But do interfaces hosted on AWS and exposed to third-party developers contain significant vulnerabilities? Cloud services allow third-party access to applications and data through APIs. Failing to properly secure that access can put the data and applications at risk. So, how do you safely expose APIs in a cloud environment?

Understanding the cloud API model isn’t always easy. So, on January 29, we’re having a live discussion about publishing APIs in the AWS cloud, which may help answer questions surrounding exposing APIs in cloud environments. I’m excited to welcome Layer 7 Technologies Senior Software Developer Hirbod (Rod) Moshfeghi as our special guest for this API Tech Talk. This is a great opportunity to have your questions answered and to discuss the implications of publishing cloud-based APIs.

Here’s how to join the live discussion…

On the day of the event, click here to join:

• layer7.com/live

Submit your questions:

• Tweet using the tag #Layer7Live
• Email techtalk@layer7.com

But how do enterprises balance access control with the individual’s right to choose the apps they want? How do enterprises grant access to sensitive on-premise data via mobile devices without compromising security?

Enterprises need secure ways to surface internal information assets in mobile ready formats that can be easily consumed by both mobile developers and the apps they create. They need simplified ways to manage how enterprise applications and systems get exposed to mobile developers and apps.

Layer 7′s new SecureSpan Mobile Access Gateway does just that by streamlining the process of adapting internal data, application and security infrastructure for mobile use. Delivered as a policy pack extension to our SecureSpan API Proxy/SOA Gateway, the Mobile Access Gateway provides a centralized way to control security and management policies for information assets exposed via APIs to mobile developers and apps.

Contest: Win a $250 Amazon Gift Card
To celebrate the general availability of the SecureSpan Mobile Access Gateway, we’re having a Twitter contest and giving away a $250 Amazon gift card.

Here’s how to enter:

1. Retweet the following:

Win a $250 Amazon gift card from @layer7  http://ow.ly/cFj9i #L7MAG RT to enter!

Tweet This for a Chance to Win

2. Don’t have twitter and still want to enter? Just leave a comment on this post, telling us your favorite mobile app.

The contest ends Aug 8 at noon. The winner will be drawn at random. If you win, we’ll send you a direct message on Twitter to let you know.

In this talk, I explore how governance is changing in the API world. I even do a live OAuth demonstration using people, instead of computers. Unlike the classic “swim lane” diagrams that only show how OAuth works, this one also teaches you why the protocol operates as it does. (If you want to skip directly to the OAuth component, it begins at around 22 minutes

The Best Buy API Developer portal is a superb example of how a large enterprise can leverage a hybrid on-premise/Cloud solution to scale API assets and accommodate peaks in demand, without compromising security or governance. The folks at Best Buy have been able to move into the Cloud while retaining full control of what information is shared with Cloud applications. At the same time, they’ve managed to insulate developers from the security, management and mediation challenges that often turn up with a hybrid Cloud solution.

How to Secure & Govern Integrations Between the Enterprise & the Cloud is happening on Thursday 17th November at 9am PST (which is noon EST and 5pm GMT). As with all our webinars, it will last about an hour and feature a Q&A session at the end. We had an absolutely phenomenal response to our last webinar, so we’re excited to be putting on this event with our friends at Amazon Web Services and Best Buy.

Register for the webinar >>

You see, for organizations with variable application loads or the need to scale rapidly, Cloud services like AWS offer a truly elastic way to accommodate changing compute needs. But it’s rare for an enterprise to be able to run a workload in the public Cloud isolated from data or applications residing inside the enterprise. These organizations need ways to bridge the enterprise and the Cloud without compromising security or limiting scale-out.

The Layer 7/AWS workshop demonstrated a solution based on Layer 7′s industry-leading SecureSpan EC2 Appliance, which makes it simple for organizations in this situation to address the challenges of federation, integration and governance they are facing. Specifically, the event began with an overview of AWS before providing practical instructions on how the SecureSpan EC2 Appliance can be used to:

• Ensure security and federate identities in Cloud/enterprise integrations
• Implement fine-grained access and data security policies without coding
• Secure and manage REST APIs for Cloud applications

We certainly got a great response from attendees. Also, during registration, we got quite a few requests for similar events in different cities. If you’d like us to hold a Layer 7/AWS workshop in your city, please don’t hesitate to contact us by calling 1-800-681-9377 or emailing sales@layer7.com. In the meantime, if you want to know more, the slides presented at the workshop are available here. Additionally, here’s a demo of Layer 7 federation features specific to AWS:

Now some will snicker that software inside a “pizza box” seems more like a decade-old vision than a foundation for the next ten years. Today, after all, the action is in the Cloud. But it’s never been an either/or situation. Larry Ellison probably knows more about Cloud than most, having funded Cloud pioneer Salesforce.com before launching its primary competitor, NetSuite. So his embrace of appliances doesn’t conflict with the adoption of Cloud. Quite the opposite – modularized software/hardware combinations will become the bedrock for those building Clouds, as evidenced by the EMC-Cisco-VMware joint VCE (Virtual Computing Environment) venture. The accelerated introduction of new appliances this week also demonstrates a larger truth: the enterprise will never be completely in the Cloud.

While the Cloud is great for delivering shared services or consuming specific types of application functionality without IT, it will never 100% replace an organization’s need for traditional software. Despite the whirlwind of innovation in the last 40 years, enterprises rarely replace what isn’t broken. For that reason, mainframes still underpin many of our everyday interactions with banks, insurance companies, travel sites and other enterprise entities.  Moreover, companies will always have the need to own select internal information infrastructure and incrementally add new components to this infrastructure. Appliances for some software tasks let them do this with less cost and complexity.

At Layer 7, for several years now, we have been actively selling appliances to simplify integration, security and governance of applications shared with other applications both inside and outside enterprise boundaries. When we started, these appliances were primarily physical and the sharing was primarily internal. In the intervening years, the sharing has moved outside the DMZ and to apps residing on a mobile tablet like the iPad or in a Cloud like AWS. Moreover, our definition of “appliance” has evolved to reflect changing views of hardware virtualization. Today, we sell more “appliances” on VMware and AWS than we do hardware but the idea remains the same: remove the cost and complexity of application integration, application security and application governance with appliances.  One plus one sometimes can equal three!

Defining, Enforcing & Validating Web Services Policy on AWS
Thursday October 6, 6pm-8pm
Tysons Corner Marriott (Salons E and F, Grand Ballroom, Main Level), Tysons Corner, VA

Click here to register for the event

This hands-on workshop will demonstrate how a Layer 7 SecureSpan EC2 Appliance can be configured to secure integrations to and from the AWS Cloud. The event will include an overview of AWS security as well as practical instructions on how to:

• Ensure security and federate identities in Cloud/enterprise integrations
• Implement fine-grained access and data security policies without coding
• Secure and manage REST APIs for Cloud applications

To sweeten the deal even more, we’ll be providing a light dinner and giving all attendees a 90-day evaluation of the SecureSpan EC2 Appliance. If you’re interested in attending, don’t wait around too long before you register – our last event in this part of the word was a sell-out!

Register now for Defining, Enforcing & Validating Web Services Policy on AWS