What is a WAF?

In the digital era, every business owner is aware of having an online presence for the growth of businesses. But business owners are not aware that they need web application security too as well as an online web presence. All businesses, no matter how big or small is, should have a web security. A web application allows customers to interact with their services & products; an insecure web application also allows hackers to interact with their weaknesses or vulnerabilities. Lack of web application monitoring can create many opportunities for attackers to target web applications. Even if a web application is appropriately programmed, there is a chance that the application can still be vulnerable and exposed to the latest attacks trends. According to the latest application security threat report, it was found that more than 80% of applications contain at least one security flaw, with an average of 45 vulnerabilities per application.

What is a WAF?

A Web Application Firewall is a set of rules which examine and monitor the traffic before it reaches to the application server and from application server. It can be network-based, host-based or cloud-based. Web Application Firewall provides application layer protection against OWASP top 10 attacks including DDoS attack, SQL injection, Command injection, session hijacking, Zero-day exploits and many more. It is also considered as a reverse proxy.

How a WAF Actually Works?

A Web Application Firewall analyzes all incoming both GET and POST based HTTP requests before they reach the server which applies a set of rules to determine whether the traffic is legitimate or illegitimate. In such a way a web application firewall identifies and filters out illegitimate traffic and protects servers from illegitimate traffic.

Why WAF?

Traditional firewalls like Network firewalls & Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS) are good at stopping illegitimate traffic and providing network-level security. But they don’t have the ability to stop SQL injection, session hijacking, cross-site scripting or can say application layer attacks. Over recent years, it has been observed that number, frequency, and impact of web application attacks has been increased. Today’s organizations need a robust security solution to protect Internet-facing applications against application layer attacks. To secure web application from application attacks, for example, SQL injection, cross-site forgery, XSS injection, session hijacking, etc. every organization must have web application security. Today’s advanced WAFs have additional features like SSL/TLS based attack protection, Inbuilt DDoS detection and mitigation capabilities, load balancing, virtual patching, API Integration and many more.

Conclusion

As hackers are targeting web applications from all around the world in their most upstream form, costing businesses and organizations a lot of money and a loss of brand reputation. It’s often necessary to have at least one web security solution. Recent web application attacks demonstrate the urgent need for advance Web Application Firewall Solution.

Do you want to know how well your company is protected from web application attacks and other multiple cyber attacks? Contact us today!Are you ready to increase the security of your network? Start with our free trial for 30 days!

HaltDos is an IT Security company that primarily deals in award-winning AI-based Web Application Firewall and DDoS mitigation solutions for SME's and Large Enterprises.