Free WAF(Web Application Firewall) vs Enterprise WAF(Web Application Firewall)

What is WAF?

Web Application Firewall is for filtering web traffic between the internet and web application. WAF is based on a predefined set of instructions and customized according to the risk and specific needs of the web application. It analyses the incoming packets and filters out possible threats at the application level.

Why do you need a WAF?

With the accelerated rise in the number of companies adopting cloud for running business applications and saving private data, cybercriminals have started to target web applications and websites. A data breach has far-reaching consequences, inducing financial losses and affecting an enterprise’s business and compliance in the short term. Also, a cyber-attack news headline will damage a firm’s reputation, leading to a competitive disadvantage and lost business. This is where Web Application Firewalls (WAF) come into the picture. WAF helps enterprises protect internal and public data and applications. WAF helps companies evade costly data breaches and downtime.

Why One Should Always Opt for an Enterprise-grade WAF over a Free WAF

From the above elucidation, it is clear that it’s better to go for an enterprise-grade WAF rather than a free WAF. An enterprise-grade WAF protects you from zero-day attacks whereas a free WAF cannot. In addition to this, an enterprise-grade firewall gives a handful of advantages which are further discussed below.

ADVANTAGES OF AN ENTERPRISE-GRADE WAF

Various ways in which an enterprise-grade WAF can benefit a web application include stopping cookie poisoning, preventing SQL injection, obstructing cross-site scripting, and mitigating DOS attacks.

Enterprise WAFs effectively protect web applications and APIs against different types of internal and external attacks, such as injection attacks, application-layer denial of service (DoS), cross-site-scripting (XSS), automated attacks (bots), among others.
Enterprise WAFs provide signature-based protection and also help with positive security models and anomaly exposure.
Enterprise WAFs act similar to that of a reverse-proxy by protecting the server from being exposed and making clients pass through the Web Application Firewall before reaching the server.
Enterprise WAF’s value comes in part from the speed and ease with which policy alteration can be achieved, allowing a quicker response to different attack vectors. For example, during a DDoS attack, rate limiting can be promptly executed by adjusting WAF policies.

StrongBox IT is a cybersecurity provider offering an enterprise-grade Web Application Firewall (WAF) – Modshield SB. Having an enterprise-grade WAF like Modshield SB makes your website more secure and enhances the performance of the web application. Modshield SB is built with 2021 OWASP Standards and helps meet global compliant standards like PCI DSS, GDPR, ISO27001.