Secure your gRPC Bidirectional Streaming APIs with F5 NGINX

Introduction

APIs are crucial to modern applications and have become integral to digital businesses. According to the F5 State of Application Strategy report, approximately 58% of organizations earn more than half of their revenue from digital services. APIs facilitate communication between users and applications and between different apps. However, their access to private customer data and internal corporate information makes them attractive targets for attackers. APIs were the preferred method of attack in 2022. Therefore, protecting APIs is essential for ensuring overall application security. API attacks can have severe consequences, including violating consumer privacy, compromising public safety, and leading to intellectual property loss.

How F5 NGINX APP Protect helps to secure APIs

The NGINX API Connectivity Stack is an all-inclusive set of tools that simplifies the administration of API gateways and APIs in different cloud environments. You can efficiently thwart and curb common API exploits by deploying NGINX Plus as your API gateway and NGINX App Protect WAF. This lightweight, high-performance software security solution empowers you to handle API intricacies, enforce security protocols, enhance app performance, and shield against the API attacks mentioned in the F5 state of Application strategy report.  

NGINX Plus is a reliable and efficient API gateway allowing you to route API requests quickly. It also provides the capability to authenticate and authorize API clients, further ensuring the security of your APIs. Furthermore, NGINX Plus enables you to rate-limit traffic, preventing the overload of your API-based services. By utilizing NGINX Plus as your API gateway, you can ensure your APIs' smooth and seamless operation across various cloud environments.  NGINX App Protect WAF is integrated into the NGINX Plus API gateway, meaning API traffic has one less stop to make. This approach reduces latency, complexity, and potential points of failure by minimizing the number of hops between layers. 

NGINX App Protect WAF provides robust security for your  bidirectional gRPC streaming APIs.  It enforces schema, sets size limits, blocks unknown files, and prevents DoS attacks caused by resource exhaustion, giving you complete peace of mind that your APIs are fully protected.  Simply import your Interface Definition Language (IDL) file, and NGINX App Protect WAF will ensure that your gRPC messages adhere to the correct structure and schema, while also scanning for potential threats in all the right places.  This method can effectively identify any attempts to exploit gRPC applications without producing any false positives. With NGINX App Protect WAF, you can confidently elevate your API security to the next level. 

Watch this demonstration to discover how NGINX App Protect WAF can safeguard your bidirectional gRPC APIs from cyber-attacks. 

Securing APIs can be complicated and daunting, particularly for companies operating in hybrid or multi-cloud environments. NGINX App Protect WAF offers complete API security, safeguarding your REST, GraphQL, and gRPC APIs. It enables your SecOps and API teams to automate security and ensure protection throughout the API lifecycle and across dispersed environments.

Related Articles

Secure Your GraphQL and gRPC Bidirectional Streaming APIs with F5 NGINX App Protect WAF

Deploying NGINX as an API Gateway, Part 3: Publishing gRPC Services 

Secure Your gRPC Apps Against Severe DoS Attacks with NGINX App Protect DoS 

Securing gRPC APIs with NGINX App Protect