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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.
Brute Force Attack
An attack method that systematically tries all possible combinations of passwords or keys until the correct one is found.
CSRF (Cross-Site Request Forgery)
An attack that tricks authenticated users into submitting unwanted requests to a web application they are logged into.
Vulnerability Scanning
Automated testing that identifies known security weaknesses in systems, applications, and network infrastructure.
Security Hardening
The process of reducing a system's attack surface by disabling unnecessary services, applying patches, and configuring security controls.
Session Hijacking
An attack where an adversary takes over a legitimate user session by stealing or predicting the session identifier.
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