API Security Checklist for Engineering Teams

A comprehensive API security framework for production teams, citing that 47% of APIs process requests without authentication, 42% of traffic remains unencrypted, and 85% lack rate limiting, contributing to a failing 58/100 grade on the 2025 Global API Scorecard. The checklist covers seven domains: authentication and authorization, input validation, rate limiting, transport security, logging and monitoring, documentation standards, and governance practices.