Trusted by 10,000+ Learners
Certified API Security ProfessionalTM
Develop comprehensive API security expertise to protect critical systems. Implement advanced authentication, authorization, OWASP Top 10, OAuth, JWT, RBAC, input validation, rate limiting, CI/CD pipeline integration and Implement defense patterns using gateways.
Prevent 94% of common API attacks with proven methods.
Self-paced learning
Browser-based lab access
24/7 instructor support
Self-paced learning mode
Browser-based lab access
24/7 instructor support
Self-paced learning mode
Browser-based lab access
24/7 instructor support
Trusted by top companies across industries, empowering thousands of professionals worldwide. Join the ranks of security leaders
Course Chapters
“Here’s exactly what you’ll master in 9 hands-on chapters:”
Course Prerequisites
- Course participants should have a basic understanding of Linux Commands and OWASP Top 10.
- Basic knowledge of application development is preferred but is not necessary.
Chapter 1: Introduction to API Security
- Introduction to Application Programming Interface
- What is an API?
- Need for an API
- Why Should You Secure Your APIs?
- APIs vs. Web Applications
- Understanding API Architecture
- Overview of the HTTP protocol
- Anatomy of a HTTP Request
- Anatomy of a HTTP Response
- HTTP Response Codes and Its Significance
- Stateless and Stateful Requests
- Overview of API architecture
- API Protocols
- API Data formats
- Different Types of API
- Simple Architecture
- How Are APIs Typically Deployed?
- Complex Architecture
- Overview of the HTTP protocol
- Strategies To Secure APIs
- Threat Modeling of APIs
- Traditional VAPT vs API VAPT
- API Defenses
- Input Validation
- Identification
- Authentication
- Authorization
- Data Encryption
- Transport Security
- Error Handling and Logging
- Supply Chain Security
- Hands-On Exercises:
- Understanding The Lab Setup
- Working With Linux Command(s)
- Working With Command Outputs
- Working With Exit Code
- Hosting Files Using HTTP Server
Chapter 2: API Security Tools of the Trade
- The Moving Parts in an API
- API Gateway
- Load Balancer/Reverse Proxy
- Message Queues
- Critical Toolchain for API Development
- Source Code Management
- CI/CD Tools
- Artifact Management
- Cloud Platform
- Infrastructure as Code
- Monitoring and Logging Tools
- Collaboration Tools
- Containerization
- Ability To Talk to an API
- cURL (curl)
- Postman
- OpenAPI (Swagger)
- Python
- An MITM Proxy
- Hands-On Exercises:
- Understanding an API Language (Endpoints, Verbs, and State)
- Understanding cURL Command
- Performing CRUD Operations Using API
- Setup the Burp Suite for API Security Testing
- Understanding APIs Using OpenAPI Specifications
- Performing Reconnaissance on an API
- Path And Directory Discovery Using FFUF
- Enumerating User Accounts From an AP
Chapter 3: Authentication Attacks and Defenses
- Overview of API Authentication
- Types of Authentication
- No Authentication (Public APIs)
- HTTP Basic Authentication
- API Token Authentication
- OIDC Authentication
- JSON Web Tokens (JWTs)
- SAML Tokens
- Mutual TLS
- Authentication Attacks
- Brute Force
- Weak Password Storage
- Password Reset Workflows
- Account Lockouts
- Insecure OpenID Connect Configuration
- Insecure JWTs Validation
- Authentication Defenses
- Secure Authentication Workflows
- Strong Password and Key Validation
- Multi-Factor Authentication
- Securely Storing the Tokens
- Cookies
- Local Storage and Session Storage
- Token Storage and XSS
- Rate Limiting
- CAPTCHA
- Hands-On Exercises:
- Talking To An API Using OAuth and JWT
- Talking To An API Using HTTP Basic and API Keys
- Exploiting Broken Authentication With SQL Injection
- Exploiting Broken Authentication With Weak Passwords
- Cracking Weak Password Hashes With Dictionaries
- Cracking Weak Password Hashes With Bruteforce And Combinations
- Abusing JWT Tokens
Chapter 4: Authorization Attacks and Defenses
- Overview of API Authorization
- Types of Authorization
- No Authorization
- Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
- Discretionary Access Control (DAC)
- Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC)
- Relationship-Based Access Control (ReBAC)
- Authorization Attacks
- Misconfigured Permissions
- Broken Object Level Authorization
- Broken Function Level Authorization
- Horizontal Privilege Escalation
- Vertical Privilege Escalation
- Authorization Defenses
- Defending Object & Function Level Access
- Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC) with Roles, and Relations
- Decoupling Authorization Decisions With Policy As Code
- Authorizing with OAuth Framework
- OAuth Specification
- Different Authorization Workflows
- Insecure OAuth Configurations
- OAuth 2.0 vs OAuth 2.1
- Different Types of Tokens
- Access Token
- Refresh Token
- ID Token
- Hands-On Exercises:
- Forging JWT Tokens For Privilege Escalation
- Finding Another Users Location Using BOLA
Chapter 5: Input Validation Threats and Defenses
- Introduction to Input Validation
- Input Validation
- Input Sanitization
- Injection Vulnerabilities
- Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)
- SQL Injection
- ORM Injection
- NoSQL Injection
- Server Side Request Forgery
- Deserialization Issues
- Mass Assignment Issues
- Fuzzing
- Fuzzing 101
- Fuzzing vs Brute Forcing
- Fuzzing APIs Using Open Source and Commercial Tools
- Burp Suite Intruder
- OWASP ZAP Fuzzer
- Wfuzz
- FFUF
- Injection Defenses
- Implementing Input Validation
- Client-Side vs. Server-Side Validation
- Whitelisting & Blacklisting
- Implementing Input Sanitization
- Validating With Regular Expressions
- Output Encoding
- HTML Encoding
- HTML Attribute Encoding
- Javascript Encoding
- CSS Encoding
- Prepared Statements
- Content Security Policy
- Trusted Types
- Hands-On Exercises:
- Getting Free Coupons Without Knowing Coupon Code
- Exploiting Mass Assignment Vulnerabilities
- Insecure Deserialization To Remote Code Execution
- Preventing Insecure Deserialization In Java
- Post Exploitation In APIs Through Reverse Shells
- Automated SQL Injection Using SQLMAP
- Learning To Validate Input With Regular Expressions
- Preventing DOM XSS With Trusted Types
- Attacking GraphQL APIs
Chapter 6: Other API Security Threats
- Introduction to OWASP API Top 10
- Broken Object Level Authorization
- Broken Authentication
- Excessive Data Exposure
- Lack of Resources and Rate Limiting
- Broken Function Level Authorization
- Mass Assignment
- Security Misconfigurations
- Injection
- Improper Asset Management
- Insufficient Logging and Monitoring
- Broken Object Property Level Authorization
- Unrestricted Resource Consumption
- Unrestricted Access to Sensitive Business Flows
- Server Side Request Forgery
- Improper Inventory Management
- Unsafe Consumption of APIs
- Attacking Caching Layers (Memcache, Proxies, etc.)
- Attacking GraphQL APIs
- Attacking SOAP APIs
- Abusing Microservices and REST APIs
- Post Exploitation in the API World
- Hands-On Exercises:
- Privilege Escalation With Cross Site Scripting
- Abusing CORS Misconfigurations
Chapter 7: Other API Security Defenses
- GraphQL API Security Best Practices
- SOAP API Security Best Practices
- REST API Security Best Practices
- Data Security
- Encoding and Decoding
- Escaping
- Hashing
- Encryption and Decryption
- Securing Data at Rest Using Encryption
- Storing Credentials for Service-to-Service Communication
- Password Storage and Its Considerations
- Picking a Secure Algorithm
- Securing Data in Transit Using TLS
- Rate Limiting Best Practices
- Security Headers
- X-XSS-Protection
- HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS)
- Cache-Control
- X-Frame-Options
- X-Frame-Options vs frame-ancestors
- Content Security Policy
- Implementing CSP at Scale
- Common Misconfigurations While Using CSP
- Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS)
- Cookie Based Implementations
- Token Based Implementations
- Hands-On Exercises:
- Adding Content Security Policy To Mitigate Cross Site Scripting
- Implementing Rate Limiting With API Gateway
- Securing HTTP Headers using Kong Gateway
- Implementing Rate Limiting using API Key
Chapter 8: Implementing API Security Mechanisms
- API Security Design Best Practices
- Authentication Implementation
- Authorization Implementation
- Designing API Permissions
- Designing OAuth Scopes
- Rate-Limiting Implementation and Best Practices at Different Stages
- Reverse Proxy
- Load Balancer
- API Gateways and WAFs
- Request Throttling
- Securely Store Secrets Using Hashicorp Vault
- Data Security Implementation
- Using Transport Layer Security (TLS)
- Implementing Sufficient Logging & Monitoring
- Secure Logging Implementation
- Logging Using Syslog Format
- Using ELK To Capture the Log Data
- Hands-On Exercises:
- Using HashiCorp Vault To Create and Consume Secrets Safely
- Monitoring Docker Containers Using Grafana
Chapter 9: API Security, the DevSecOps Way
- OWASP ASVS Framework
- Understanding OWASP ASVS
- Using ASVS To Secure Applications and APIs
- Creating Checklists With OWASP ASVS
- Automated Vulnerability Discovery
- Finding Insecure Dependencies Using Software Component Analysis
- Finding Vulnerabilities in Code Using Static Application Security Testing
- Automating API Attacks Using Dynamic Application Security Testing
- Addressing API Security Issues at Scale
- Hands-On Exercises:
- Creating a Simple CI/CD Pipeline
- Deploying a Microservice(s) Using Continuous Deployment
- Embedding Software Composition Analysis Into CI/CD Pipeline
- Embedding Static Application Security Testing Into CI/CD Pipeline
- Embedding Dynamic Application Security Testing Into CI/CD Pipeline
API Security Certification Process
- After completing the course, you can schedule the CASP exam on your preferred date.
- The process of achieving the Practical DevSecOps CASP Certification can be found on the exam and certification page.
Application Security Analyst
Senior Information Security Engineer
API Developers
Full-Stack Developers
Penetration testers
DevSecOps Engineers
Master API Security. Skills AI can’t replicate.
Career Outlook
What can I do with the API Security Certification?
94% of web breaches start at the API layer. Companies pay up to $190k for specialists who stop them. This cert proves you’re one of them. A $58B market is hiring. And the talent pool isn’t keeping up. Professionals with this cert don’t chase job postings. They receive them.
Built for Professionals Who Live and Breathe API Security
The roles that can’t afford to get this wrong
Application Security Analyst
Find API flaws faster, ace threat models, and own every design review with OWASP API Top 10 skills. You become the analyst who prevents breaches, not the one who reports them.
Senior Information Security Engineer
Design tighter API controls, cut breach risk, and lead security strategy with real-world attack patterns. You stop managing security and start owning it at the leadership level.
API Developers
Build secure APIs from day one. Fix auth flaws, validate inputs right, and ship code that passes every review. You become the developer team they trust to ship clean, secure code every time.
Full-Stack Developers
Own your attack surface. Learn how APIs get exploited and write code that doesn’t end up in an incident report. You go from full-stack developer to the engineer who builds with security built in.
31%
CAGR ignites a $12.6B API Security surge in 2026! Scale to $46B+ by 2035 with APIs booming. Learn about OWASP Top risks and Fortune 500 roles fast.
$195,000
average salary for an API Security Architect (or Principal Security Engineer with API focus) in the United States.
Understanding the numbers
These figures reflect industry-wide trends from ZipRecruiter, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and market research. Actual salaries depend on your experience, location, industry, and how effectively you apply your skills. We provide the training. The results are yours to build.
And you’ll learn it the right way, through hands-on experience.
What you’ll learn from the
Certified API Security Professional Course
API Security Testing
- Apply tools to detect injection attacks.
- Prevent broken authentication vulnerabilities.
- Block API threats in real-time environments.
Securing API Authentication
- Implement JWT tokens and OAuth 2.0 workflows.
- Configure API key validation mechanisms.
- Prevent unauthorized access and credential theft.
API Security Assessment
- Protect REST, GraphQL, and SOAP architectures.
- Discover shadow/hidden APIs and OWASP Top 10 risks.
- Implement controls through API gateways.
Secure Data Handling in API Communications
- Apply input validation and secure parameters.
- Implement encryption for sensitive information.
- Prevent data leakage and information theft.
Object-Level Authorization and Access Control
- Stop BOLA attacks with access controls.
- Configure object-level authorization rules.
- Define proper API permission scoping.
API Security Automation
- Build security into CI/CD pipelines.
- Implement security-as-code practices.
- Enforce API standards enterprise-wide.
API Security Training in Your Browser
No installs. No VMs. Just real hands-on labs where you attack and defend APIs, secure JWTs, and fix OWASP Top 10 flaws. Ready when you are.
We have provided training and presented at numerous industry events.
Hear from our learners
Explore the global impact of our Practical DevSecOps Certifications through our learners’ testimonials.
The course Certified API Security Professional allowed me to learn new concepts and improve my knowledge related to API security, putting into practice everything that was presented theoretically in the videos.
The video lessons followed by practical exercises…
The Certified API Security Professional course is highly informative.
Throughout my certification journey, I developed a deep understanding of the unique vulnerabilities that APIs can introduce such as improper authentication, excessive data exposure…
Practical DevSecOps offers very comprehensive and real-world relevant certifications. The labs are very well-structured and explained in great detail. Highly recommended in general.
Regarding the CASP course (APIs) is very useful for 2024 because everything nowadays…
I took the CASP course and I was able to get a great grasp on multiple concepts and industry standards on the subject.
The classes were thorough and the course labs were well developed and allowed you to practice things seen in class and much more…
Frequently asked questions
What are the prerequisites required before enrolling in the Certified API Security Professional Course?
You should have a basic understanding of Linux Commands and OWASP Top 10. It’s good to have basic knowledge upon Application development.
What’s included in the API Security Professional course package?
You will get access to the videos for 3 years, 60 days of browser-based labs, a PDF manual, 24/7 student support, and one exam attempt.
Do the labs for the API Security Professional Course start immediately after enrollment?
No, the course does not begin automatically upon enrollment. Upon completion of the purchase, students will have the opportunity to select their preferred commencement date. The course will be provided on the chosen start date.
Does the API Security Course come with CPE points?
Yes, the API security course gives you 36 CPE points after your course completion.
What is the exam format for the API Security Course?
The exam is a task-oriented examination in which you will be required to solve 5 challenges within a timeframe of 6 hours, with an additional 24 hours to complete the report and submit it for evaluation. For more information, visit this link.
Should I go to an exam center, or is the exam online?
How long is the API Security certification valid?
Our API Security Professional Certification is a lifetime credential, so you will not need to worry about renewing it. Once you get it, it will last for the rest of your career.
How Does the Certified API Security Professional Course Impact Your Earning Potential?
The API security market is scaling rapidly from $1.06 billion in 2024 to as much as $58.13 billion by 2034. Non-certified professionals typically earn $80,000–$110,000 and often remain excluded from senior or strategic roles. In contrast, Certified API Security Professionals earn $141,000 to $190,000+, with top experts reaching $240,000.
Companies now prioritize certified talent who can protect the APIs behind critical infrastructure. Developers, QA engineers, DevOps specialists, and backend engineers are increasingly making the shift by earning certification because preventing API breaches doesn’t just secure systems; it makes you a linchpin in modern digital architecture.
Why Certified API Security Professional Course from Practical DevSecOps?
Develop comprehensive API security expertise through our industry-leading certification program. This course takes you from foundational concepts to advanced implementation strategies across the entire API security landscape.
You’ll gain hands-on experience with essential security tools including cURL, Postman, Burp Suite, and HashiCorp Vault while mastering critical defense mechanisms against the OWASP API Top 10 vulnerabilities. The curriculum covers:
- Authentication systems (OAuth, JWT, OIDC) and exploiting/defending authentication workflows
- Authorization frameworks (RBAC, ABAC, ReBAC) and preventing privilege escalation
- Input validation techniques to protect against injection attacks, XSS, and SSRF
- Practical implementation of security headers, CSP, rate limiting, and encryption
- DevSecOps integration with CI/CD pipelines, SAST, DAST, and vulnerability management
According to recent industry surveys, 89% of employers now prioritize API security skills, with organizations experiencing API-related breaches reporting an average $1.2M in damages per incident. Our certification prepares you to protect critical data flows and infrastructure against the sophisticated attack techniques used in 95% of modern API exploitations.
Whether you’re a developer, security professional, or architect, this course provides the comprehensive security foundation needed to design, build, and maintain secure API ecosystems in today’s threat landscape.
Unmatched practical focus
70% hands-on labs for mastering real-world scenarios.
Expert-crafted curriculum
Get real-world insights from experienced security experts.
Practical exam
Take a 6-hour examination to demonstrate what you have learned.
24/7 expert support
