Bulletproof API Security & Threat Protection
Don't let your APIs be your weakest link.
We deliver comprehensive, AI-enabled security to protect your data, customers, and revenue
from modern threats.
The High Stakes of API Insecurity
In today's interconnected digital ecosystem, APIs are the new perimeter. They power your mobile apps, connect you with partners, and drive your business. But this connectivity creates a massive attack surface, making APIs a prime target for cybercriminals.
Data Breaches & Exfiltration
A single vulnerable API endpoint can expose millions of sensitive user records, leading to catastrophic financial loss, regulatory fines (GDPR, HIPAA), and irreparable brand damage.
Business Disruption
API-targeted attacks like Denial of Service (DoS) or business logic abuse can bring your critical services to a halt, impacting revenue, customer trust, and operational stability.
Compliance & Legal Risks
Failure to secure APIs that handle personal or financial data can result in severe penalties, lawsuits, and loss of industry certifications like PCI DSS, jeopardizing your ability to operate.
Why Entrust Your API Security to CIS?
Standard defenses are no longer enough. You need a strategic partner who understands the nuances of API-specific threats. We provide a holistic, AI-driven security fabric that protects your entire API lifecycle, from development to production.
Holistic Security Fabric
We go beyond basic WAFs and gateway rate-limiting. Our approach provides layered defense, covering authentication, authorization, encryption, runtime protection, and threat intelligence for complete coverage.
AI-Powered Threat Detection
Our systems learn the normal behavior of your APIs. This allows us to instantly detect and block anomalies, zero-day attacks, and sophisticated business logic abuse that signature-based tools miss.
Developer-Centric Approach
Security shouldn't be a bottleneck. We integrate security seamlessly into your CI/CD pipeline ("Shift-Left"), providing developers with automated tools and immediate feedback to build securely from the start.
Compliance Mastery
Navigating regulations like GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, and PCI DSS is complex. Our experts design and implement security controls that ensure your APIs meet and exceed these stringent compliance requirements.
Full Lifecycle Visibility
You can't protect what you can't see. We start with comprehensive API discovery and inventory, giving you a complete picture of your attack surface, including shadow and zombie APIs.
Proven Expertise Since 2003
With over two decades of experience and a CMMI Level 5 maturity, we've secured complex systems for over 1000 clients, from startups to Fortune 500 companies. We bring battle-tested expertise to your project.
Extension of Your Team
We offer flexible engagement models, including fully managed services. Our certified experts act as your dedicated API security team, providing 24/7 monitoring and incident response without the overhead.
Performance without Compromise
Our security solutions are designed to be lightweight and highly efficient, ensuring robust protection without introducing latency that could degrade your user experience or application performance.
Future-Ready Architecture
The threat landscape is always evolving. We build security architectures that are scalable and adaptable, ready to protect you against emerging threats like those targeting GraphQL, gRPC, and AI-driven systems.
Our Comprehensive API Security & Threat Protection Services
We offer a full spectrum of services to secure every aspect of your API ecosystem. Our modular approach allows us to tailor a solution that fits your specific needs, architecture, and risk profile.
API Discovery and Inventory
We identify and catalog all your APIs, including undocumented "shadow" APIs and outdated "zombie" APIs, to provide a complete view of your attack surface.
- Eliminate blind spots in your security posture.
- Ensure consistent policy application across all endpoints.
- Create a single source of truth for your API landscape.
Authentication & Authorization Hardening
We implement and fortify robust identity and access control mechanisms using standards like OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect to prevent unauthorized access.
- Protect against broken object-level authorization (BOLA).
- Securely manage access for users, services, and third-party integrations.
- Implement fine-grained permissions and scope management.
JWT and Token Security
We secure your token-based authentication systems by implementing best practices for JSON Web Token (JWT) validation, signing, and lifecycle management.
- Prevent token hijacking, tampering, and replay attacks.
- Enforce strict signature validation and algorithm checks.
- Implement secure token storage and revocation strategies.
Web Application Firewall (WAF) & API Gateway Security
We configure and manage advanced WAF rules and API gateway policies specifically designed to block common API attacks and enforce security at the edge.
- Protect against injection attacks, cross-site scripting (XSS), and more.
- Implement strict schema validation to reject malformed requests.
- Apply security policies consistently at your network perimeter.
Rate Limiting and Velocity Control
We implement intelligent rate limiting to protect your APIs from Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, credential stuffing, and other forms of automated abuse.
- Prevent service degradation and outages.
- Block brute-force login attempts and enumeration attacks.
- Apply granular limits based on user, IP, or API key.
Runtime Protection & Threat Detection
Our solutions monitor API traffic in real-time, detecting and blocking attacks as they happen by analyzing behavior and context, not just signatures.
- Identify and stop zero-day exploits and novel attack patterns.
- Protect against business logic abuse and data exfiltration attempts.
- Gain deep visibility into how your APIs are actually being used.
Behavioral Anomaly Detection
Using AI and machine learning, we establish a baseline of normal API behavior and automatically flag and respond to suspicious deviations that indicate a potential attack.
- Detect compromised accounts and insider threats.
- Identify attackers attempting to probe for vulnerabilities.
- Reduce false positives with context-aware analysis.
Sensitive Data Exposure Prevention
We automatically identify and track where sensitive data (PII, PHI, financial info) is handled by your APIs and enforce policies to prevent its accidental leakage.
- Ensure compliance with data privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA.
- Prevent data from being exposed in error messages or logs.
- Mask or redact sensitive data in real-time.
Bot Mitigation and Anti-Scraping
We differentiate between human users and malicious bots, blocking automated threats designed to scrape data, abuse services, or take over accounts.
- Protect your intellectual property and competitive data.
- Prevent inventory hoarding and other forms of automated abuse.
- Ensure a fair and reliable experience for legitimate users.
GraphQL, gRPC, and WebSocket Security
We provide specialized security for modern API protocols, addressing unique vulnerabilities like deep recursion in GraphQL or stream abuse in gRPC.
- Protect against protocol-specific attack vectors.
- Enforce security policies on complex, nested queries.
- Secure real-time communication channels.
"Shift-Left" DevSecOps Integration
We integrate automated security testing and scanning directly into your CI/CD pipeline, empowering developers to find and fix vulnerabilities early in the development process.
- Reduce the cost and complexity of remediation.
- Accelerate development cycles without sacrificing security.
- Foster a culture of security ownership among developers.
API Security Posture Management (ASPM)
We provide a centralized dashboard for continuous monitoring of your API security posture, identifying misconfigurations, policy violations, and compliance gaps.
- Maintain a real-time inventory and risk assessment of all APIs.
- Track remediation efforts and security improvements over time.
- Generate audit-ready reports for compliance stakeholders.
Penetration Testing for APIs
Our expert ethical hackers conduct in-depth penetration tests to identify and exploit vulnerabilities in your APIs before malicious actors can.
- Validate the effectiveness of your existing security controls.
- Uncover complex business logic flaws and authorization issues.
- Receive actionable reports with clear remediation guidance.
Full API Security Governance
We help you establish a comprehensive governance framework, including defining security policies, roles and responsibilities, and incident response plans for your entire API program.
- Ensure consistent security standards across all teams and projects.
- Align your API security strategy with your overall business objectives.
- Prepare your organization to respond effectively to security incidents.
AI-Driven & Quantum-Resistant Security
We help you future-proof your API security by exploring and implementing next-generation solutions, including AI-powered response automation and post-quantum cryptography.
- Stay ahead of the evolving threat landscape.
- Protect your most critical data against future decryption threats.
- Leverage automation to scale your security operations.
Our Proven Approach to API Security
We follow a structured, four-phase methodology to deliver comprehensive and sustainable API security, ensuring a measurable improvement in your risk posture.
1. Discover & Assess
We begin by mapping your entire API landscape and conducting a thorough risk assessment against the OWASP API Security Top 10 and other industry benchmarks to identify critical vulnerabilities.
2. Design & Architect
Based on the assessment, we design a multi-layered security architecture tailored to your technology stack, deploying the right controls at the gateway, in the pipeline, and at runtime.
3. Implement & Integrate
Our experts implement the security controls with a focus on automation and seamless integration into your existing DevOps workflows, minimizing disruption and maximizing developer adoption.
4. Monitor & Evolve
Security is not a one-time project. We provide continuous monitoring, AI-driven threat intelligence, and ongoing optimization to ensure your defenses evolve to meet new threats.
Success Stories: API Security in Action
We don't just talk about security; we deliver tangible results. See how we've helped leading companies in regulated industries protect their critical assets and accelerate innovation.
Client Overview
A rapidly growing FinTech company providing a payment processing platform for e-commerce businesses. Their entire business model relies on the security and availability of their public-facing APIs, which handle millions of transactions and sensitive credit card data daily.
The Problem
The client was facing a surge in sophisticated automated attacks, including credential stuffing and business logic abuse, aimed at committing fraud. Their existing WAF was failing to block these attacks, and they were facing pressure to achieve PCI DSS compliance to retain their key enterprise customers.
Key Challenges:
- Inability to distinguish legitimate traffic from malicious bots.
- Lack of visibility into API-specific business logic attacks.
- Risk of failing a critical PCI DSS audit due to inadequate API security controls.
- Fear that adding more security would slow down transaction processing times.
Our Solution:
We implemented a multi-layered API security solution focused on real-time threat detection and prevention.
- Deployed an AI-powered behavioral analysis engine to profile normal API usage and detect anomalies indicative of fraud.
- Implemented advanced bot mitigation to block malicious automation without impacting legitimate users.
- Hardened their authentication and authorization flows to prevent account takeover.
- Provided a complete audit trail and reporting to satisfy PCI DSS requirements for API security.
Client Overview
A healthcare technology provider offering a platform that allows hospitals, clinics, and labs to exchange patient data (PHI) via APIs. The security and privacy of these APIs are paramount for HIPAA compliance and patient trust.
The Problem
The client's development team was moving quickly to add new API features, but their security team couldn't keep up. They lacked automated security checks in their development pipeline and had no way to enforce consistent, fine-grained access control to sensitive patient data, creating a significant risk of a HIPAA violation.
Key Challenges:
- Risk of exposing Protected Health Information (PHI) through misconfigured APIs.
- Inconsistent and often overly permissive access controls (Broken Object-Level Authorization).
- Security reviews were a manual bottleneck, slowing down feature releases.
- Lack of a centralized inventory of APIs handling sensitive data.
Our Solution:
We implemented a "Shift-Left" DevSecOps strategy combined with robust runtime protection.
- Integrated automated API security scanning into their CI/CD pipeline to catch vulnerabilities before deployment.
- Deployed a runtime engine to discover all APIs handling PHI and enforce strict data loss prevention (DLP) policies.
- Implemented a fine-grained authorization model to ensure users could only access the specific patient data they were permitted to see.
- Established a full API security governance program to ensure ongoing compliance and risk management.
Client Overview
A B2B SaaS company offering a project management platform. Their APIs are used by thousands of customers to integrate the platform into their own workflows. Ensuring strict data isolation between tenants is a core security requirement.
The Problem
The client's small security team was overwhelmed. They were struggling to keep pace with development, manually test new API endpoints, and monitor for threats across their complex microservices architecture. A recent near-miss incident involving a broken object-level authorization (BOLA) vulnerability highlighted their need for a more robust and scalable solution.
Key Challenges:
- High risk of a critical BOLA vulnerability allowing one customer to access another's data.
- Limited resources for 24/7 API threat monitoring and incident response.
- Difficulty enforcing consistent security policies across dozens of microservices.
- Long delays in identifying and patching API vulnerabilities.
Our Solution:
We provided a fully managed API security service, combining technology with expert oversight.
- Deployed a runtime protection agent across their Kubernetes environment to automatically detect and block BOLA and other authorization bypass attempts.
- Provided our 24/7 Security Operations Center (SOC) for continuous monitoring, threat hunting, and incident response.
- Established a centralized API inventory and risk posture dashboard, giving them complete visibility.
- Integrated our findings directly into their Jira workflow, enabling developers to quickly remediate identified vulnerabilities.
Technology Stack & Tools We Master
We leverage a best-in-class ecosystem of technologies and standards to build your API security fortress. Our experts are proficient in the tools that power modern application security.
Flexible Engagement Models
We understand that every organization has unique needs and resources. We offer flexible engagement models to provide the right level of support for your API security journey.
API Security Health Check
A one-time, intensive engagement where we perform a comprehensive assessment of your API landscape, including penetration testing, to identify critical risks and provide a prioritized remediation roadmap.
Project-Based Implementation
We partner with you to design and implement a specific set of API security controls, such as integrating security into your CI/CD pipeline or deploying a runtime protection solution for your production environment.
Managed API Threat Protection
Our most comprehensive offering. We provide a fully managed, 24/7 service that includes technology, monitoring, threat hunting, and incident response, acting as a seamless extension of your security team.
What Our Clients Say
Our 95% client retention rate is built on trust, expertise, and delivering measurable results.
"The 'shift-left' approach CIS implemented was a game-changer. Our developers now catch 90% of API vulnerabilities before they even hit staging. It's made us faster and more secure."
"We thought we were covered with our API gateway, but the CIS assessment uncovered critical authorization flaws. Their team helped us patch them within a week, preventing what could have been a major incident."
"The visibility we gained was incredible. Within days, we discovered dozens of shadow and zombie APIs that were completely unprotected. CIS helped us secure or decommission them, drastically reducing our attack surface."
"Their AI-powered bot detection is phenomenal. It stopped a massive credential stuffing attack in its tracks, saving us from significant financial loss and customer account takeovers. It paid for itself overnight."
"As a CISO, peace of mind is invaluable. The 24/7 managed service from CIS gives me just that. I know their experts are constantly watching over our most critical assets, letting my team focus on strategic initiatives."
"The CIS team didn't just sell us a tool; they partnered with us to build a true API security program. Their guidance on governance and policy was as valuable as the technology they implemented."
Ready to Fortify Your Digital Core?
Your APIs are the gateways to your most valuable assets. Don't leave them unprotected. Schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with our API security experts to identify your risks and build a robust defense strategy.
Request a Free ConsultationFrequently Asked Questions
A Web Application Firewall (WAF) is a crucial first line of defense, but it's not sufficient for modern API threats. WAFs typically protect against common web vulnerabilities (like the OWASP Top 10 for web apps) but often miss API-specific attacks, such as broken object-level authorization (BOLA), business logic abuse, and attacks on the authentication/authorization process itself. We provide a layered approach that complements your WAF with dedicated API threat detection and runtime protection.
No. We understand that performance is critical. Our solutions are designed to be lightweight and highly optimized. We deploy them in a way that minimizes latency, often with negligible impact on your overall response times. By preventing resource-intensive attacks like DoS and abuse, our security measures can actually improve the stability and performance of your services for legitimate users.
Seamless integration is a core part of our philosophy. We embrace a "Shift-Left" approach by plugging automated API security testing tools directly into your CI/CD pipeline (e.g., Jenkins, GitLab CI, Azure DevOps). This provides developers with instant feedback on potential vulnerabilities in their code, allowing them to fix issues early. This makes security a collaborative effort, not a final-stage bottleneck.
Absolutely. Our AI-driven approach excels where rigid, signature-based tools fail. Instead of relying on predefined attack patterns, our systems learn the unique logic and data structures of your specific APIs to build a behavioral baseline. This allows us to protect any API protocol, including REST, GraphQL, gRPC, and WebSockets, against both known and unknown threats.
The timeline varies depending on the scope and your specific needs. A foundational API Security Health Check can be completed in as little as two weeks. A full implementation of runtime protection and CI/CD integration is typically a phased project over 4-8 weeks. Our goal is to deliver value quickly, often starting with protecting your most critical APIs first while building out a comprehensive program.
Our process begins with a comprehensive discovery phase. We analyze your network traffic and cloud configurations to identify all active API endpoints, not just the ones documented in your OpenAPI/Swagger specifications. This allows us to uncover undocumented "shadow" APIs and deprecated but still active "zombie" APIs. Once identified, we work with you to either secure them with appropriate policies or safely decommission them to eliminate the risk.
Take the First Step Towards Bulletproof API Security
Your digital assets are too valuable to leave at risk. Fill out the form, and one of our certified API security architects will contact you to schedule a complimentary, confidential consultation. Let's build a safer digital future for your business.
- Identify your most critical API vulnerabilities.
- Understand how your security posture compares to industry best practices.
- Receive a high-level roadmap for a robust defense strategy.
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