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SEC-304 Security

API Security Engineering

Defend the interfaces everything now speaks through: API-specific attack classes (BOLA, mass assignment, rate abuse), authentication and token handling done right, schema-based validation, gateway controls, and API inventory discipline — practised against an intentionally flawed API estate.

B4Professional
5modules
34skill atoms
1role journey
Curriculum

What this course covers.

5 modules, 34 named skill atoms. Expand any module to see them.

1API Threat Model6 skill atoms
OWASP API Top-10 orientationnorth-south vs east-west exposureper-endpoint trust boundary mappingconsumer trust assumptionsabuse case enumerationresponse data sensitivity classification
2Object-Level Authorization7 skill atoms
BOLA huntingauthorization testsmulti-tenant isolation verificationobject vs function-level checksmass assignment & property-level authorizationunguessable ids are not authorizationautomated authz test matrix
3Tokens & Sessions7 skill atoms
JWT handlingexpiry/refresh disciplinesignature algorithm pinningaudience & issuer validationrefresh token rotation with reuse detectionrevocation strategyper-client scope minimisation
4Gateway Defenses7 skill atoms
rate limitsschema validationbot basicsper-identity vs per-IP quotasOpenAPI schema enforcement at the edgepayload size & nesting depth limitsmTLS for partner APIs
5Inventory & Governance7 skill atoms
shadow API discoveryversioning policytraffic-derived endpoint discoverydeprecation & sunset processspec as source of truthownership metadata per APIpre-production exposure checks
Where it fits

SEC-304 in a role journey.

This course appears in 1 of our 45 role journeys. Here is what a learner takes immediately before and after it in each.

AppSec Engineer

Practitioner stage
SEC-103SEC-304SEC-305

Roles this course serves

The capability ladder

This course is authored to band B4.

Every course we run is written to one rung of the CASI ladder, so a plan can be assembled to take a team from where they are to where they need to be.

What do B1–B6 mean?The CASI Capability Ladder — click to expand

Every course targets a band on the CASI Capability Ladder — our six-band proficiency scale, anchored to open standards (O*NET, ESCO, NICE, NIST AI RMF, Bloom's). A band tells you how deep a course goes, and what evidence proves it.

What the learner can doTypical evidence
B1
AwareUnderstands concepts and vocabulary; uses tools with guidance
Knowledge checks
B2
FoundationPerforms standard tasks correctly in familiar contexts
Guided labs, autograded exercises
B3
PractitionerDelivers complete pieces of work independently
Scenario labs, proctored hands-on exams
B4
ProfessionalHandles production-grade complexity, trade-offs and failure modes
Break-fix drills, design defenses
B5
AdvancedEngineers systems end-to-end under constraints; leads others
Rubric-scored capstones, vivas
B6
ExpertSets direction; recognised authority across teams
Portfolio + panel evaluation

A note on B6. Courses in this catalog target B1–B5. B6 is not taught — it is recognised, through a portfolio and a panel, once someone is setting direction for others. Every journey here is built to land a learner at B5.

Next step

Run SEC-304 for your team.

This course runs at several lengths depending on how deep you need to go and how much of it your people already have. Tell us who is being trained and we will scope it.

Add it to a training plan Talk to our team Check your team’s level free