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# How should ticketing APIs and credentials be secured?

> Security controls for ticketing APIs, including authentication, authorization, tokens, rate limits and incident response.

**A ticketing API can expose customer records, live ticket inventory and operations that issue or invalidate admission rights.** A compromised credential might allow an attacker to read personal information or perform actions with direct commercial and event-day consequences. Authentication proves who is calling; authorization decides what that caller may do. Both are required.

## What is most sensitive about a ticketing API?

Endpoints that expose personal records, privileged configuration and ticket validity need particular care. Authorization must be checked against the requested customer, order, event and venue—not just against whether a token is valid. OWASP describes this as object-level and function-level authorization risk.

## Which controls should be standard?

| Control                                | Purpose                                                       |
| -------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Scoped credentials**                 | Limit each integration to necessary data and actions          |
| **Server-side authorization**          | Enforce per-venue, per-order and per-function rights          |
| **Credential rotation and revocation** | Reduce exposure after misuse or staff departure               |
| **TLS**                                | Protect data in transit                                       |
| **Rate limiting and abuse monitoring** | Reduce automated misuse and overload                          |
| **Audit logging**                      | Trace sensitive API activity and changes                      |
| **Secret management**                  | Keep tokens out of browser code, logs and source repositories |

Prefer separate credentials by integration and environment. Keep privileged credentials out of client-side mobile/web applications unless the system has an explicitly designed user-delegated authentication flow.

## Why is object-level authorization important?

An API may accept an order ID or ticket ID in a URL. It must verify that the caller may access **that specific record**, rather than merely accepting a valid token. OWASP identifies broken object-level authorization as a major API risk. Test requests against records from another venue, another brand and another customer's account.

Token inheritance from a staff user’s permissions, described in Nuweb’s documentation, is one possible design. It does not remove the need to verify token scope, lifecycle and endpoint-specific authorization in production.

## How should teams respond to a leaked token?

Maintain a way to revoke credentials promptly, inspect recent activity, reissue least-privilege tokens and assess whether records or tickets were affected. Document incident ownership, evidence preservation and required notifications based on applicable law.

**Bottom line:** secure APIs depend on scoped access, ongoing verification and a practical revocation plan—not a secret token alone.

## Check authentication separately from authorisation

A valid API token establishes the caller’s identity or access context; it does not make every requested customer record or order accessible. For example, an integration with read-order permission for Brand A should fail when it requests a Brand B order, even if the token is valid. The [OWASP API Security Top 10](https://api-security.owasp.org/editions/2023/en/0x11-t10/) distinguishes broken authentication, broken object-level authorisation and broken function-level authorisation. Test token rotation, expiry, least privilege, audit logging and rate limits. Also define how webhook recipients validate messages and what happens if a secret is compromised.

## Related explanations

#### [How should ticketing APIs handle authentication, errors and versioning?](/apis-integrations/how-should-ticketing-apis-handle-authentication-errors-and-versioning)

APIs & Integrations · Building with APIs

#### [What security standards should enterprise ticketing platforms meet?](/data-security/what-security-standards-should-enterprise-ticketing-platforms-meet)

Data & Security · Security, privacy and compliance

#### [When should ticket buyers be asked to verify their identity?](/data-security/when-should-ticket-buyers-be-asked-to-verify-their-identity)

Data & Security · Security, privacy and compliance

#### [What does PCI DSS mean for ticketing businesses?](/data-security/what-does-pci-dss-mean-for-ticketing-businesses)

Data & Security · Security, privacy and compliance

[More in Data & Security →](/data-security)