API Security for Open Finance
Open finance has revolutionized how people across the globe interact digitally with their money but it’s also opening financial institutions to new security threats.
Why More Robust API Security is Crucial in Open Finance
Open APIs empower financial services institutions to build powerful ecosystems including key partners like FinTechs, but also introduces increased security concerns. F5’s API-first designed security solutions provide comprehensive visibility, consistent and proactive threat mitigation, and compliance-focused controls, enabling banks to scale their open finance initiatives securely and confidently.
Common API Security Failures
API security is complex as third-party ecosystems that leverage APIs are inherently risky—common failures like inadequate API visibility and inventory management, poor authentication, and missing access controls can cause severe breaches. For banks, these API security weaknesses can result in damaging data leaks, account takeover and fraud, costly regulatory penalties, operational disruptions, and erosion of customer trust and brand reputation.
CHALLENGES
Lack of API visibility and inventory management
Neglecting to maintain a complete, up-to-date API inventory leaves shadow or unmanaged APIs exposed, creating blind spots attackers exploit to bypass controls, compromise data, and escalate privileges undetected.
Missing access controls
Failing to enforce access controls or define clear privilege boundaries within APIs enables attackers to gain unauthorized entry to sensitive data, transactions, and critical administrative business logic functions.
Poor authentication
Poor authentication in APIs often stems from simplistic credential management, weak token validation, or flawed implementation of authentication protocols, creating openings attackers easily exploit to access sensitive data and systems.
Explore F5 Open Finance Solutions
Protecting APIs goes beyond traditional application security, demanding a dedicated API security approach to offset business risk and safeguard customer data. F5 can help.
API Discovery
One of the key challenges in open banking is the discovery of APIs. F5 solutions help you detect and map all APIs directly from code repositories, through traffic analysis and external domain crawling including forgotten, unmanaged and shadow APIs, for a complete view into an apps ecosystem including automatic generation of OpenAPIspec (OAS) files.
Active API Traffic Monitoring
Advanced threat intelligence and machine learning capabilities are essential for detecting and mitigating potential security threats in real-time. With F5 solutions you can monitor all traffic through continuous machine learning, allowing organizations to maintain behavioral baselines, while flagging and blocking suspicious activity over time. Augmented with an AI assistant, leveraging the power of natural language queries to streamline analysis of and access to API security events, with context and actionable recommendations.
Consistent security across the entire open finance ecosystem
Enforcement through consistent security is a critical pillar of protecting open banking and open finance initiatives, especially as we move more into the post quantum computing era. F5 solutions secure APIs in code, through testing, and at runtime—allowing you to continuously identify risks and limit, authenticate, control and block malicious calls or suspicious traffic to API endpoints and suspicious or malicious activity (including Bot and DDoOS attacks) through a combination of in-line app and API security capabilities with WAF, including granular L7 policy engine.
Resources
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This report by Twimbit examines the challenges, catalysts for change, and growth models of open finance.