How to install web application firewall

A WAF or web application firewall refers to a server application or an appliance which monitors the http or https conversion between the web server and client server. It can thereby enforce security policies after taking into account many different criteria like protocol standards, traffic and known attacks.

Before you install the WAF, you will need to select the deployment mode. You must choose this deployment mode according to the existing network configuration of your website and the kind of services you are expecting from the firewall. When you have decided on the mode of WAF deployment, you may proceed with its installation and configure initial settings. To install any WAF, you may have to make changes to your current network configurations. These changes may be hardware changes or configuration changes, the former relate to switches, cabling, network interfaces and routers. Configuration changes relate to DNS databases, router configurations and host dedicated IP addresses.

The WAF is definitely not a plug-and-play product and it demands very rigorous tests prior to implementation. You will also need to tune it on a regular basis even after it has been implemented. When it is being implanted most of the vendors will own a learning mode or passive mode in order to make sure that the WAF can be suitably tweaked before it blocks traffic. When you have a solution which is founded upon positive security models you have to understand what "normal traffic" actually appears like in your application. Negative security models are usually implemented in non-blocking modes to makes rue that the false positive may be tuned before these activate their blocking capabilities.

Just like intrusion detection and prevention systems, the WAF will need to be monitored regularly; so log files have to be scanned for detecting attacks and tuning false positives. Businesses have to learn how best to include WAF tests and tuning exercises into the standard development practices in order to ensure that impact of every new application may be assessed before it is installed.

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