Advanced 3rd-Party API Security Insights: Outbound data, Inbound Traffic and Saas-to-Saas Interconnections

Adapting Third-Party API Security to Key Use Cases

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In their latest research report, "Adapt Your Third-Party API Security to 3 Specific Use Cases," Gartner highlights critical challenges in securing third-party API traffic—an area that has become mission-critical for many organizations. According to the report, 71% of IT leaders actively use third-party APIs, with a strong focus on consumption and integration rather than managing their own APIs. This growing reliance is underscored by the latest OWASP API Security Top 10, which lists “Unsafe Consumption of APIs” as a significant risk area. Together, these insights emphasize the need for a specialized approach to managing third-party API consumption.

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Gartner’s findings indicate that traditional remediation strategies, such as patching, often fall outside an organization’s direct control when dealing with third-party APIs. This reality necessitates a fundamentally different approach compared to first-party APIs, particularly across three critical use cases: outbound API connections, inbound API data consumption, and SaaS-to-SaaS API interconnections.

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Lunar.dev is recognized in Gartner’s report and in this post, we’ll explore three specific use cases identified by Gartner, with detailed examples and practical solutions for the following cases:

1. Discovering and managing outbound data flows to third-party APIs.
2. Protecting against threats from inbound traffic originating from third-party APIs.
3. Managing and securing SaaS-to-SaaS API interconnections.

Finally, we’ll review key recommendations and demonstrate how Lunar.dev’s platform effectively addresses each scenario.

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Use Case 1: Discover and Manage Outbound Data Flows to Third-Party APIs

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Problem

Outbound API connections, where data is sent to third-party services (e.g., payment gateways), carry significant risks of data exfiltration. Sensitive information like customer or payment data may be unintentionally exposed, and traditional security measures often fall short due to the limited control over external APIs.

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Gartner’s Recommendation

Gartner recommends comprehensive traffic monitoring, transport security (TLS), and integration with DLP solutions to inspect and control outbound API calls. These measures help detect data leaks and ensure compliance by enforcing security policies on outgoing traffic.

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How Lunar.dev Solves This

1. Discovery: Lunar.dev automatically discovers all outgoing API calls made to third-party APIs, providing a real-time, detailed breakdown of integrations, including aggregated metrics across services.

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2. Policy Enforcement with DLP Integration: While Lunar.dev is not a DLP solution itself, it acts as a powerful enforcement layer. By integrating with a DLP solution, Lunar can inspect the full API call—including the payload—before encryption. This allows Lunar.dev to block specific API calls containing sensitive data or enforce granular policies for certain API providers or endpoints

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3. Transport Security: Lunar.dev can be configured to enforce mTLS, ensuring secure data transmission and protecting against potential data exposure during transit.

Use Case 2: Protect From Inbound Traffic From Third-Party APIs

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Problem

In this use case, the organization consumes data from third-party APIs, such as fetching information from a SaaS provider or business partner. The main risk is receiving potentially harmful input from the API, including malicious payloads or corrupted data. These threats can lead to injection attacks, data breaches, or compromise the integrity of backend systems. Additionally, sensitive data received from third-party APIs can be intercepted if connections are not secure.

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Gartner’s Recommendation

Gartner advises implementing strong authentication (e.g., token-based authorization), content inspection, and secure transport (e.g., TLS). They also recommend considering a reverse API gateway to manage tokens, inspect traffic, and provide real-time monitoring for inbound API connections.

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How Lunar.dev Solves This

1. Inbound Traffic Inspection: Lunar.dev inspects all inbound API calls, validating input and checking payloads for malicious content before passing it to backend services. This mitigates risks of injection attacks and data corruption.
2. Token Management: Lunar.dev manages token lifecycles, including rotation and proof-of-possession tokens, reducing the risk of token leakage or misuse. This helps secure the application’s interaction with third-party APIs.
3. Transport Security: Lunar.dev can enforce mTLS for all inbound API traffic, ensuring encrypted and authenticated connections, protecting against data interception and enhancing overall API security.

Use Case 3: Discover, Vet, and Manage SaaS-to-SaaS API Interconnections

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Problem

In this scenario, multiple SaaS applications communicate directly via APIs, often exchanging sensitive enterprise data. A major risk arises when users create unsanctioned connections (e.g., through automation tools like Zapier), bypassing IT oversight. This leads to a lack of visibility and control, increasing the potential for sensitive data exposure and compliance issues. Additionally, organizations often struggle to track which services are consuming which APIs, creating blind spots in security posture.

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Gartner’s Recommendation

Gartner suggests implementing tools that can monitor SaaS interconnections, enforce governance policies, and continuously inventory API connections. Solutions like Security Service Edge (SSE), SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM), or a reverse API gateway can help provide the needed visibility and control over SaaS-to-SaaS integrations.

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How Lunar.dev Solves This

1. Enhanced Visibility: Lunar.dev provides a comprehensive view of all API traffic, clearly mapping which applications or services are consuming which third-party APIs. This visibility helps organizations identify unsanctioned connections and gain a full understanding of their API landscape.

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2. Granular Policy Enforcement: Lunar.dev acts as an enforcement layer, allowing organizations to set specific rules for SaaS-to-SaaS API interactions. This includes blocking unauthorized API calls, limiting data exposure, and ensuring only approved integrations are allowed.
3. Continuous Monitoring: Lunar.dev continuously tracks API usage patterns, alerting organizations to any unusual or unauthorized activity, helping maintain compliance and reduce the risk of data leaks.

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Conclusion

Securing third-party API traffic is a complex challenge that requires a tailored, proactive approach, as highlighted by Gartner’s latest research. From managing outbound data flows to inspecting inbound traffic and governing SaaS-to-SaaS interconnections, organizations need a solution that provides deep visibility and precise control. Lunar.dev’s API consumption management platform is purpose-built to address these needs, offering an adaptive, policy-driven approach that aligns with Gartner’s key recommendations.

Lunar.dev is designed to handle complex egress traffic scenarios as a reverse API gateway, providing robust enforcement of security policies, granular control, and deep visibility—features often lacking in traditional API gateways or iPaaS solutions. If you’re ready to enhance your API security strategy, we invite you to learn more about how Lunar.dev can help safeguard your API integrations.

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Lunar.dev is the only platform dedicated to API Consumption Management and elevating 3rd Party integrations for scaling companies.

Connect with us to explore how we can build a safer, more controlled API strategy for your organization and visit docs.lunar.dev.

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