Middleware Position.
Strategic positioning determines everything. Place ABIS correctly in your middleware chain, and you gain security without sacrificing performance. Position it wrong, and you've added latency without value.
Middleware operates as an interceptor pattern in the request-response pipeline. ABIS middleware should execute after authentication but before business logic, ensuring you have user context while preventing resource commitment to suspicious requests.
The optimal middleware order is: (1) CORS/Headers → (2) Authentication → (3) ABIS Analysis → (4) Authorization → (5) Business Logic. This sequence ensures ABIS has access to user identity but doesn't waste cycles analyzing unauthenticated traffic or pre-flight requests.
Key considerations include selective application (only high-risk routes), async execution to prevent blocking, fail-open behavior when ABIS is unavailable, and proper error propagation to downstream middleware.
GLOBAL MIDDLEWARE
Apply ABIS to all routes. Best for applications with uniform security requirements. Simple to implement but may add unnecessary overhead to low-risk operations like health checks.
USE CASE: Financial platformsSELECTIVE MIDDLEWARE
Apply ABIS only to high-risk routes (transactions, password changes). Optimizes performance by skipping analysis on read-only operations. Requires route classification.
USE CASE: E-commerce sitesCONDITIONAL MIDDLEWARE
Apply ABIS based on runtime conditions (user role, request origin, time of day). Maximum flexibility but adds complexity to middleware logic.
USE CASE: Multi-tenant SaaSASYNC MIDDLEWARE
Fire ABIS analysis asynchronously, don't block request. Risk assessment happens in parallel with business logic. Reduces latency but requires event-driven architecture.
USE CASE: High-throughput APIs