Start with the requests that matter
Before buying another security tool, ask your developer for a one-page inventory of your website’s API operations. Write the business action beside each request: load preferences, save a delivery note, request an AI response or begin checkout. Record the data sent, the data returned and the person allowed to perform the action.
This inventory reveals decisions a generic scan cannot make for you. A preference update may be harmless; a request that grants access to a paid service has financial consequences. Give each operation an owner who can explain the expected result. Include failed requests and abandoned flows, because customers do not always follow the screen sequence your team designed.
Separate the project identifier from user authority
In Gammal Tech’s published integration model, the projectID is public. Registered HTTPS domains and the user’s valid session have separate roles. There is no secret developer API key to hide in website JavaScript, but a temporary session token remains sensitive.
| Value | What it identifies | Review question |
|---|---|---|
| Public projectID | The application project | Is this the intended project? |
| Registered domain | An approved website origin | Who can publish code there? |
| Session token | The current authenticated session | Could a script, log or support tool expose it? |
Domain registration does not make malicious code on that same approved website trustworthy. Protect deployment access as part of API security.
Decide what the user may change
Authentication confirms a login; authorization decides whether an action is permitted. OWASP’s authorization guidance recommends checking permissions for every request in a trusted part of the system. Hiding a button is only a user-interface choice.
For an illustrative training website, learners might edit their preferred language and saved lesson position. They should not be able to grant themselves a paid subscription by saving paid: true. Keep the authority for paid access separate from user-editable preferences. Ask your developer to demonstrate this with consenting testers using their own authorized, verified accounts. If your chosen architecture cannot enforce the required decision, change the architecture before selling the feature.
Define acceptable data and safe display
Give every field a purpose, expected type and reasonable size. A selected language can come from a short approved list; an optional note can have a clear length limit. Decide how the application handles missing values and outdated records. Validation should produce a helpful error without showing internal details.
Do not treat stored content as trusted merely because it came back from your backend. A saved display name, AI response or customer note can later appear on a webpage. Review that display path as well as the save operation. Use text rendering for ordinary text and a deliberate sanitization process when the product genuinely needs formatted HTML.
Make failure and abuse part of the contract
Use HTTPS, keep credentials out of URLs and distinguish browser access rules from permission enforcement; these are covered in OWASP’s REST security guidance. Then review the business experience when a request is rejected, delayed or repeated.
A disabled submit button can help a customer avoid an accidental double click, but it is not an abuse control. Ask the provider which limits, quotas and duplicate-handling mechanisms apply to each relevant operation. Do not invent these capabilities in your own application documentation. Show users whether work was saved, whether they should sign in again and when they should contact support. Avoid endless automatic retries that obscure the original problem.
Run a small, authorized release review
- Use two authorized testers with their own verified accounts: save different, non-sensitive example records and confirm the expected separation through supported application flows.
- Try incomplete input: confirm a missing field produces an understandable response and does not overwrite unrelated work.
- Inspect normal diagnostics: ensure application error reports and analytics do not include complete session tokens or customer records.
- Exercise an interrupted login: check that stale content is cleared and the user receives an honest status message.
- Document business authority: identify the trusted decision that permits paid access or an administrative action.
Keep the results with the release record. Perform testing only against accounts and environments you are authorized to assess, using the provider’s supported interfaces.
Where Gammal Tech reduces the work
Gammal Tech hosts login and per-user, per-project application storage. For a suitable website, that can remove a customer-operated login database and supported user-data storage from the website server’s responsibilities. The integration still decides what to collect, what to display and which business rules to enforce.
Give your reviewer a concrete boundary: the hosted functions you use, the frontend your team publishes and any separate systems that approve orders or staff access. That boundary is more useful than the vague claim that an API is secure. It also makes future changes easier to review when the website adds a new data field or payment flow.
Common questions
Does a public projectID mean the API is insecure?
No. Public identifiers and secret credentials serve different purposes. Review the complete access model, including the registered domain, valid session and permissions needed for the operation.
Can user-editable JSON store an administrator role?
It may contain a label for display, but a user-controlled value must not become the trusted authority granting administrative access. Design and enforce that decision separately.