Agent skill

implementing-api-security-posture-management

Implement API Security Posture Management to continuously discover, classify, and score APIs based on risk while enforcing security policies across the API lifecycle.

Stars 4,300
Forks 470

Install this agent skill to your Project

npx add-skill https://github.com/mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills/tree/main/skills/implementing-api-security-posture-management

SKILL.md

Implementing API Security Posture Management

Overview

API Security Posture Management (API-SPM) provides continuous visibility into an organization's API attack surface by automatically discovering, classifying, and risk-scoring all APIs including internal, external, partner, and shadow endpoints. Unlike point-in-time testing tools, API-SPM operates continuously to detect configuration drift, policy violations, missing security controls, sensitive data exposure, and compliance gaps. It aggregates findings from DAST, SAST, SCA, and runtime monitoring tools to provide a unified view of API risk posture across the organization.

When to Use

  • When deploying or configuring implementing api security posture management capabilities in your environment
  • When establishing security controls aligned to compliance requirements
  • When building or improving security architecture for this domain
  • When conducting security assessments that require this implementation

Prerequisites

  • API gateway with traffic logging (Kong, AWS API Gateway, Apigee, Envoy)
  • OpenAPI specifications for documented APIs
  • SIEM or log aggregation platform (Splunk, Elastic)
  • CI/CD pipeline access for shift-left integration
  • Cloud provider APIs for infrastructure discovery
  • Python 3.8+ for custom posture assessment tooling

Core Components

1. API Discovery and Inventory

python
#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""API Security Posture Management Engine

Continuously discovers, classifies, and risk-scores APIs
to maintain a comprehensive security posture inventory.
"""

import json
import re
import hashlib
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
from typing import Dict, List, Optional, Set
from dataclasses import dataclass, field
from enum import Enum

class APIClassification(Enum):
    EXTERNAL = "external"
    INTERNAL = "internal"
    PARTNER = "partner"
    SHADOW = "shadow"
    DEPRECATED = "deprecated"

class RiskLevel(Enum):
    CRITICAL = 4
    HIGH = 3
    MEDIUM = 2
    LOW = 1
    INFO = 0

@dataclass
class SecurityControl:
    name: str
    present: bool
    required: bool
    severity: RiskLevel
    details: str = ""

@dataclass
class APIEndpoint:
    api_id: str
    method: str
    path: str
    service_name: str
    classification: APIClassification
    owner: Optional[str] = None
    version: Optional[str] = None
    first_discovered: str = ""
    last_seen: str = ""
    documented: bool = False
    security_controls: List[SecurityControl] = field(default_factory=list)
    risk_score: float = 0.0
    sensitive_data_types: Set[str] = field(default_factory=set)
    compliance_tags: Set[str] = field(default_factory=set)
    traffic_volume_daily: int = 0

class APIPostureManager:
    SENSITIVE_PATTERNS = {
        "ssn": re.compile(r'\b\d{3}-\d{2}-\d{4}\b'),
        "credit_card": re.compile(r'\b\d{4}[- ]?\d{4}[- ]?\d{4}[- ]?\d{4}\b'),
        "email": re.compile(r'\b[A-Za-z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Za-z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z|a-z]{2,}\b'),
        "api_key": re.compile(r'\b[A-Za-z0-9]{32,}\b'),
        "jwt": re.compile(r'eyJ[A-Za-z0-9_-]+\.eyJ[A-Za-z0-9_-]+\.[A-Za-z0-9_-]+'),
        "phone": re.compile(r'\b\+?1?\d{10,15}\b'),
    }

    def __init__(self):
        self.inventory: Dict[str, APIEndpoint] = {}
        self.policy_rules: List[dict] = []

    def generate_api_id(self, method: str, path: str, service: str) -> str:
        raw = f"{service}:{method}:{path}"
        return hashlib.sha256(raw.encode()).hexdigest()[:16]

    def register_api(self, method: str, path: str, service_name: str,
                     classification: APIClassification,
                     documented: bool = False, owner: str = None) -> APIEndpoint:
        api_id = self.generate_api_id(method, path, service_name)
        now = datetime.now().isoformat()

        if api_id in self.inventory:
            endpoint = self.inventory[api_id]
            endpoint.last_seen = now
            return endpoint

        endpoint = APIEndpoint(
            api_id=api_id,
            method=method,
            path=path,
            service_name=service_name,
            classification=classification,
            owner=owner,
            first_discovered=now,
            last_seen=now,
            documented=documented
        )
        self.inventory[api_id] = endpoint
        return endpoint

    def assess_security_controls(self, endpoint: APIEndpoint,
                                  traffic_sample: dict) -> List[SecurityControl]:
        """Evaluate security controls present on an API endpoint."""
        controls = []

        # Authentication check
        has_auth = any(h in traffic_sample.get('request_headers', {})
                      for h in ['Authorization', 'X-API-Key', 'Cookie'])
        controls.append(SecurityControl(
            name="authentication",
            present=has_auth,
            required=True,
            severity=RiskLevel.CRITICAL,
            details="No authentication mechanism detected" if not has_auth else "Authentication present"
        ))

        # TLS/HTTPS check
        is_https = traffic_sample.get('scheme', '').lower() == 'https'
        controls.append(SecurityControl(
            name="transport_encryption",
            present=is_https,
            required=True,
            severity=RiskLevel.CRITICAL,
            details="API accessible over HTTP without TLS" if not is_https else "HTTPS enforced"
        ))

        # Rate limiting check
        has_rate_limit = any(h.startswith('X-RateLimit') or h == 'Retry-After'
                           for h in traffic_sample.get('response_headers', {}).keys())
        controls.append(SecurityControl(
            name="rate_limiting",
            present=has_rate_limit,
            required=True,
            severity=RiskLevel.HIGH,
            details="No rate limiting headers detected" if not has_rate_limit else "Rate limiting active"
        ))

        # CORS policy check
        cors_origin = traffic_sample.get('response_headers', {}).get('Access-Control-Allow-Origin', '')
        has_strict_cors = cors_origin and cors_origin != '*'
        controls.append(SecurityControl(
            name="cors_policy",
            present=has_strict_cors,
            required=endpoint.classification == APIClassification.EXTERNAL,
            severity=RiskLevel.HIGH if cors_origin == '*' else RiskLevel.MEDIUM,
            details=f"CORS origin: {cors_origin}" if cors_origin else "No CORS headers"
        ))

        # Security headers
        sec_headers = traffic_sample.get('response_headers', {})
        required_headers = {
            'X-Content-Type-Options': 'nosniff',
            'Strict-Transport-Security': None,
            'X-Frame-Options': None,
            'Cache-Control': 'no-store',
        }
        missing = [h for h in required_headers if h not in sec_headers]
        controls.append(SecurityControl(
            name="security_headers",
            present=len(missing) == 0,
            required=True,
            severity=RiskLevel.MEDIUM,
            details=f"Missing headers: {', '.join(missing)}" if missing else "All security headers present"
        ))

        # Input validation (check for schema validation errors in logs)
        has_validation = traffic_sample.get('has_schema_validation', False)
        controls.append(SecurityControl(
            name="input_validation",
            present=has_validation,
            required=True,
            severity=RiskLevel.HIGH,
            details="No schema validation detected" if not has_validation else "Input validation active"
        ))

        endpoint.security_controls = controls
        return controls

    def calculate_risk_score(self, endpoint: APIEndpoint) -> float:
        """Calculate a composite risk score (0-100) for an API endpoint."""
        score = 0.0
        max_score = 0.0

        # Security controls scoring
        for control in endpoint.security_controls:
            weight = control.severity.value * 5
            max_score += weight
            if not control.present and control.required:
                score += weight

        # Classification risk multiplier
        classification_weights = {
            APIClassification.EXTERNAL: 1.5,
            APIClassification.PARTNER: 1.3,
            APIClassification.SHADOW: 2.0,
            APIClassification.DEPRECATED: 1.8,
            APIClassification.INTERNAL: 1.0,
        }
        multiplier = classification_weights.get(endpoint.classification, 1.0)

        # Documentation penalty
        if not endpoint.documented:
            score += 10

        # Sensitive data penalty
        score += len(endpoint.sensitive_data_types) * 5

        # Normalize to 0-100
        if max_score > 0:
            normalized = min(100, (score / max_score) * 100 * multiplier)
        else:
            normalized = 0

        endpoint.risk_score = round(normalized, 1)
        return endpoint.risk_score

    def generate_posture_report(self) -> dict:
        """Generate organization-wide API security posture report."""
        total = len(self.inventory)
        if total == 0:
            return {"error": "No APIs in inventory"}

        risk_distribution = {level.name: 0 for level in RiskLevel}
        classification_counts = {c.value: 0 for c in APIClassification}
        undocumented = 0
        missing_auth = 0
        missing_tls = 0

        for endpoint in self.inventory.values():
            self.calculate_risk_score(endpoint)

            if endpoint.risk_score >= 75:
                risk_distribution["CRITICAL"] += 1
            elif endpoint.risk_score >= 50:
                risk_distribution["HIGH"] += 1
            elif endpoint.risk_score >= 25:
                risk_distribution["MEDIUM"] += 1
            else:
                risk_distribution["LOW"] += 1

            classification_counts[endpoint.classification.value] += 1

            if not endpoint.documented:
                undocumented += 1

            for control in endpoint.security_controls:
                if control.name == "authentication" and not control.present:
                    missing_auth += 1
                if control.name == "transport_encryption" and not control.present:
                    missing_tls += 1

        avg_risk = sum(e.risk_score for e in self.inventory.values()) / total

        return {
            "report_date": datetime.now().isoformat(),
            "total_apis": total,
            "average_risk_score": round(avg_risk, 1),
            "risk_distribution": risk_distribution,
            "classification": classification_counts,
            "undocumented_apis": undocumented,
            "missing_authentication": missing_auth,
            "missing_tls": missing_tls,
            "top_risks": sorted(
                [{"api_id": e.api_id, "method": e.method, "path": e.path,
                  "service": e.service_name, "risk_score": e.risk_score,
                  "classification": e.classification.value}
                 for e in self.inventory.values()],
                key=lambda x: x["risk_score"],
                reverse=True
            )[:20]
        }

2. Policy Enforcement

Define and enforce security policies across all APIs:

yaml
# api-security-policies.yaml
policies:
  - name: require-authentication
    description: All external APIs must require authentication
    scope:
      classification: [external, partner]
    rule:
      control: authentication
      required: true
    severity: critical
    remediation: "Add OAuth2, API key, or JWT authentication"

  - name: enforce-tls
    description: All APIs must use HTTPS
    scope:
      classification: [external, internal, partner]
    rule:
      control: transport_encryption
      required: true
    severity: critical
    remediation: "Configure TLS certificates and redirect HTTP to HTTPS"

  - name: require-rate-limiting
    description: External APIs must implement rate limiting
    scope:
      classification: [external]
    rule:
      control: rate_limiting
      required: true
    severity: high
    remediation: "Configure rate limiting at API gateway level"

  - name: no-wildcard-cors
    description: APIs must not use wildcard CORS origins
    scope:
      classification: [external]
    rule:
      control: cors_policy
      condition: "origin != '*'"
    severity: high
    remediation: "Specify explicit allowed origins in CORS configuration"

  - name: documentation-required
    description: All APIs must have OpenAPI documentation
    scope:
      classification: [external, partner]
    rule:
      documented: true
    severity: medium
    remediation: "Create and publish OpenAPI specification"

  - name: deprecation-sunset
    description: Deprecated APIs must have sunset headers
    scope:
      classification: [deprecated]
    rule:
      header_present: "Sunset"
    severity: medium
    remediation: "Add Sunset header with planned removal date"

Continuous Monitoring Dashboard Metrics

Metric Description Target
API Discovery Coverage % of APIs with documentation > 95%
Average Risk Score Mean risk score across all APIs < 25
Critical Findings Number of critical-risk APIs 0
Shadow API Count Undocumented/unmanaged APIs 0
Authentication Coverage % of APIs with auth controls 100%
TLS Coverage % of APIs using HTTPS 100%
Policy Compliance % of APIs meeting all policies > 90%
Mean Time to Remediate Average days to fix findings < 7 days

References

Expand your agent's capabilities with these related and highly-rated skills.

mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills

mapping-mitre-attack-techniques

Maps observed adversary behaviors, security alerts, and detection rules to MITRE ATT&CK techniques and sub-techniques to quantify detection coverage and guide control prioritization. Use when building an ATT&CK-based coverage heatmap, tagging SIEM alerts with technique IDs, aligning security controls to adversary playbooks, or reporting threat exposure to executives. Activates for requests involving ATT&CK Navigator, Sigma rules, MITRE D3FEND, or coverage gap analysis.

4,300 470
Explore
mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills

hunting-for-spearphishing-indicators

Hunt for spearphishing campaign indicators across email logs, endpoint telemetry, and network data to detect targeted email attacks.

4,300 470
Explore
mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills

analyzing-malicious-url-with-urlscan

URLScan.io is a free service for scanning and analyzing suspicious URLs. It captures screenshots, DOM content, HTTP transactions, JavaScript behavior, and network connections of web pages in an isolat

4,300 470
Explore
mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills

implementing-zero-standing-privilege-with-cyberark

Deploy CyberArk Secure Cloud Access to eliminate standing privileges in hybrid and multi-cloud environments using just-in-time access with time, entitlement, and approval controls.

4,300 470
Explore
mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills

implementing-pam-for-database-access

Deploy privileged access management for database systems including Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and MySQL. Covers session proxy configuration, credential vaulting, query auditing, dynamic credentia

4,300 470
Explore
mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills

detecting-t1003-credential-dumping-with-edr

Detect OS credential dumping techniques targeting LSASS memory, SAM database, NTDS.dit, and cached credentials using EDR telemetry, Sysmon process access monitoring, and Windows security event correlation.

4,300 470
Explore

Didn't find tool you were looking for?

Be as detailed as possible for better results