Alternatives to Apigee for CISOs

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What middleBrick covers

  • Black-box scanning with no agents or code access
  • Risk score letter grades A–F with prioritized findings
  • 12 OWASP API Top 10 aligned detection categories
  • OpenAPI 3.x and Swagger 2.0 parsing with $ref resolution
  • Authenticated scanning with header allowlist
  • CI/CD integration and continuous monitoring options

Purpose and scope as an API security scanner

This tool is a self-service API security scanner designed to surface risks before they reach production. Submit a URL and receive a letter-grade risk score with prioritized findings. It performs black-box scanning only, requiring no agents, code access, or SDK integration. Supported methods are read-only (GET and HEAD) plus text-only POST for LLM probes, and scans typically complete in under a minute.

Detection coverage aligned to industry standards

The scanner maps findings to OWASP API Top 10 (2023), PCI-DSS 4.0, and SOC 2 Type II controls. Detection categories include authentication bypass and JWT misconfigurations, BOLA and IDOR via sequential ID enumeration, BFLA and privilege escalation attempts, property over-exposure, input validation issues such as CORS wildcard usage, rate-limiting characteristics, data exposure including PII and API key patterns, encryption misconfigurations, SSRF indicators, inventory issues like missing versioning, unsafe consumption surfaces, and LLM/AI security probes across tiered scan depths. OpenAPI 3.0, 3.1, and Swagger 2.0 specs are parsed with recursive $ref resolution, cross-referencing spec definitions against runtime behavior.

Authenticated scanning and safety controls

Authenticated scanning is available in Starter tier and above, supporting Bearer, API key, Basic auth, and Cookie credentials. Domain verification is enforced through DNS TXT records or an HTTP well-known file so only the domain owner can scan with credentials. The scanner uses a strict header allowlist including Authorization, X-API-Key, Cookie, and X-Custom-* headers. Safety measures include read-only methods only, blocking of private IPs, localhost, and cloud metadata endpoints across multiple layers, and on-demand data deletion within 30 days of cancellation. No findings are sold or used for model training.

Products, integrations, and continuous monitoring

The Web Dashboard centralizes scans, reports, and score trend tracking, with branded compliance PDF downloads. The CLI via the middlebrick npm package supports commands such as middlebrick scan <url> with JSON or text output. A GitHub Action can gate CI/CD, failing the build when scores drop below a threshold. The MCP Server enables scanning from AI coding assistants. For ongoing risk management, Pro tier provides scheduled rescans every 6 hours, daily, weekly, or monthly, diff detection across scans, email alerts rate-limited to 1 per hour per API, and HMAC-SHA256 signed webhooks that auto-disable after 5 consecutive failures.

Limitations and compliance framing

The scanner does not fix, patch, block, or remediate issues; it detects and provides remediation guidance. It does not perform active SQL injection or command injection testing, nor does it detect business logic vulnerabilities, blind SSRF, or replace a human pentester for high-stakes audits. For compliance, the product aligns with security controls described in PCI-DSS 4.0 and SOC 2 Type II, and supports audit evidence for OWASP API Top 10 (2023). It is not positioned as a compliance certification tool and does not claim compliance with HIPAA, GDPR, ISO 27001, NIST, CIS, CCPA, NIS2, DORA, FedRAMP, DPDP, APPI, PDPA, PIPEDA, PIPA, UK DPA, LGPD, SOX, GLBA, FERPA, or similar frameworks.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What scan methods are used and how long does a scan take?
The scanner uses read-only methods (GET, HEAD, and text-only POST for LLM probes). Scans typically complete in under a minute.
Does the tool perform active injection testing such as SQL injection or command injection?
No. The scanner does not perform active SQL injection or command injection, as those require intrusive payloads outside its scope.
Can it integrate into CI/CD pipelines and fail builds based on risk score?
Yes. The GitHub Action integration can fail the build when the score drops below a defined threshold.
Is sensitive customer data retained or used for training models?
No. Customer scan data is deletable on demand, purged within 30 days of cancellation, never sold, and never used for model training.

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