Alternatives to Akto for SREs

middleBrick is a self-service API security scanner that operates as a black-box tool. You submit an API endpoint URL and receive a risk score from A to F with prioritized findings. The scanner uses only read-only methods such as GET and HEAD, and text-only POST for LLM probes. It requires no agents, no SDK integration, and no access to source code, making it applicable to any language, framework, or cloud environment. Scan completion typically occurs in under a minute.

The scanner covers 12 security categories aligned to the OWASP API Top 10 (2023). It detects authentication bypass and JWT misconfigurations such as alg=none, weak algorithms, expired tokens, missing claims, and sensitive data in claims. It identifies broken object level authorization (BOLA/IDOR) via sequential ID enumeration and active adjacent-ID probing, and broken function level authorization (BFLA) through admin endpoint probing and privilege escalation indicators. Additional categories include property authorization over-exposure, input validation issues like CORS wildcards and dangerous HTTP methods, rate limiting and resource consumption signals, data exposure including PII and API key patterns, encryption misconfigurations, SSRF indicators, inventory management gaps, unsafe consumption surfaces, and LLM/AI security probes across tiered scan depths.

middleBrick parses OpenAPI 3.0, 3.1, and Swagger 2.0 definitions with recursive $ref resolution. It cross-references spec definitions against runtime findings to surface undefined security schemes, sensitive fields, deprecated operations, and missing pagination. For authenticated scans, supported methods include Bearer tokens, API keys, Basic auth, and cookies. Domain verification is enforced through DNS TXT records or HTTP well-known files, ensuring only the domain owner can scan with credentials. The scanner forwards a strict allowlist of headers, including Authorization, X-API-Key, Cookie, and X-Custom-*.

The platform provides a Web Dashboard for scanning, report review, score trend tracking, and downloadable branded compliance PDFs. The CLI via the middlebrick npm package supports commands such as middlebrick scan <url> with JSON or text output. A GitHub Action is available for CI/CD gating, failing the build when the score drops below a defined threshold. The MCP Server enables scanning from AI coding assistants such as Claude and Cursor. Continuous monitoring in Pro tier includes 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.

middleBrick is a scanner that detects and reports findings with remediation guidance; it does not fix, patch, block, or remediate issues. It does not perform active SQL injection or command injection testing, which requires intrusive payloads outside its scope. It does not detect business logic vulnerabilities, blind SSRF relying on out-of-band infrastructure, or replace human pentesters for high-stakes audits. The tool maps findings to three frameworks: it covers requirements of OWASP API Top 10 (2023), validates controls from SOC 2 Type II, and maps findings to PCI-DSS 4.0. For other frameworks, it helps you prepare for, aligns with security controls described in, or supports audit evidence around relevant controls.