An application firewall protects your website and other online assets from external attacks by screening traffic for malicious code before it enters your network. Network firewalls, on the other hand, work at a lower level.
So to answer your question, is a web application firewall precisely the same as a network firewall? The answer to that question is NO.
Web Application Firewall
A web application firewall is an excellent first line of defense, but a proper security strategy needs multiple layers of protection. You need to consider the difference between these two tools as you build out your IT infrastructure and online defenses!
This means that if someone tries to hack into your site or use one of your pages as a malware distribution point, they will find themselves quickly blocked at the door!
Network Firewall
They monitor network traffic in and out of your application server to ensure that hackers can’t gain access to sensitive data or system resources. If an attacker does manage to slip through the cracks into your app servers, then it is up to you (and your firewall) to ensure they don’t gain access to your network.
What Are The Types Of Web Application Firewalls?
Network-Based Web Application Firewall
This type of firewall is placed between your application server and the Internet to monitor traffic (incoming, outgoing) for suspicious activity.
Host-Based Web Application Firewall
This type of firewall is installed on your application server to monitor all traffic through the Web application.
Cloud-Based Web Application Firewall
This type of firewall is installed on a cloud-based server that can scan traffic from anywhere between the application layer and the network.
Inbound Web Application Firewall
This type of firewall enhances your existing security measures by looking at all incoming requests before they are processed.
What To Consider When Building Your Defense?
- People security training. For example, It is not only about technical tools but also about good user habits!
- How can you define an incident response strategy that will minimize the impact on business operations in case of a breach?
- It’s important to know where to look for an attack and why it is essential to have good visibility.
Is A Web Application A Firewall?
- A web application firewall is an appliance, software, or cloud service that protects your website and other online assets from external attacks by screening traffic for malicious code before it enters your network.
- A WAF helps block common exploits such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), command executions, etc., without affecting the regular operation of your website.
Which Firewall Is Positioned Between A Web Application And The Internet?
- The web application firewall is positioned between a website and the Internet.
- The network firewall protects an entire network, while the WAF only filters traffic for one or more websites on that network.
What Is A Web Application Firewall In AWS?
- The web application firewall in AWS is a managed service that protects your web applications from common web exploits while allowing legitimate traffic to pass through.
- AWS WAF is a fully managed service that helps protect web applications from common attacks, including those that exploit known vulnerabilities in web apps.
- AWS WAF is built into the Amazon CloudFront content delivery network (CDN) and Amazon Elastic Load Balancing services.
What Are The Benefits Of A Web Application Firewall?
- It’s important to know where to look for an attack and why it is essential to have good visibility.
- Web Application Firewalls provide an additional layer of protection for web applications by identifying and blocking attacks such as SQL injection, Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), command execution, etc.
- A WAF helps block common exploits without affecting the regular operation of your website.
- The most significant benefit of a WAF is that it can prevent attacks from reaching your origin server.
- It can help prevent certain types of application attacks, such as the OWASP Top Ten list.
- It can minimize the effect of a successful attack by limiting the damage an attacker has access to, even if they manage to get through your other defenses.
What Is The Purpose Of A Web Application Firewall?
- The primary purpose of a web application firewall is to block common exploits such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), command executions, etc., without affecting the regular operation on your website.
- Web Application Firewalls provide an additional layer of protection for web applications by identifying and blocking attacks such as SQL injection, Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), command execution, etc.
- A WAF helps block common exploits without affecting the regular operation on your website.
Can WAF Replace Firewall?
No WAF cannot replace a proper firewall because a firewall is placed on the network perimeter and filters all incoming traffic. A WAF only examines requests sent to your origin web server.
What Are WAF Conditions?
- A Web Application Firewall (WAF) can be integrated with other security controls to provide an additional layer of protection for web applications.
- A WAF must meet certain conditions that determine whether it is suitable for protecting the specific application in question to support your application. These are known as “conditions.”
- These conditions include IP addresses, HTTP headers, HTTP body, URI strings, SQL injection, and cross-site scripting.
- Some WAF conditions also include IP addresses, the application’s URI strings, and SQL injection.
- A WAF must be configured based on the unique requirements of your application, and it must meet certain conditions.
- A WAF can be integrated with other security controls to provide an additional layer of protection for web applications.
Conclusion
A web application firewall is a network security control that helps protect your applications from common exploits. It can be integrated with other security controls to provide an additional layer of protection for web applications. A network firewall is a network security control that helps protect your network from internal and external threats.
