Alternatives to Akto for AI / ML engineers

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What middleBrick covers

  • Black-box API risk scoring with prioritized findings
  • Read-only checks under one minute per scan
  • Detection of authentication, data exposure, and SSRF patterns
  • LLM adversarial probe coverage across tiered scan depths
  • OpenAPI spec parsing with runtime cross-validation
  • Integrations for CLI, web dashboard, CI/CD, and AI assistants

Purpose and scope for AI and ML engineers

This tool targets API surfaces that feed or expose models, embeddings, and inference pipelines. It focuses on public endpoints, webhook configurations, and external integrations common in AI applications, using read-only checks to map risks without modifying your services.

Detection coverage aligned to standards

Findings map to OWASP API Top 10 (2023), PCI-DSS 4.0, and SOC 2 Type II controls. Detection areas include authentication bypass, sensitive data exposure such as PII and API keys, SSRF patterns involving internal IP probing, unsafe consumption of external URLs, and LLM-specific adversarial probes across tiered scan depths.

LLM checks include system prompt extraction attempts, instruction override, DAN and roleplay jailbreaks, data exfiltration probes, cost exploitation, encoding bypasses, translation-embedded injection, few-shot poisoning, markdown injection, multi-turn manipulation, indirect prompt injection, token smuggling, tool-abuse, nested instruction injection, and PII extraction.

Scan workflow and integration options

Provide a URL and receive a risk score with prioritized findings in under a minute. The scanner supports OpenAPI 3.0, 3.1, and Swagger 2.0 with recursive $ref resolution, cross-referencing spec definitions against runtime behavior.

Integrations include a CLI (middlebrick scan <url>) with JSON or text output, a web dashboard for tracking score trends and downloading compliance PDFs, a GitHub Action that can fail builds on score regression, an MCP server for AI coding assistants, and a programmable API for custom workflows.

Authenticated scanning and safety constraints

Authenticated scans support Bearer tokens, API keys, Basic auth, and cookies, gated by domain verification to ensure only the domain owner can enable credentials. The scanner sends read-only methods and limits forwarded headers to allowlisted names.

Safety measures include blocking private IPs, localhost, and cloud metadata endpoints at multiple layers. No fixes, patches, or active injection payloads are executed. Scan data is deletable on demand and is never used for model training.

Limitations and complementary practices

The tool does not detect business logic vulnerabilities, blind SSRF requiring out-of-band infrastructure, or all subtle authorization issues that require domain knowledge. It does not replace a human pentester for high-stakes audits.

Use this scanner to surface findings relevant to audit evidence and to support controls described in compliance frameworks. Combine with code reviews, threat modeling, and periodic manual testing for robust API security in AI and ML contexts.

See how middleBrick compares See all use cases

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I scan internal or localhost endpoints?
No. Internal IPs, localhost, and cloud metadata endpoints are blocked to prevent unintended access.
Does authenticated scanning modify data on the target API?
No. Only read-only methods and text-only POST for LLM probes are used; no mutations are performed.
How are LLM security checks structured across scan tiers?
Three tiers—Quick, Standard, Deep—apply 18 adversarial probes including prompt extraction, jailbreak patterns, encoding bypasses, and token manipulation.
Can findings be integrated into CI/CD pipelines?
Yes. The GitHub Action can enforce score thresholds, and the CLI with JSON output fits scripted workflows for automated gating.
What happens to scan data after account cancellation?
Data is deletable on demand and purged within 30 days of cancellation. It is never sold or used for training models.

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