Abuse is a product risk, not just a security issue
Uncontrolled API traffic creates downtime, billing spikes, and poor experience for real users. A strong rate-limiting strategy protects reliability and margins together.
Design principles
- Limit by API key, user, IP, and route class.
- Use burst limits plus sustained limits.
- Return clear headers and retry guidance.
- Separate public and trusted internal traffic lanes.
Practical policy stack
- anonymous traffic: strict limit + captcha challenge
- authenticated free tier: moderate limit
- paid tier: higher limit with monitored spikes
- admin endpoints: allow-list only
Detection and response
Monitor:
- sudden token creation
- high error bursts
- unusual geolocation patterns
When triggered, throttle first, block second, investigate third.
Conclusion
Rate limiting works best when treated as a product capability with clear tiers, transparency, and incident-ready controls.
