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Security Intermediate

What is WAF (Web Application Firewall)?

A security solution that filters and monitors HTTP traffic between a web application and the internet, blocking common attacks.

WAFs protect against OWASP Top 10 attacks: SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, and more. They inspect HTTP requests and responses, applying rules to detect and block malicious patterns. WAFs can be network-based, host-based, or cloud-based.

Popular WAFs include Cloudflare WAF, AWS WAF, ModSecurity (open-source), and Imperva. WAF rules include signature-based detection (known attack patterns), rate limiting, IP reputation, and bot detection. WAFs complement but do not replace secure coding practices.

Related Terms

RBAC (Role-Based Access Control)
An access control model where permissions are assigned to roles, and users are assigned to roles rather than getting permissions directly.
Security Hardening
The process of reducing a system's attack surface by disabling unnecessary services, applying patches, and configuring security controls.
Input Validation
The process of verifying that user-supplied data meets expected formats, types, and ranges before processing it.
Rate Limiting
A technique that controls the number of requests a client can make to a server within a specified time period.
CSRF (Cross-Site Request Forgery)
An attack that tricks authenticated users into submitting unwanted requests to a web application they are logged into.
Encryption
The process of converting readable data into an unreadable format using algorithms, reversible only with the correct key.
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