Running a website means dealing with safety and security. Having the power to collect private information from your audience comes with a big responsibility. As someone they entrust their personal information with, it is your job to take care of everything for your audience’s sake and your company’s well-being. And what’s one best way to do that? By using a website application firewall. Haven’t heard of what is waf? Then coming here to this blog is your life-saving moment.
What is Web Application Firewall?
A website application firewall, or simply WAF, can be defined as a specific application form created to help filter, monitor, and block HTTP traffic from a website service. A website firewall exists to protect from cyber-attacks, including cross-website forgeries, file inclusion, cross-site scripting, and SQL injection. Mastering what waf is includes understanding that a website application firewall isn’t built for all types of cyber attacks. A website application firewall belongs to protocol layer seven defense of the OSI model, which is usually part of a group of online tools that creates a defense against a specific range of cyber attack vectors.
Why Do You Need A Website Firewall?
The online audience has one main reason they chose to sign up on your website–trust. They believe that giving you their private data is harmless. Gaining trust from your market is an essential element in achieving your goals as a business. And for you to maintain such faith, you only have to protect your audience as much as possible. One primary purpose of understanding how a web application firewall work is that it makes it easier for you to protect your people. A firewall mainly exists to prevent website hacking and data breaches, putting your company and market at risk. Learning what a web application firewall is is essential, especially for many e-commerce websites which involve online payments. Many online businesses which receive payments online involve confidential data like credit card numbers and personal location. Once a business website has its website application firewall protecting such a vital database will not be a problem. When you learn the art behind what is waf, it will be easier to understand how a website application firewall works to block hackers and suspicious traffic from your website.
How Does A Web Application Firewall Work?
Every website application firewall has different features and pricing strategies you must understand. To help you better understand what a web application firewall is and what specific kind best suits your needs, we listed below the main characteristics you should consider before getting one.
1. Protection from Future Hacks
With the digital world continuously evolving, threats have also become more prominent. Getting hacked is one of the most feared by many business website owners. Not only can it threaten your audience’s privacy, but it can also have a massive impact on your brand’s reputation. Once your online business database is hacked, it will only be a couple of minutes before hackers can access your private information and use it illegally. By using a website application firewall, detecting and blocking malicious behaviors on your website will be easier. Learning how a web application firewall work saves you from future forced attacks, confidential data breaches, and malicious content injection attempts. Once you’ve managed to inject a website application firewall on your business website, you can prevent attackers from getting in on your most protected websites and stop them from using dirty tactics to get your main password.
2. Online Security Patches
Website hackers are known for quickly exploiting website vulnerabilities once they find one. Once they get a grip of your weak spot on your website, they’ll immediately grab the chance to use that against you. By getting your website a website application firewall, you can easily give your business website protection from such threats. Choosing a reliable website firewall can easily help patch holes within your website database that can provide access to hackers. A good website application can protect you from online attackers even if you haven’t applied a website security update.
3. Better Website
Unknown to many, a website application firewall includes a content delivery network or CDN. This incredible network helps cache your business website, enabling faster global access. By adding a website firewall, you are not just protecting your website from malicious attacks. You are also helping speed things up on your business homepage. When your business website works smoothly, it will be easier for your online audience to browse everywhere on your website. And you might not notice it, but audiences are fond of website design with excellent performance and navigation controls.
How to Select the Best Website Application Firewall
After understanding the different benefits of a website application firewall, let’s move on to another important element you should never miss. Below are five essential website firewall characteristics you should take important note of to get the one for your business website. Take essential notes of these characteristics to prevent yourself from wasting your money, time, and effort on the wrong choice.
1. Logging and Reporting
The main reason why you are getting a website application firewall is for protection. To ensure that you are spending the right amount of money on the right website firewall, keep yourself aware of your candidate’s past performance, specifically when it comes to logging and reporting. An investigation of a security breach is much easier if the logs and audits of your website application firewall are reliable. To ensure you get the best website firewall, do not hesitate to ask website application firewall vendors about crucial information like these.
2. Speed
Speed is another important element you need to take note of when picking the right website application firewall for you. A website firewall usually takes time when inspecting website traffic. If you want to avoid the lag time, do check the website application firewall’s speed performance.
3. Cost
Pricing is another essential in this list. Many website application firewall vendors put hidden charges for purchases you make. To save yourself from this, ensure you have clear information about their pricing strategy and the charges for future upgrades. Double check on the plans you purchased and ensured you are paying the right amount for the right features.
4. Customer Service
Customer service is important for subjects involving website application firewall. No matter how much you’ve done your background research about what is waf, there will be times that you will need help from experts who know how to do the job well. Save yourself from future troubles and pick a website application firewall provider with reliable customer support.
Top 5 Website Application Firewall For You
For the highlight of this what is web application firewall one-stop guide, we listed below our top five picks in giving the best website firewall service.
1. Sucuri Firewall
Sucuri is a known company for providing outstanding website application firewall services. It is a company that was created to offer various website owners a reliable and comprehensive website security solution. Sucuri’s website firewall is a cloud-based system that mainly functions as a reverse proxy. A website application firewall inspects all incoming HTTP/HTTPS that arrives on a website. After examination, this website firewall strips suspicious requests before arriving at the central website server. Sucuri’s website application firewall also offers performance optimization, virtual patching, and virtual hardening engines, which help mitigate threats.
2. GoDaddy Firewall
Godaddy's website application firewall is similar to Sucuri’s. It’s among the website firewalls that provide users with an intrusion prevention system. This website firewall helps stop malware from getting on your business website. It also prevents dangerous infections on your data by inspecting all incoming website data. GoDaddy’s website application firewall also offers performance optimization, 50% website loading time, and multiple servers for your content storage.
3. CloudFlare Website Firewall
Purchasing your website firewall from Cloudflare is one big help to any business website. Mastering how a web application firewall works with Cloudflare can help protect your website applications and APIs from suspicious website traffic. This website application firewall also helps block virtual attacks which target your server and applications. It protects your business websites from SQL injection, brute force attacks, spam, DDoS attacks, and cross-site contamination.
4. AWS WAF
Amazon Web Services, or simple AWS, offers a website application firewall that blocks all standard layer attacks that can damage your business website. This website firewall includes traffic filtering, HTTP body and headers, AWS cloud integration, customer support, and virtual real-time website analytics. This website application firewall is highly suggested as an ideal solution for solopreneurs and companies who want to manage their website firewall within AWS Management Console.
5. Azure Web Application Firewall
Microsoft also has its website application firewall–the Azure WAF. This website firewall is built as a centrally-managed solution that provides a reliable and easy-to-manage security response. Its pricing strategy depends on the amount of website data processed by online gateways and the total amount of time these gateways were available.
Website security can terrify you specifically if you have zero clue on how to manage it properly. But dealing with such circumstances will never be a problem with the right knowledge and the perfect companion to work with like us here in Strikingly.
If you want to know more about the wonders of website building and e-commerce, chat with us today, and we’ll get you started.
