Enabling Imperva WAF Firewall for Data Protection

Protecting data requires more than one security adaptive control, WAF is an essential component of defense-in-depth.

Protecting organisation data requires far more than one security adaptive control for addressing the continuous changes in the threat landscape. Many Chief Information Security Officers follow the NIST defence-in-Depth strategy by deploying critical adaptive control in various layers within their network.

This article discusses the importance of deploying Imperva's Web and Application firewall throughout the network to protect the organisation's data for compliance mandates and alignment within a Defence-in-depth strategy.

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Managed Security Service Providers (MSSP) like New Zealand's LinearStack provide expertise in enabling Imperva Cloud WAF and on-premises solutions and offering managed services to clients needing more resources for ongoing security operations.

The Importance of defence-in-Depth Strategy

Defence-in-depth gives organisations several overlapping security controls to protect againstzero-day attacks, persistent attacks, and internal threats. Defence-in-depthstrategies have proven effective in stopping cyber attacks and reducing attack surface exposure.

Imperva's WAF capability deployed in different layers does align strongly with thedefense-in-depth strategy. The WAF could be configured to meet a specific application protection or monitor networking traffic to help establish security baselines for possible enabling of protection rules in the future.

The WAF is an essential component of defense-in-depth; however, these devices have been known to block legitimate traffic without a clear understanding of their capabilities. Organizations with WAF technology should study the product and develop a strategy for the deployment.

The operational cost, experience levels required, and continuous monitoring place a financial and human capital burden on the organization.

Yet, without layers of adaptive control, organisations will continue to be affected by malicious attacks, data exfiltration, DDoS attacks, and insider theft.Application-layer attacks, especially in cloud-based SaaS and hosting environments, face millions of attacks daily, including brute force attacks, buffer overflow, and cross-site request forgery.

What is the Purpose of a Web Application Firewall (WAF)?

Imperva WAF is one of several components within the comprehensive web application security stack, allowing for complete protection from the edge to the database. Imperva's high-level website security includes supporting PCI compliance with automation integrating analytics to go beyond OWASP Top 10 safety and reduce the potential risk of code theft.

“A WAF is a recommended security tool for organisations that handle cardholder data, helping them comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) requirements.”

WAF firewalls are an essential part of establishing a secure environment.

Other value attributes of the WAF include:

WAFs block malicious HTTP and other web application traffic and prevent unauthorized data from being left on the site without the user's permission.
Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) inspect and analyze all HTTP requests to detect illegitimate traffic. They are protecting Web Applications from Online Attacks.
Imperva Web Application Firewall (WAF) is used to protect against cyber-attacks, reduce the risk of data breaches and ensure compliance with regulations.

What is the Difference between WAF and Firewall?

Network firewalls focus on layers 1-4 of the OSI model, while the WAF handles protection primarily at the layer 7seven application layer.

The firewall defends the network from traffic and protects applications. Using a combination of NGFWs and WAFs provides increased protection; organisations can protect themselves from attacks from inbound traffic while scanning outbound traffic and potential data loss.

Imperva's client classification technology and additional capabilities mitigate Layer 7 attacks by distinguishing between legitimate visitors and bots while challenging suspicious visitors to verify authenticity without affecting a website's user experience.

Does WAF protect against DDoS?

Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) provide an additional layer of security against malicious incoming traffic, such as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. We configured them with rules to detect and block any suspicious requests.

Imperva's advanced security delivers DDoS Protection and protects network-level (layers 3and 4) and application-level (layer 7) DDoS attacks through secure HTTP proxy and TCP connections.

The WAF DDoS solution also offers further filtering SYN and UDP floods to ensure that only legitimate TCP sessions reach the origin server.

The Critical Role of the MSSP Supporting defence-in-Depth with WAF Technology

MSSPs play a tactical and strategic role in assisting clients with defence-in-deptharchitectures and ongoing management. These security providers bring expertise in WAF technology and proven managed service capabilities to ensure this adaptive control delivers protection and value. WAFs play critical roles incompliance, data protection, and interfacing with other adaptive controls. Leveraging MSSPs with expertise across several security domains helps maintain and manage depth-in-depth deployments.

About LinearStack

Founded in 2013, focusing strongly on world-class cyber security services, we built LinearStack from the ground up in Auckland, New Zealand. Our passion for making information security simple and accessible for all organisations is the fuel that fires our engine.

"We’re a growing team of certified Cyber Defence Analysts, Threat Hunters, Incident Responders, CTI specialists, malware analysts, security architectures, and engineers with two geo-redundant operations centres across the globe."

Managed Services Offering for Defence-in-Depth and WAF

We designed our Managed Services for firms who don’t want to recruit for this relentless, 24/7 task in-house. We are a global partner for Imperva. LinearStack engineers are certified in WAF solutions to ensure proper deployment and management. Our expertise in Defence-Depth ensures that the WAF will provide the needed web application and data protection.

The defence-in-depth approach to cyber security involves placing multiple layers of defence across an organisation's network and endpoints to stop attacks more effectively, if not at the initial stage of an attack, then at one of the later stages.

With teams in two time zones, you can be confident that your security analysts are always alert and fresh when defending your defence-in-depth infrastructure. As your partners, you can reach out to any of our analysts 24/7 to understand the journey of a threat.

Culture

We’re100% privately held, grown with a family mindset. When working with clients, we’re well-integrated within their teams and act as an extension of their operations. Augmenting existing teams is a transition we manage smoothly, empowering our customers to prioritise cyber security strategy while we protect their business from cyber threats 24x7.

Maintaining thriving IT systems and assuring data protection are fundamental needs that all businesses deserve.