Stop Staring at JSON: How GenAI is Solving the API “Context Crisis”
There is a moment that happens in every SOC (Security Operations Center) every day. An alert fires. An analyst looks at a dashboard and sees a UR: POST /vs/payments/proc/77a.
And then they stop. They stare.
Stop Staring at JSON: How GenAI is Solving the API “Context Crisis”
There is a moment that happens in every SOC (Security Operations Center) every day. An alert fires. An analyst looks at a dashboard and sees a UR: POST /vs/payments/proc/77a.
And then they stop. They stare. And they ask the question that kills productivity: “What does this thing actually do?”
Is it a critical payment gateway? A test function? Does it handle credit card numbers or just transaction IDs? In the past, finding the answer meant hunting down a developer, digging through outdated documentation (if it exists), or trying to decipher raw JSON payloads. It’s slow, it’s painful, and it’s the reason why “Mean Time to Resolution” (MTTR) is often measured in days, not hours.
Today, we are deleting that problem with two major capabilities: AI API Summaries and the Deep Context Side Drawer.
1. AI API Summaries: Security in Plain English
We are thrilled to announce AI API Summaries, a new capability that uses Generative AI to instantly explain your APIs.
We don’t just dump technical data on you. Our AI engine analyzes the full scope of the API, the traffic patterns, the parameter names, the payload structures, and synthesizes it into a concise, natural-language summary.
Instead of reading code, your analyst reads this:
“This API endpoint facilitates user authentication for the mobile banking application. It accepts user credentials (email, password) and returns a session token. It handles Sensitive Data, including PII (Email) and Credentials.”
Why this changes the game:
Instant Triage: A Level 1 analyst can immediately distinguish between a critical business function and a low-risk utility API without escalating to engineering.
Bridging the Gap: It translates “developer speak” (JSON, Swagger) into “security speak” (Risk, Data, Purpose).
2. The “Deep Context” Side Drawer: Beyond the Flat List
This release also introduces our completely redesigned Deep Context Side Drawer.
We did this because the market is confused. Vendors selling CNAPP (Cloud Native Application Protection Platforms) or CSPM (Cloud Security Posture Management) tools claim they do “API Security.” But look at their dashboards. They give you a list. They show you a row in a table that says “API Gateway – AWS East.”
That isn’t API security; that’s inventory.
Real API security requires depth. It requires knowing not just that the API exists, but how it works. Our new side drawer moves beyond the generic table view to provide a Domain-Driven view of your asset, organized into three critical tabs:
Structure & Data Tab: This is your X-ray vision. It visualizes the full schema and parameter usage derived from runtime traffic. You can see exactly which parameters are optional, which are required, and crucially, which ones carry sensitive data. No more guessing if user_id is PII.
Attacker Tab: Context is about correlation. This tab shows you exactly who is targeting this specific endpoint. Is it part of a wider campaign? Has this IP hit other APIs? We correlate threat intel directly to the asset.
Posture Tab: This connects the “What” to the “So What.” It lists specific governance violations linked to this logic, e.g., “Shadow API,” “Unencrypted Transport,” or “Missing Auth.”
Context is King
In a world where AI agents are writing code and deploying APIs faster than humans can review them, you cannot afford to be confused about your own infrastructure.
You need to know what your APIs do, instantly. You need the context to say “No” to a risk or “Yes” to a deployment with confidence.
With AI Summaries and the Deep Context Side Drawer, Salt isn’t just showing you your APIs. We’re explaining them.
If you want to learn more about Salt and how we can help you, please contact us, schedule a demo, or visit our website. You can also get a free API Attack Surface Assessment from Salt Security’s research team and learn what attackers already know.
*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from Salt Security blog authored by Eric Schwake. Read the original post at: https://salt.security/blog/stop-staring-at-json-how-genai-is-solving-the-api-context-crisis
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