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CompTIA Security+ 1.2 CompTIA Security+ 3.2
TechKnowSurge Catalog Interactives Which API Control Fits?
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Which API Control Fits?

Match each API need to authorization, logging or rate limiting.

⚑ Complete this interactive to capture a CTF flag worth 5 points.

About this interactive

Sometimes the thing connecting to a server is not a person viewing a page but another application. A SaaS company selling contact lists, for example, wants its customers' servers to request, submit and change information. It publishes an application programming interface (API): the credentials to use, the calls to make, and the format of the answers. That deeper connection needs securing, and the lesson names three controls. Authorization: most APIs should not let just anybody connect, so it decides who may call and what they may do. Logging: record the activity, so if anything goes wrong you can go back and see what happened. Rate limiting: if a client dumps all of the contents at once, it can fill the bandwidth, spike the CPU and fill memory, so each client is held to a certain amount at a time. An API gateway is the front door for all this: essentially a reverse proxy out front, perhaps a hardened bastion host, that clients connect to and that fetches the answers from the servers behind.

What you'll learn

Aligned to

CompTIA Security+
1.2 Summarize fundamental security concepts.
3.2 Given a scenario, apply security principles to secure enterprise infrastructure.

Key terms

Application Program Interface
API
A defined set of protocols and routines that allows software applications to communicate with each other or with an operating system. APIs abstract underlying implementation and expose specific functionality to callers.
API Gateway
A reverse proxy server that sits in front of backend services, managing and securing external API connections on their behalf.
Authorization
The process of determining what actions or resources an authenticated user is permitted to access.
Rate Limiting
A control that restricts the number or volume of API requests a client can make within a given time period to protect backend resources.
Log Management
The process of collecting, storing, analyzing, and monitoring log data generated by systems and applications.

Topics

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