API Security Risk Analysis (Modern SaaS Skill)
🔍 About the Task
Modern applications don’t just use websites — they rely heavily on APIs.
APIs power:
- mobile apps
- SaaS platforms
- dashboards
- integrations between services
If APIs are insecure, attackers can:
- access sensitive data
- bypass authentication
- abuse endpoints
- overload systems
That’s why API security audits are a paid, real-world service offered by:
- cyber security agencies
- SaaS security teams
- AppSec consultants
In this task, you will perform a read-only API Security Risk Analysis and create a professional security report, just like agencies do for SaaS clients.
🎯 Objective
Your goal is to:
- Analyze public or test APIs
- Identify common API security risks
- Assess authentication and access control
- Explain risks in simple business language
- Suggest clear remediation steps
This task focuses on thinking like a security consultant, not breaking systems.
⚠️ Scope & Ethics
Allowed
- Testing public or demo APIs
- Read-only requests (GET, safe POST where allowed)
- Documentation-based analysis
- Header, token, and response inspection
Not Allowed
- Exploitation or bypass attempts
- Flooding / DoS testing
- Attacking private or production APIs
Always stay ethical and legal.
🛠️ Tools You’ll Use
🔧 API Testing & Inspection
- Postman
https://www.postman.com - Insomnia
https://insomnia.rest - Browser DevTools
(Inspect requests, headers, responses)
📄 Documentation & Reporting
- Google Docs / MS Word / PDF
🧪 Sample APIs You Can Safely Use
Use demo or public APIs only:
🔗 JSONPlaceholder (Test API)
https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com
🔗 ReqRes (API Testing Platform)
https://reqres.in
🔗 Public APIs Collection
https://github.com/public-apis/public-apis
These APIs are specifically meant for testing and learning.
✅ What You’ll Do (Step-by-Step)
1️⃣ Select a demo or public API
2️⃣ Review API documentation
3️⃣ Test endpoints using Postman / Insomnia
4️⃣ Inspect:
- authentication requirements
- headers
- response data
5️⃣ Identify security risks
6️⃣ Classify risk severity
7️⃣ Suggest remediation steps
8️⃣ Document everything clearly
✨ Key Risks You Should Look For
Your analysis should cover:
✔ Open or unauthenticated endpoints
✔ Excessive data exposure in API responses
✔ Weak or missing authentication tokens
✔ Authorization issues (accessing other users’ data)
✔ Missing rate limiting
✔ Input validation issues
You are identifying risk, not exploiting it.
📁 GitHub References (Study Only – Verified)
Use these working GitHub resources to understand API security concepts and structure.
❗ Do NOT copy content.
🔗 OWASP API Security Top 10 (Official Project)
https://github.com/OWASP/API-Security
🔗 API Security Checklist (Practical Reference)
https://github.com/shieldfy/API-Security-Checklist
🔗 Public APIs for Testing & Learning
https://github.com/public-apis/public-apis
📤 Final Deliverable
You must submit:
- An API Security Risk Analysis Report including:
- API tested
- Identified risks
- Risk severity (Low / Medium / High)
- Business impact
- Remediation suggestions
- A public GitHub repository containing:
- report document (PDF / Doc)
- screenshots (Postman requests)
- README explaining:
- tools used
- scope
- methodology
💼 Why This Task Is High-Value
- APIs are everywhere in SaaS
- API security skills are in high demand
- This is billable agency work
- Strong fit for:
- AppSec Engineer
- Security Analyst
- SaaS Security Consultant
This task proves you understand modern security, not outdated tools.
🌟 Showcase Your Work
After completion:
- Share your dashboard design on LinkedIn
- Explain:
- which agency you designed it for
- how the workflow improves efficiency
- Tag Future Interns