Alternatives to APIsec at Series A startups

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What middleBrick covers

  • Black-box scanning without agents or code access
  • Covers OWASP API Top 10 (2023) mappings
  • Supports OpenAPI 3.0, 3.1, and Swagger 2.0
  • Authenticated scans with header allowlists
  • CI/CD integration via GitHub Action
  • Continuous monitoring and diff detection

What drives the need for automated API security at Series A

As product surfaces expand and engineering teams ship frequently, the API attack surface grows faster than manual coverage can scale. Security decisions made early influence later technical debt, audit readiness, and incident response cost. An automated scanner that requires no code changes and runs without agents can surface misconfigurations before attackers do, while fitting into existing CI and deployment workflows.

Black-box scanning approach and operational profile

middleBrick operates as a black-box scanner against public endpoints. It uses read-only methods such as GET and HEAD, with text-only POST for LLM probes, completing most scans in under a minute. No SDKs, agents, or build integrations are required, and the approach supports any language or framework. The tool maps findings to OWASP API Top 10, checks security headers, validates authentication mechanisms, and profiles API inventory without modifying state.

Detection coverage aligned to major frameworks

The scanner maps findings directly to three frameworks: PCI-DSS 4.0, SOC 2 Type II, and OWASP API Top 10 (2023). Detection includes authentication bypass, JWT misconfigurations such as alg=none or expired tokens, BOLA and IDOR via sequential ID probing, BFLA and privilege escalation attempts, over-exposed properties, input validation gaps like CORS wildcard usage, rate-limit header visibility, sensitive data exposure including PII and API key formats, encryption hygiene, SSRF indicators, inventory issues like missing versioning, unsafe consumption surfaces, and LLM security probes across tiered scan depths. It parses OpenAPI 3.0, 3.1, and Swagger 2.0 with recursive $ref resolution and cross-references spec definitions against runtime behavior.

Authenticated scanning and safety controls

Authenticated scanning is available from Starter tier onward, supporting Bearer, API key, Basic auth, and Cookie credentials. Domain verification is enforced through DNS TXT records or an HTTP well-known file to ensure only domain owners can scan with credentials. Header forwarding is limited to Authorization, X-API-Key, Cookie, and X-Custom-* headers. Safety measures include read-only methods only, blocking private IPs, localhost, and cloud metadata endpoints at multiple layers, and providing on-demand data deletion within 30 days of cancellation.

Product formats, integrations, and continuous monitoring

Delivery options include a Web Dashboard for scan management and trend tracking, a CLI via an npm package for local runs with JSON or text output, a GitHub Action for CI/CD gates that fail on score drops, an MCP Server for AI coding assistants, and a programmable API for custom integrations. Pro tier adds scheduled rescans every 6 hours, daily, weekly, or monthly, diff detection for regressions, email alerts rate-limited to one per hour per API, and HMAC-SHA256 signed webhooks that auto-disable after five consecutive failures. Enterprise tiers support unlimited APIs, custom rules, SSO, audit logs, SLAs, and dedicated support.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does this replace a human pentester for high-stakes audits?
No. The scanner detects and reports misconfigurations with remediation guidance but does not replace human expertise for in-depth business logic or high-assurance audits.
Can it detect blind SSRF or business logic vulnerabilities?
No. Out-of-band blind SSRF and business logic issues are out of scope and require domain context that only a human assessor can provide.
How does authenticated scanning work?
You provide credentials for Bearer, API key, Basic auth, or Cookie, and the system verifies domain ownership via DNS TXT or a well-known file before allowing authenticated scans.
What happens to scan data after cancellation?
Customer scan data is deletable on demand and purged within 30 days of cancellation. Data is not sold and is not used for model training.

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