API Abuse
Noun · Security & Infosec
Definitions
API Abuse is an API-focused security concern involving how interfaces are authenticated, limited, or protected from misuse. Security teams use it to enforce trust, reduce exposure, improve detection, or standardize secure operations in production environments. Its value depends on correct configuration, lifecycle management, and surrounding controls, because weak defaults, poor integration, or missing visibility can create gaps that attackers exploit.
In plain English: API Abuse is a security concept or control that helps organizations protect systems, manage trust, and notice suspicious behavior before damage spreads.
Example: "After the review, the security team rolled out API Abuse in the affected environment, documented the operating procedure, and verified through logs and test cases that the control reduced exposure without breaking normal administrative or user workflows."
Related Terms
- Account Takeover
- Anti-Debugging
- Anti-Tamper
- Application Allowlisting
- Binary Analysis
- Binary Patching
- Card Skimming
- Click Fraud
- Code Obfuscation
- Command and Control
- Data Exfiltration
- Data Poisoning
- Defense in Depth
- Denial of Service
- Directory Traversal
- DoS Amplification
- Double Free
- Drive-by Download
- Eavesdropping
- Evil Twin
- Human Firewall
- Integer Overflow
- Isolation
- Jailbreak
- Kerberoasting
- MAC Flooding
- Macro Virus
- Malicious Insider
- Man-in-the-Browser
- Mass Assignment
- Mobile Security
- Man-in-the-Middle
- RASP
- Application Hardening
- Computer Network Defense