How do you monitor and secure API interactions in cloud-native applications?

The API interaction of cloud-native applications is the core of inter-service communication, and ensuring security and performance is crucial, especially in microservice architectures to prevent data leakage and improve reliability.

Its monitoring and protection rely on tools such as API gateways and service meshes (e.g., Istio), which provide real-time logging, encryption, and access control to enhance API traffic auditing; in practical applications, they reduce the attack surface and enhance observability.

Implementation steps: 1. Deploy an API gateway to manage access policies. 2. Integrate service mesh to configure authentication such as mTLS. 3. Use Prometheus to monitor metrics and alerts. The values include reducing security risks, optimizing performance, and ensuring compliance.