As we deploy more and more Web applications, we run the risk of overwhelming our security teams if we don’t give them the tools they need. Specifically, if your applications sit behind legacy web application firewall (WAF) technologies, the demands on your security team can quickly become unmanageable. Drowning in false positives that prevent legitimate users from accessing business-critical tools, and without adequate time and resources to tune the WAF every time the dev team deploys code changes, your security team may be forced to choose between two unappealing choices: put your WAF into monitor-only mode and hope for the best, or force your dev teams to slow down the delivery of new code so that extensive testing and manual WAF tuning can take place. Don’t put your security team into this position – give them the modern tools they need.
Using well established web technologies, including RESTful APIs, and a growing selection of open source and commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software, your dev teams enable your users to access critical business capabilities using any device that can connect to the Internet, including personal mobile devices. This gives your business the ability to rapidly adapt to change while also meeting the evolving demands of today’s workforce.
You need a WAF that can keep up with your developers and help you achieve your business goals (e.g. improve customer experience, resolve bugs, add new features). Start by selecting a solution that leverages machine learning to automatically model your application as it evolves: FortiWeb Cloud. A modern WAF-as-a-Service solution, FortiWeb Cloud defends the modern web application attack surface, including web APIs, without generating the false positives that can eat up your security team’s valuable and limited resources. In addition to traditional tools, such as signatures, IP block lists, etc., FortiWeb leverages machine learning to build and continuously update a model of the specific applications your organization uses. Then, instead of relying on manually created signatures and exceptions, this machine learning capability can identify anomalies that can then be subjected to additional analytics. The result? Your users get the benefit of high-performance and reliable applications without the need for your IT team to manually adjust WAF rules every time you deploy an update.
Available on the widest array of public cloud environments of any WAF solution – including AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud (either through the marketplaces on a pay-as-you-go-basis or via annual contracts from your Fortinet reseller) – FortiWeb Cloud helps you maintain a consistent security posture across all of your Web applications, including key parts of the attack surface such as APIs and bot mitigation. And because it can also includes pre-defined configuration templates for common content management systems (CMS) such as SharePoint, WordPress, and Drupal, organizations can protect multiple applications with ease. With a WAF-as-a-Service solution in place, there is no infrastructure to manage and new applications can be protected within minutes.
In addition to the power of machine learning, FortiWeb Cloud defends two aspects of the attack surface that many WAFs neglect – protecting APIs and defending against malicious bots. You are likely using Web APIs to support both B2B communication and the mobile applications that users increasingly rely on in lieu of a traditional web browser. And bot networks aren’t just for DDoS anymore – threat actors increasingly deploy them for data mining, account takeover, digital ad fraud, and transaction fraud. With FortiWeb Cloud, protection against these threats are not add-on options – they are included by default because we don’t believe a WAF can be effective in the modern threat landscape without them.
A modern WAF, powered by machine learning, is a business enabler that lets you increase the velocity at which you deploy web applications to address evolving business challenges. You can also keep these applications up to date by more frequently deploying the latest code and delivering new features and capabilities more rapidly without having to continually tune WAF configurations or being deluged with false positive alerts. Instead, deliver key line-of-business capabilities to your users anywhere in the world, from any device with an internet connection, without complications or compromise. Give your already overburdened security teams a break and give them the tools they need to support application deployment without dramatically increasing their workload or compromising your security posture.
See how easy FortiWeb Cloud is to deploy and manage with a free trial available through AWS, Azure, and Google Marketplaces.
