APIs are transforming how we conduct business—they’re improving the speed and quality of software development and data integration—and they’re a growing phenomenon. In the last eight years, the number of public APIs has gone from less than 2,000 to more than 50,000, and that growth is driving increased investment across multiple industries. According to Okta’s Executive Survey on API Strategy, 98% of respondents said they had some sort of API strategy in place and 95% are planning to invest in APIs in the near future. APIs are here to stay.

Alongside the rise of investment in the sector, API-centric breaches are also developing in scale and both Gartner and OWASP identify these types of attacks as the next major security vector. In an environment where tech integration is becoming the norm, organizations need to understand the risks of implementing an API strategy and be equipped to manage and secure their APIs effectively.