authentication

Attackers can compromise tokens, passwords, or API keys, and weak authentication mechanisms are present. These API Security Risks usually arise from insecure storage of credentials, predictable tokens, or a lack of multi-factor authentication (MFA).

Mitigation –

• Secure token-based authentication may be adopted using OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, or SAML.
• Enable MFA and rotate API keys frequently.

Risk 3: Broken Object Property Level Authorization

This happens because of the use of APIs that expose too much data or allow mass assignment (e.g., allowing mass assignment of user roles). They abuse this to tweak sensitive properties.

Mitigation –

• Strict input validation and whitelist allowed fields.
• Rejection of unexpected properties can be accomplished by using schema validation.

Risk 4: Unrestricted Resource Consumption

If they have no rate limiting, APIs are a perfect target for Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks. An attacker bombards servers with many more requests than intended, causing downtime, heavy operational costs, or even complete service termination. The API Security Risks of being attacked by advanced Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are more complex, as the traffic can come from multiple sources to orchestrate it, making DDoS mitigation even more challenging.

Mitigation –

• Enforce rate limiting with the algorithm based on the number of requests per IP (e.g., 100 per minute).
• Adjust limits using deploy dynamic throttling and try to adjust them based on real-time traffic patterns and user behavior.
• Use AI-driven tools to monitor traffic anomalies and be alerted to suspicious increases.

Risk 5: Broken Function Level Authorization

When permissions are complex, they are often misconfigured, and attackers can use admin functions, such as deleting users or changing system settings. For example, attackers may exploit endpoints that lack role-based control by modifying HTTP methods. It grants the ability to enter unauthorized operations, which may result in data breaches or service disruptions.

Mitigation –

• The principle of least privilege (PoLP) is applied to let users function only as needed.
• One way to enforce a consistent access policy on all endpoints is to introduce a centralized authorization module, which will enforce consistent policies across all endpoints.