Alternatives to Apigee in Government
What middleBrick covers
- Black-box API scanning with read-only methods under one minute
- Risk scoring with prioritized findings mapped to OWASP API Top 10
- OpenAPI 3.0/3.1 and Swagger 2.0 parsing with spec cross-reference
- Authenticated scanning for Bearer, API key, Basic, and Cookie auth
- Continuous monitoring and diff detection across scan history
- CI/CD integration via GitHub Action and programmatic API access
Overview and scope
This scanner is a self-service API security assessment platform that accepts a target URL and returns a risk score with prioritized findings. It performs black-box testing using only read-only methods such as GET and HEAD, with limited text-only POST for LLM probes. Scan duration is under one minute, requires no agents or SDKs, and supports any language, framework, or cloud environment.
Detection coverage aligned to standards
The tool maps findings to three frameworks: PCI-DSS 4.0, SOC 2 Type II, and OWASP API Top 10 (2023). It detects 12 security categories including Authentication bypass and JWT misconfigurations, Broken Object Level Authorization, Privilege Escalation, Property Authorization over-exposure, Input Validation issues such as CORS wildcard usage, Rate Limiting anomalies, Data Exposure including PII and API key patterns, Encryption misconfigurations, SSRF indicators, Inventory Management deficiencies, Unsafe Consumption surfaces, and LLM / AI Security adversarial probes across Quick, Standard, and Deep scan tiers.
OpenAPI 3.0, 3.1, and Swagger 2.0 specifications are parsed with recursive $ref resolution, and findings are cross-referenced against the spec to identify undefined security schemes, sensitive fields, deprecated operations, and missing pagination. For other regulations, the scanner helps you prepare for and aligns with security controls described in relevant frameworks, and it supports audit evidence for related assessments without asserting certification or compliance guarantees.
Authenticated scanning and safety controls
Authenticated scanning is available from Starter tier onward, supporting Bearer tokens, API keys, Basic auth, and Cookie-based credentials. Domain verification is enforced via DNS TXT record or HTTP well-known file, ensuring only the domain owner can scan with credentials. The scanner forwards a restricted allowlist of headers, including Authorization, X-API-Key, Cookie, and X-Custom-* headers.
Safety posture is enforced through read-only methods only, with destructive payloads never sent. Private IPs, localhost, and cloud metadata endpoints are blocked at three layers. Customer scan data is deletable on demand and purged within 30 days of cancellation, and it is never sold or used for model training.
Deployment and integration options
The platform provides multiple integration channels. The Web Dashboard enables scan management, report viewing, score trend tracking, and downloadable branded compliance PDFs. The CLI, distributed as an 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. An MCP Server allows scanning from AI coding assistants such as Claude and Cursor, and a programmable API supports custom integrations.
Continuous monitoring and reporting
Pro tier adds continuous monitoring with scheduled rescans at intervals of 6 hours, daily, weekly, or monthly. Diff detection highlights new findings, resolved findings, and score drift between scans. Email alerts are rate-limited to one per hour per API, and HMAC-SHA256 signed webhooks are delivered with auto-disable after 5 consecutive failures. Reporting includes detailed remediation guidance to support follow-up remediation by security or development teams.