The Latest News On The API Economy
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Equifax Secret PIN Controversy Exemplifies The Need For Rate Limits API University
After it was revealed that over 143 million Americans may have been impacted when their personally identifiable information may have been breached through the credit reporting agency Equifax, there were further revelations that the so-called secret PINs issued by Equifax were actually timestamps.
09-13-2017
How Not to be the Next Equifax API University
Although most of the technical details regarding the breach of Equifax are not known, the scope of the damage and the questions it raises should be enough to stimulate some organizational introspection regarding all that you have done to safeguard your Web services, sites, and APIs.
09-08-2017
New Version of Tool for Busting-Open Apple's KeyChain Serves as a Security Reminder
Elcomsoft has upgraded Phone Breaker; commercially sold software that has been implicated in API attacks that resulted in the exfiltration of personal info from iPhone users' iCloud accounts. With this recent upgrade, now it can extract secrets like IDs and passwords kept Apple's iCloud Keychain.
08-23-2017
Join ProgrammableWeb in Austin for some IPAs over APIs
ProgrammableWeb editor in chief David Berlind will be in Austin, TX on Thursday August 24, 2017 to participate in a panel discussion regarding APIs while sampling a variety of IPA beers. So, if you're in the neighborhood and want to join the conversation, c'mon down and join us!
08-21-2017
Why ProgrammableWeb Refers to a Javascript API as an SDK
When designing data models and schemas with an eye towards enabling consistent user experiences, sometimes you have to go a little bit against the grain. If Javascript-specific tooling for consuming APIs had to be listed with other language specific tooling, then we would have to call it an SDK.
08-18-2017
Should Freedom of Speech Be Entrusted to Artificial Intelligence?
We've heard all the doomsday-like warnings about how the human race might one day be in a fight for its life against the Artificial Intelligence that it built. But forgetting the science fiction-esque possibility of an AI with its finger on the button, what about the threat that AI poses right now?
08-16-2017
Why Forcing LinkedIn to Allow Scrapers Sets a Dangerous Precedent for the API Economy
A federal judge has ruled that Microsoft's LinkedIn service must make the data found in most of its users' profiles freely available to third parties who want to programmatically "scrape" the site for that data instead of going through the service's official API and abiding by its Terms of Service.
08-15-2017
How to Hide API Keys When Building Web Apps On CodePen API University
If you've ever used CodePen to prototype your own web apps or to closely inspect and fork someone else's code, then you know that one thing CodePen can't do is hide the API keys of any APIs that your app consumes in the process of doing whatever your app does. But now, there's a workaround.
08-14-2017
How Cybercriminals Take Advantage of Chat APIs and What To Do About It API University
Cybersecurity solution provider Trend Micro has issued a pair of reports that highlight how chat platform APIs can and are being used by cybercriminals to achieve their nefarious objectives. Because of the degree to which Webhook APIs are involved (an API attack vector not previously discussed
08-11-2017
How Stalled Obamacare Debate Could Hinder Healthcare API Progress
With Congress in August recess and President Trump on vacation, the debate over Obamacare and whether to leave it, fix it, or repeal it has reached a full stop. The uncertainty about where things will head once the debate resumes is impacting an important corner of the API economy; Healthcare APIs.
08-08-2017
Zynx Health Offers API That Supports FHIR Standard Data Format
Zynx Health has announced a RESTful API that's compliant with the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standard data format. As providers of other EHR systems offer similarly compliant systems, patient data will theoretically flow with less friction across medical practitioners.
08-07-2017
Overstock Has a Blockchain API and It’s Not for Bitcoin
We keep hearing about alternative uses for blockchain tech beyond that of a currency replacement. But real-world implementations that prove such horizontal applicability are few and far between. Looking to plug a loophole in the short-selling of stocks, Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne has launched t0.
08-05-2017
Elastic Beam Launches Machine Learning-Based Solution For Securing APIs
The scariest thing about how organizations are diving into APIs like they're the latest gold rush is how few of them are taking API security seriously. Even if they did, they might turn and tuck tail. API security is hard. Very hard. And there's no easy button. Elastic Beam thinks it has the cure.
07-13-2017
In other API Economy News: FreePNs Instead of VPNs and Most Wanted Database Chops
It was only a matter of time before the idea of a free VPN started to get traction. There's one from Opera for Opera users (that only works on browser traffic). Now, there's another from ProtonMail. How long will it be before Google offers one? And what database should you be spending time with?
06-20-2017
Amazon to Offer Autoscaling for DynamoDB
At ProgrammableWeb we've been paying attention to the explosive growth and interest in serverless technologies (E.g. Amazon's Lambda, Google's Google Cloud Functions, and Microsot's Azure Functions). Even Twilio got into the game with its highly specialized serverless offering for Twilio developers.
06-15-2017
In Other API Economy News: Why NannyCam and Other IoT Security Sucks so Bad
While it seems like hardly a month can go by without hearing about an attack on some IoT device - everything from NannyCams-Gone-Wild to rogue cable modem/routers - the state of IoT security doesn't seem to be improving. And why? Because, many thing-makers are just too laissez-faire about security.
06-13-2017
Why Intellexer Runs Two Identical Versions of Its API (Including One on Mashape)
Just when we thought the data model behind ProgrammableWeb's API directory was designed to capture all the different edge cases that API providers throw our way, along comes EffectiveSoft with two completely separate but identical endpoints for the same thing. So, why would an API provider do that?
06-02-2017
In Other API Economy News: One API to Rule Your Home, Amazon's LightSail, Kotlin and More
Sometimes, there's more API economy news than there's time to cover it. But you deserve to know, right? So, here's another installation of ProgrammableWeb's "Briefly, In other API Economy News" so you see some of that other stuff that comes our way, but that might not otherwise get covered.
05-31-2017
$243 Million Seems Low as the Predicted Size of the Healthcare API Market by 2024
Transparency Market Research has issued a prediction that the healthcare API market will reach $243 million by the year 2024. However, it also said the size of the same market was $162M in 2015 (after the first decade of the API economy) which means only 50% decade over decade growth.
05-30-2017
Why Twilio's Function Strategy Is Revolutionary and Other API Providers Should Pay Attention
Twilio announced Twilio Functions and while there are other API providers who offer serverless function capabilities, Twilio appears to be the first major API provider that, in addition to providing APIs, is also offering a serverless execution environment that’s specific to consuming them.
05-25-2017