Although the centralized cloud infrastructure model has been successful, many organizations are transitioning to a more decentralized edge environment. For many organizations, this allows more flexibility and better (and faster) service delivery to customers. However, this newer paradigm does come with a disadvantage: decentralized resources and multiple network connections are difficult to properly secure.
If your organization has embraced edge computing, you need to address this. Implementing a WAF equipped with CDN infrastructure will ensure that you are able to provide fast, reliable service to customers while protecting your network from unauthorized access and malicious actors.
Integrating WAFs with CDN Infrastructure
Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) are great for increasing the speed at which responses can be sent to clients from your network. A CDN uses broadly distributed servers for hosting static content. So, if a client sends a request, the server closest to the client will process the request and respond.
While this improves speed and efficiency for data access and transmission, among other things, it also introduces security concerns to your network. Having a distributed network of devices means you also have a very wide attack surface, especially given the large number of endpoints.
To address these security issues, many organizations are turning to edge security solutions and WAFs. Not all of these security solutions will directly protect each endpoint, but they will ensure that protections are in place for the network. Connections between the endpoint and your servers or cloud infrastructure are secure.
Generally, edge security solutions are highly effective at mitigating threats. A part of these solutions is the web application firewalls (WAFs) that monitor your network traffic, keeping unauthorized users from gaining access. Some organizations have begun using WAFs that provide CDNs, which ensures that all their bases are covered.
Balancing Security and Content Delivery Speed
A common criticism of WAFs is that they can slow down websites and web applications. Historically, this has often been true, which is why it’s important to find the right WAF solution that is able to balance performance and security. High performance for web applications is important for a positive customer experience.
However, security measures are also important to retain customers. Your customers are unlikely to return to your application if you are successfully attacked and their personal data is compromised. Although immediate customer experience is important, it must be balanced against long-term benefits.
There are a few ways to do this:
- Choosing the correct WAF. Look for a lightweight, edge-based WAF that uses fewer resources than more traditional WAFs.
- Optimizing WAF rule processing. Any solution you choose should be customizable. You will want to be able to update your WAF’s rules at any time. However, something that is potentially even more useful is AI and machine learning capabilities. Including machine learning means your WAF software is able to adapt to novel anomalies in real time, even if your pre-existing rules would not block them.
- Caching strategies for secure content. Some WAF solutions use CDNs to cache your website. This makes loading much faster, but it can also improve security if done correctly. Carefully choosing cache headers, keeping caching activity consistent and predictable, and using centralized cache management can all be useful for security.
Consumers are increasingly demanding high load and download speeds, and CDNs provide these speeds by limiting the distance that requests and responses need to travel. However, using CDNs creates a wide attack surface that needs to be appropriately managed and secured for the speeds to be worth your while.
Leveraging CDN Analytics for Enhanced WAF Effectiveness
CDNs can be very useful to your infrastructure, and they can also provide data and analytics that benefit your security strategy. For example, CDNs can track traffic patterns and analyze them. This traffic pattern analysis can then be used to tune and optimize your WAF’s rules.
Rule tuning makes your WAF more accurate and sensitive to potential attacks. By using traffic analysis to inform these rules, you can track the types of activity that most often threaten your network. Once you know what attacks pose the highest risk, you can secure your edge environment appropriately and limit possible attack vectors.
Geolocation-based threat intelligence can also be pulled from CDNs and leveraged against potential attackers. While not all access attempts from other countries are malicious, a sudden uptick in requests from a country you don’t do business in might be a red flag. Your WAF may then block this activity if needed.
Known malicious IP addresses can also be blocked. Well-updated WAFs should have all relevant information on frequently-used IP addresses for attacks as well as atypical or suspicious VPN use. A WAF that leverages CDN analytics will have this information.
Securing your edge environment may seem intimidating given the size of the attack surface. However, choosing the right WAF solution that integrates with CDN will improve both your organization’s service delivery and its network security.