WAF

A Web Application Firewall (WAF) inspects HTTP/S traffic between a web application and the internet, blocking common attacks like SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, and bot traffic. WAFs can be deployed as reverse proxies (Cloudflare, AWS WAF, Fastly) or inline appliances. They use rule-based signatures (OWASP Core Rule Set) and machine learning to distinguish malicious from legitimate traffic. WAFs provide a layer of protection but should not replace fixing underlying vulnerabilities in the application code.

Why it matters for your website

• 1Can result in traffic interception, phishing attacks using your domain, or service disruption
• 2Often discovered and exploited before organizations notice
• 3Preventable with proper monitoring and defensive DNS configuration