The Complete API Security Checklist for 2025

Why API Security Needs a Checklist in 2025

With APIs becoming the dominant interface for applications, ensuring their security is more critical than ever. Here’s a step-by-step checklist that covers every layer — from auth to abuse detection.

1. Authentication & Authorization

Use OAuth2.0 or API keys with scopes.
Never expose sensitive tokens in URLs.
Verify JWTs and validate scopes.

2. Encryption

Enforce HTTPS/TLS on all endpoints.
Use TLS 1.2+ with strong ciphers only.

3. Input Validation & Sanitization

Validate all input parameters against expected types and length.
Sanitize to prevent injection attacks (SQLi, XSS).

4. Rate Limiting & Throttling

Limit requests per IP, user, token, etc.
Apply separate rules for different endpoints (e.g., stricter on login).

5. Logging & Monitoring

Log request metadata: IP, email, user agent, geo.
Monitor spikes in 4xx/5xx codes and new IP activity.

6. Anomaly & Abuse Detection

Detect high error rates from a single IP.
Identify credential stuffing, scraping, or token misuse.

How APIGate Simplifies Checklist Implementation

APIGate provides built-in tools for:

Threshold-based rate limiting by IP/email.
Anomaly detection by status codes or behavior.
VPN/proxy blocking with a 600M+ IP database.
Dashboard insights and geo-distribution monitoring.

Conclusion

This checklist ensures your APIs are safe from common and advanced threats. Implement it with the help of platforms like APIGate to reduce engineering effort while increasing confidence.