How ApiShare helps you meet the European directive with control, traceability, and compliance by design

Europe is raising the bar on cybersecurity.
With the implementation of the NIS2 Directive, hundreds of organizations — both public and private — are now facing a mandatory shift: they must strengthen their digital defenses, formalize their processes, and ensure traceability and responsiveness in the event of an attack.

Many are already working on infrastructure, identity management, and supply chain security.
But there’s one area that is often overlooked — and yet absolutely critical to security and compliance: APIs.

Every day, APIs expose services, data, and core functionalities.
Every endpoint is a potential entry point. Every call, an interaction that must be monitored.

Yet in many companies, APIs are still treated as purely “technical” components — detached from the strategic blueprint of security.
But times have changed. APIs are now a regulated asset. And like any asset, they need to be tracked, protected, and governed.

 NIS2: What It Really Imposes — and Who’s Affected

The NIS2 Directive (EU 2022/2555), in force since January 16, 2023 and set for national transposition by October 2024, is the new European cybersecurity framework for essential and strategic sectors.
It represents a major update to the original NIS Directive, with clear goals: boost resilience, harmonize security standards, and improve incident response across the EU.

Its scope is broad and includes:

• Essential entities: energy, transportation, finance, healthcare, water, public administration, digital infrastructure

• Important entities: ICT companies, digital services, data centers, cloud providers, advanced manufacturing, chemical and food sectors

• ICT service providers that support essential and important entities, as they form part of the digital supply chain that needs protection

By extending to the supply chain, the directive makes it clear: cybersecurity is no longer just an “internal” requirement — it’s a shared responsibility across the entire digital ecosystem.

For these organizations, NIS2 introduces stringent new obligations, including:

• Risk assessment and IT risk management (including those in the digital supply chain)

• Access control and credential management

• Activity traceability and audit logging

• Protection of exposed network assets

• Mandatory incident reporting within 24 hours

• Proof of compliance measures taken

• Cybersecurity training for executives and staff on threats, prevention, and response

And the penalties?
For essential entities, fines can reach up to €10 million or 2% of global annual turnover — whichever is higher.
For important entities, the ceiling is slightly lower: up to €7 million or 1.4% of global annual turnover.

What marks a real turning point is that NIS2 goes beyond generic recommendations: it demands structured, verifiable, and process-integrated actions.

And that’s precisely why APIs are now fully recognized as assets that must be protected and governed.

APIs in the Crosshairs: Why You Can No Longer Ignore Them

One of the most common misconceptions among those preparing for NIS2 is thinking the directive doesn’t directly concern APIs.
After all, it talks about risk management, operational continuity, supply chain protection…
But a closer look reveals that APIs are, in every respect, a regulated asset.

Why?
Because APIs are now the primary gateway to digital data and services.
They expose critical functionalities. They connect internal systems, partners, frontends, mobile apps, and external platforms.
And every exposed endpoint, every unmonitored call, every poorly managed credential is a potential attack surface.

From a cybersecurity perspective, an API is no different than an Internet-facing server.
And under NIS2, it must be protected the same way.

Without a centralized view of exposed APIs — without a structured process to publish, control, revoke, or update them — no organization can claim to be truly compliant.

NIS2 makes no distinction between "traditional" assets and APIs:

• Tracking who accesses a system is equivalent to tracking who consumes an API.

• Managing access permissions is mandatory also for users and apps using API tokens.

• Monitoring logs and responding to incidents includes detecting anomalies in API consumption.

That’s why API governance isn’t just a best practice anymore — it’s a condition for compliance.

Put Yourself in a CISO’s Shoes

Imagine you’re a CISO designing your Security Operations Center.
You’ve mapped your critical systems, formalized access policies, defined incident response procedures.
Your infrastructure is under control. Your endpoints are protected. Your vendors have been assessed.

Then a simple question comes from your audit team:

“Can we confirm that every API published by our organization is tracked, protected, versioned, and fully compliant with corporate policies?”

And in that moment, the most honest answer is: we don’t know.

Because in many companies, APIs don’t fall under the CISO’s operational perimeter.
They’re managed by dev teams, published by DevOps, consumed by partners, documented in separate portals.
No centralized visibility. No formal ownership. No structured process.

NIS2 demands demonstrable control. And without native API governance, that control simply doesn’t exist.

Now imagine having a tool that tells you — in real time — whether each active API:

• has a designated owner,

• has been approved through a defined process,

• has active and traceable logs,

• complies with naming conventions, versioning, and security policies.

Imagine integrating this visibility into your SOC, your CMDB, your audit workflows.

Imagine being able to say — to your team and your board —
Yes, our APIs are governed. Yes, we are ready for NIS2.

How ApiShare Helps You Achieve NIS2 Compliance

The requirements set by the NIS2 directive are not something you can improvise.
They demand a systemic, integrated, and verifiable approach.
When it comes to APIs, this means relying on a platform that governs the full lifecycle — aligned with corporate policies, security standards, and regulatory requirements.

That’s exactly what ApiShare was built for.

ApiShare is an API Governance platform designed to be integrated as a native component of your cybersecurity strategy and your Developer Platform.

Here’s how ApiShare supports NIS2 compliance:

Centralized API Inventory and Visibility

ApiShare keeps a continuously updated registry of all APIs — active, versioned, deprecated, or under review.
Every asset is mapped, visible, and assigned to a clear owner.

Policy Enforcement and Controlled Approval

Publishing, reviewing, and releasing APIs follows a structured, traceable workflow, backed by enforce-by-design policies.
No more exposed APIs without authorization.

Secure Access and Credential Management

Tokens, keys, and permissions are fully traceable, role-based, and rotatable according to company policies.
External IAM integrations ensure coherence and control.

Traceability, Logging, and Auditability

Every action is logged — who did what, when, and on which API.
Logs are available for audits, inspections, or incident response, as required by NIS2.

Integration with Existing Processes and Systems

ApiShare connects seamlessly with your DevOps pipelines, CMDB, security tools, and documentation portals —
creating a governance layer that enhances, rather than disrupts, your existing workflows.

With ApiShare, governance isn’t a burden to chase.
It becomes a built-in organizational capability.

Structured compliance, continuous security. That’s what ApiShare delivers.

NIS2 represents a profound shift in how digital security is managed.
It’s not just about ticking a regulatory checkbox — it’s about rethinking how digital assets are governed in a structured, auditable, and transparent way.

In this new landscape, APIs are no longer a technical footnote.
They are critical points of exposure, interaction, and responsibility. And as such, they must be governed. Always.

With ApiShare, you can embed API governance directly into your cybersecurity strategy:

• Without building new processes from scratch

• Without blocking development teams

• Without compromising between speed and control

Because today, true compliance doesn’t come from piling on tools — it comes from enabling capabilities.
And API governance is one of them.

If you’re tackling the NIS2 challenge — or want to do so with clarity and method —
ApiShare is the technology partner to get it done, seriously.
With visibility, structure, and security by design.