Web Application Firewall (WAF) defends web applications from malicious attacks. It offers full-coverage protection for the application layer of the OSI model as compared to regular firewalls.
How Does a WAF Work?
WAF works as a reverse proxy and monitors web traffic passing through this proxy. It blocks out suspicious activities such as SQL injections and DDoS attacks before directing legitimate traffic to the website.
Next-generation WAFs use machine learning to detect vulnerabilities before deploying relevant defensive mechanisms to prevent them. These include OWASP’s Top 10 security risks like SQL injections, DDoS, and cross-site scripting (XSS).
3 Types of WAF
Cloud-based WAF can be easily deployed by editing domain name system (DNS) settings. Operating on a cloud platform, it is cost-efficient and only requires simple maintenance. Polaris Web Presence Protection (WPP) is a cloud-based WAF.
Host-based WAF is a software that can be installed on the web server hosting a website. It uses the web server’s resources, which can potentially impact the website’s performance.
Network-based WAF is a hardware that is installed on the same network as a web server hosting a website. Despite its high costs, it performs at a fast speed as compared to others.
How is Polaris WWP Different?
API Security: Polaris safeguards your business against data breaches by protecting your API endpoints from malicious attacks.
Bot Management: Polaris provides automated web traffic scanning, analyses bot behaviour and blocks malicious bots from attacking websites.
DDoS: Polaris can block a variety of volumetric attacks by utilising a global pool of internet resources that a host-based or network-based WAF does not offer.
