Although some organizations resist adding monthly costs to their budgets, some services, like managed WAF services, are well worth the money. As security threats grow and become more difficult to handle, traditional security methods are no longer enough to keep web applications safe. To adjust, organizations need solutions that can automate and manage security strategies. This reduces the risk of financial loss, compliance violations, and other issues that result from security incidents.
The Evolving Web App Security Landscape
Most companies now have some kind of web application as well as other online platforms, but it is the web apps that make up most of their digital attack surfaces. The number of web apps is growing, and both companies and consumers are increasingly relying on them to interact with each other.
At the same time, web attacks are growing more common and sophisticated. In some cases, attackers have begun using AI, which can help them find vulnerabilities in the app’s code, conduct brute force and credential stuffing attacks, and design highly evasive bots.
There is another perennial struggle. Many companies struggle to attract and retain key security talent. Because of the cost of hiring qualified personnel and a limited talent pool, hiring enough people to fill out a security team that can handle a company’s ongoing security needs is challenging. As a result, many security teams are running on a tight budget without enough people to handle security threats, app patching and updates, and ongoing maintenance.
Key Benefits and Considerations of Managed WAF Services
Given the state of the threat landscape, organizations that want to maximize their application security can benefit from managed web application firewall (WAF) services. WAF acts as a gateway around your network that will allow or stop traffic depending on preset rules and security policies. The more modern WAFs are also able to detect novel attacks and adapt in real-time.
A company can implement any WAF tool, but not all WAFs are created equal, and organizations may not have the manpower and resources to manage them alone. To ensure that they are getting the most out of a WAF, some organizations choose managed WAF services so that application security professionals can handle the finer details.
Some key benefits of managed WAF services include:
- Access to expert threat intelligence and rule management. While some in-house security professionals are experienced with WAF, they may not have the capacity to focus on it. Managed services bring specialized expertise to the table, and they know exactly what rules and settings to put in place. Especially as the threat landscape continues to evolve, their knowledge could be invaluable to companies.
- 24/7 monitoring and incident response capabilities. Constant monitoring and alerts is important for early threat detection, and early detection leads to less downtime and disruption for customers.
- Scalability and performance optimization. Optimizing WAFs to suit the needs of an organization is important, as is the ability to increase the amount of resources available to handle traffic when needed. WAFs must be able to handle sudden influxes of traffic in case of a bot attack, and having the ability to distribute traffic can help.
- Cost-effectiveness and resource allocation. One advantage of managed services in general is that their costs are relatively predictable. Additionally, outsourcing WAF services eliminates the need for locally managed infrastructure, which can limit costs over time. Outsourcing WAF management also frees up security professionals’ time and resources so that they can work on other projects.
- Customization and integration with existing infrastructure. WAF services are designed to fit into your current setup, which eliminates any need to restructure the rest of a company’s systems when it implements the firewall. Customization will be based on other security solutions that are in place to ensure that there are no gaps and that all security measures are working together effectively.
- Compliance management and reporting. One key reason that companies must prioritize security is industry and legal regulation compliance. Security incidents put companies out of compliance, which often leads to severe fines and revenue losses. WAF services help limit attacks, and integrated reporting can send alerts when potential compliance violations or threats are detected.
Securing Your Web Infrastructure
Poor web application security can result in many problems for companies, including:
- Data loss or theft. Generally, attackers infiltrate networks looking for information. Depending on their goals, this may result in data encryption and ransom demands, data scraping, deletion, or theft and sale on the dark web.
- Infrastructure damage. Attackers who access a company’s network can disrupt network connectivity and consume resources. This can cause internal issues and create problems for customers who attempt to access the network.
- Compliance violations. As noted in the previous section, poor security can be a violation of security and privacy regulations. The fines for these violations are often damagingly high.
- Lost trust and revenue. Once an attack occurs, many companies lose the trust of their customers. These customers often do not return or make additional purchases.
Managing all of the potential threats online is often overwhelming, and one missed threat can lead to all of the above problems. To ensure that all of the organization’s bases are covered, security teams should consider outsourcing at least some of their responsibilities.
By using managed services for things like WAF, organizations can expand their security capabilities and reduce their risk of a data security incident. This will also take some responsibilities off the security team’s plate. Once the daily minutiae of monitoring, adjusting WAF rules, and software maintenance is handled, security improves, and the organization can pursue more long-term, strategic security goals.
