APIs are everywhere — but not all of them are accounted for. Enter Shadow APIs — those undocumented, forgotten, or hidden APIs that devs spun up during testing or updates… and never took down.

Attackers love these.

Why? Because:

• No one's monitoring them
• They bypass usual security controls
• They often leak sensitive data or expose internal functions

Most orgs focus on their main API endpoints and forget the ones lingering in the shadows.

How to fight back:

• Run regular API discovery scans
• Compare active endpoints vs documented ones
• Kill what’s not in use — no mercy

Shadow APIs are like unlocked side doors in your app — and the attackers already found them.

— Cyber Protection Academy | Stay sharp, stay covered