Analysis of WAF and Its Contribution to Improve Security of Various Web Applications: Benefits, Challenges

Abstract

WAF stands for web application firewall which is used to protect the web-based applications available online and also helps to filter and monitor the HTTP traffic between the web applications and the internet. It is used to provide security and maintain privacy of the websites and protect them from any kind of cyber-attack. It acts like a firewall which is kind of wall between the application and the internet and whenever any data packet comes in and goes out, it will check for its authentication and if it feels that it is safe enough then it will let it through the firewall but in case if it detects any kind of suspicion, it will not allow it to enter and use the website. The WAF can be of various types like host based, network based, cloud based depending upon the platform where the web-based application is located. It can also run as server plugins, cloud services, network appliances. The paper will discuss the importance of WAF and understand its contribution in improving the security of the web-based applications. It will also discuss the working mechanism of WAF along with its various categories and advantages and challenges of the same.