Discovery Phase
Inventory all API endpoints via Swagger files, proxy captures, or traffic sniffing.
API Penetration Testing
Secure the Building Blocks of Modern Applications
What It Is and Why It’s Important
API Penetration Testing assesses the security of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that connect applications, systems, and services. APIs are integral to modern digital platforms, including mobile apps, SaaS products, and cloud ecosystems.
Given the interconnectedness of today’s digital world—especially in sectors like fintech, e-commerce, and smart city infrastructure in the UAE—APIs are a primary attack surface. API security breaches can lead to massive data leaks, transaction manipulation, or unauthorized system control.
Common Mistakes or Gaps Organizations Make
- Inadequate authentication and authorization checks.
- Overly permissive data exposure (e.g., sensitive user information).
- Broken object-level authorization (BOLA).
- Poor rate-limiting and throttling.
- Lack of input validation, leading to injection attacks.
- Absence of encrypted communication channels.
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How Intracyber Helps
At Intracyber, we specialize in both REST and GraphQL API testing, tailored for platforms built on microservices or monolithic architectures. Our team mimics adversarial behavior using manual and automated techniques to identify vulnerabilities across endpoints, data flows, and business logic.
We go beyond traditional tests by evaluating API security in real-life use cases, such as fintech transactions, health record sharing, or identity verification APIs—especially critical under UAE data protection mandates and sector-specific compliance requirements.
Our Approach & Methodology
Authentication & Authorization Testing
Analyze OAuth tokens, JWTs, session handling, and role-based access controls.
Data Leakage & Exposure Checks
Examine for verbose error messages, metadata exposure, and unsecured parameters.
Injection Testing
Test for SQLi, XMLi, XSS, and command injection vectors within API requests.
Rate Limiting & Abuse Checks
Simulate DoS attacks and brute-force attempts to assess resiliency.
Business Logic Validation
Explore logic flaws like fund transfers without checks, unauthorized access, etc.
Recommendations & Fix Validation
Provide developer-friendly remediation guidance and revalidation services.
Real-World Relevance & Impact
In one UAE-based healthcare startup, Intracyber identified that their API exposed medical history data through a poorly authenticated endpoint. This not only violated UAE’s PDPL and healthcare data norms but also exposed the firm to reputational risk. Our intervention helped the client overhaul their access controls and securely encrypt API responses.
Optional Extras: Tips, Stats, and Insights
- Stat: Gartner predicts that by 2025, APIs will be the most frequent attack vector.
- Tip: Always use a secure gateway or WAF for APIs and enforce input validation on both server and client sides.
- Insight: A secured front-end is useless if your API can be exploited directly via tools like Postman or Burp Suite.