33. Software Security Architecture

application programming interface

What is the most popular way to integrate systems and interact with web services? 

It is a set of exposed interfaces that allow programmatic interaction between services.

Simple Object Access Protocol, or SOAP

The earliest APIs made use of this standard allows the exchange of service information using an XML format. It was the common standard for many years, but it has since been surpassed in popularity. 

representational state transfer, or REST

Modern APIs mostly use this standard that uses the same HTTPS protocol used for web communications to offer API endpoints that other code may interact with.

1.  Make sure that all communications between clients and servers are encrypted.

2.  If API access is limited to authorized users, you need to make sure that API keys are being used to limit this access and that the storage, distribution, and transmission of those keys is done in a secure fashion.

What are the two primary considerations when looking at API security?

Service-oriented architecture, or SOA

What is a design philosophy that encourages organizations to create discreet services that may be accessed by customers and other users in a black box fashion?

1. Services are logical representations of a repeatable business activity that has a specified outcome. 

2. They are self-contained. 

3. They may be composed of other underlying services. 

4. And they have that black box quality that we just discussed. Users don't need to know how the service works, just what the service does and how they can access it. 

What are the four key characteristics of SOA services defined by the Open Group, a standards body for architecture?

Because it facilitates the integration of services from different vendors. If your sales system comes from a different vendor than your production management system, those systems can be more easily integrated if both adopt a service-oriented philosophy. 

Why is the SOA approach popular among developers?

Microservices

What are a modern adaptation of SOA to the world of cloud enabled computing? They are fine-grained services that provide small and discrete functions to other services. 

The microservice approach

What approach is commonly adopted and function as a service environments that allow the independent execution of code on a cloud platform?

Microservices

What are designed to communicate with and even trigger each other in response to events that take place in the business?