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Search Search CSRC MENU Search Search Projects Publications Expand or Collapse Drafts for Public Comment All Public Drafts Final Pubs FIPS (standards) Special Publications (SP s ) IR (interagency/internal reports) CSWP (cybersecurity white papers) ITL Bulletins Project Descriptions Journal Articles Conference Papers Books Topics Expand or Collapse Security & Privacy Applications Technologies Sectors Laws & Regulations Activities & Products News & Updates Events Glossary About CSRC Expand or Collapse Computer Security Division Cryptographic Technology Software Security Group Hardware Security Group Security Engineering and Risk Management Applied Cybersecurity Division Cybersecurity and Privacy Applications National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Contact Us Information Technology Laboratory Computer Security Resource Center Publications NIST SP 800-228 Guidelines for API Protection for Cloud-Native Systems Share to Facebook Share to X Share to LinkedIn Share ia Email Documentation Topics Date Published: June 2025 (includes updates as of Mar. 13, 2026) Supersedes: SP 800-228 (06/27/2025) Planning Note ( 03/13/2026 ): This updates the original release of SP 800-228 by adding two appendices: Appendix D: List of API Risks by Risk Categories Appendix E: List of Recommended Security Controls by API Lifecycle Stage Author(s) Ramaswamy Chandramouli (NIST) , Zack Butcher (Tetrate) Abstract Modern enterprise IT systems rely on a family of application programming interfaces (APIs) for integration to support organizational business processes. Hence, a secure deployment of APIs is critical for overall enterprise security. This, in turn, requires the identification of risk factors or vulnerabilities in various phases of the API life cycle and the development of controls or protection measures. This document addresses the following aspects of achieving that goal: (a) the identification and analysis of risk factors or vulnerabilities during various activities of API development and runtime, (b) recommended basic and advanced controls and protection measures during the pre-runtime and runtime stages of APIs, and (c) an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of various implementation options for those controls to enable security practitioners to adopt an incremental, risk-based approach to securing their APIs. Modern enterprise IT systems rely on a family of application programming interfaces (APIs) for integration to support organizational business processes. Hence, a secure deployment of APIs is critical for overall enterprise security. This, in turn, requires the identification of risk factors or... See full abstract Modern enterprise IT systems rely on a family of application programming interfaces (APIs) for integration to support organizational business processes. Hence, a secure deployment of APIs is critical for overall enterprise security. This, in turn, requires the identification of risk factors or vulnerabilities in various phases of the API life cycle and the development of controls or protection measures. This document addresses the following aspects of achieving that goal: (a) the identification and analysis of risk factors or vulnerabilities during various activities of API development and runtime, (b) recommended basic and advanced controls and protection measures during the pre-runtime and runtime stages of APIs, and (c) an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of various implementation options for those controls to enable security practitioners to adopt an incremental, risk-based approach to securing their APIs. Hide full abstract Keywords API ; API endpoint ; API gateway ; API key ; API schema ; web application firewall Control Families None selected Documentation Publication: https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.800-228-upd1 Download URL Supplemental Material: None available Document History: 03/13/26: SP 800-228 (Final) Topics Security and Privacy general security & privacy Technologies cloud & virtualization HEADQUARTERS 100 Bureau Drive Gaithersburg, MD 20899 X (link is external) facebook (link is external) linkedin (link is external) instagram (link is external) youtube (link is external) rss govdelivery (link is external) Want updates about CSRC and our publications? Subscribe Contact Us | Our Other Offices Send inquiries to [email protected] Site Privacy Accessibility Privacy Program Copyrights Vulnerability Disclosure No Fear Act Policy FOIA Environmental Policy Scientific Integrity Information Quality Standards Commerce.gov Science.gov USA.gov Vote.gov