What is WAF?

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WAF (Web Application Firewall) is also known as Web Application Firewall. WAF helps protect web applications by filtering and monitoring HTTP traffic between the web application and the Internet. Thanks to that, WAF can resist SQL Injection, Cross Site Scripting (XSS) or Cross-site Request Forgery – CSRF (Cross-site request forgery) attacks.
Deploying a WAF means you put a layer of protection between your web application and the Internet. Just as a proxy server protects a user’s identity by acting as an intermediary, a WAF is a type of reverse proxy, protecting a web server. The WAF inspects and filters traffic before it reaches the server, ensuring that only safe traffic is allowed through.

Mechanism of action of WAF

WAF operates at the application layer (Layer 7) of the OSI model. All incoming client requests and outgoing server responses pass through the WAF, allowing any traffic that violates security policies to be analyzed and blocked.
WAF uses the following strategies to filter traffic:
  • Active security model: Includes clearly defining allowed patterns and behaviors, allowing only known legitimate traffic and denying any other patterns, enhancing security through a list approach white.
  • Negative security model: This model identifies and blocks known malicious patterns, assumes that any traffic matching predetermined attack patterns is malicious, and denies access, providing grant security through blacklist method.
  • Advanced capabilities: Leverage machine learning and AI algorithms on potential threats to proactively defend against sophisticated threats.

Compare WAF and traditional Firewall

Below is a comparison between Web Application Firewall (WAF) and traditional Firewall
WAFTraditional Firewall
Protection goalProtect web applications from attacks that target application-layer vulnerabilities, such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and remote file inclusion.Protect networks and devices by controlling traffic at the network and transport layers, preventing attacks such as IP spoofing, DDoS, and protocol-based attacks.
Method of operationMonitor and analyze HTTP/HTTPS traffic, applying security rules to filter and block malicious requests directed to web applications.Inspect and control network traffic based on IP addresses, ports, and protocols to prevent unauthorized access and protect network services.
Protection abilitySpecialized for web applications, capable of detecting and preventing attacks based on security vulnerabilities in the source code and web user interface.Overall protection of the network and network services, attacks targeting specific application vulnerabilities cannot be detected.
In short, WAF and traditional Firewall complement each other, providing a comprehensive layer of protection for both networks and web applications.

Types of attacks that WAF can prevent

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Web Application Firewall (WAF) has the ability to prevent many types of cyber attacks targeting web applications. Here are some common types of attacks that WAF can prevent:
  • SQL Injection: Attack that inserts malicious SQL code into web application input fields to access and illegally manipulate the database.
  • Cross-Site Scripting (XSS): Attack that inserts malicious JavaScript code into a website to execute this code on the user’s browser, steal information or hijack the session.
  • Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF): An attack that forces users to perform unwanted actions on a website they have authenticated, using HTTP requests sent from a malicious website.
  • Remote File Inclusion (RFI): An attacker inserts and executes remote files on the server, often leading to server takeover or malicious code execution.
  • Local File Inclusion (LFI): An attacker inserts and executes files locally on the server, exploiting sensitive files and executing malicious code.
  • Command Injection: An attacker executes system commands on the server through vulnerabilities in the web application source code.
  • HTTP Flooding: A form of DDoS attack in which an attacker sends a large number of HTTP requests to exhaust server resources and cause service disruption.
  • Brute Force Attacks: Attacks testing multiple passwords to correctly guess the user’s authentication information.
  • Session Hijacking: Attack to hijack a user’s session by stealing or predicting the session identifier (session ID).
  • Directory Traversal: An attacker accesses files and directories outside the web application’s root directory using navigation strings such as ../.
  • XML External Entity (XXE): Attack that exploits XML parsers to make malicious requests, access local resources, or steal sensitive data.
  • Zero-Day Exploits: Undetected or unpatched attacks (zero-day exploits).
WAF helps protect web applications by detecting and preventing these types of attacks, ensuring the safety and security of data and enterprise systems.

Who is WAF suitable for?

WAF (Web Application Firewall) can immediately detect and prevent the most dangerous security errors that traditional Firewalls, intrusion detection systems (IDS) or intrusion prevention systems (IPS) cannot. can do. Therefore, WAF is very useful for companies that offer products or services over the internet such as online shopping or those businesses that frequently conduct online transactions.

Advantages of using WAF service at VinaHost

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Using the Web Application Firewall (WAF) service at VinaHost brings many outstanding advantages, including:
  • Quick deployment: WAF service at VinaHost can be deployed quickly, without disrupting website operations, helping you save time and costs.
  • Flexible scalability: VinaHost provides WAF solutions with flexible scalability, suitable for the security needs of businesses of all sizes.
  • Professional technical support: We have a team of professional, experienced technicians, always ready to support customers in deploying, configuring and managing WAF services.
  • Continuous security updates: VinaHost regularly updates security rules and improves WAF services to cope with new threats, ensuring the highest level of protection for web applications.
  • Easy integration: VinaHost’s WAF service easily integrates with existing security systems and tools, helping to enhance the overall protection of your system.
  • Reasonable price: We provide WAF services at competitive prices, suitable for the budget of many businesses.
  • Highly customizable: WAF services at VinaHost can be customized to meet each customer’s specific security requirements, ensuring that protection measures are appropriate for each web application.
Using WAF service at VinaHost helps businesses protect web applications comprehensively, ensures data and information security, and brings many management and cost benefits. Customers can experience the WAF service completely free of charge with the WAF-Free package, for 1 Website with 10,000 requests/day.
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