【Table of contents】

1. 1. Overview
2. 2. What is AWS?
3. 3. What is AWS WAF?
   • a) AWS WAF Overview
   • b) Advantages of AWS WAF
   • c) Disadvantages of WAF
4. 4. Conclusion

• 1. Overview

  Among the cloud-based services, Amazon's "AWS" is the one that is gaining a large share of the market.

  In particular, AWS has the potential to be used in many businesses because it has "AWS WAF", which is a powerful system in terms of security. AWS WAF will continue to be an indispensable presence in order to maintain security on the Web.

  However, because AWS WAF is such a specialized genre, many people may find its advantages difficult to understand.

  In this article, we would like to explain AWS WAF for beginners and look at its advantages and use cases.

  "Want to make good use of cloud services."

  "Want to protect my data with high security."

  "Want to review the costs associated with data management."

  If you are such a person/company, why not consider using AWS WAF?"
   

• 2. What is AWS?

  AWS stands for "Amazon Web Services" and refers to the cloud computing service provided by Amazon, a major e-commerce company.

  For example,
  ・ Storage
  ・ Database
  ・ Analytical work
  ・ Developer tools/Management tools
  ・ IoT
  ・ Security

  Such services are provided and are used for application development, game development, data processing and storage management.

  Since it includes IT resources that can be used by any company, the introduction of AWS may greatly improve the business content.

  Specifically, it is recommended to use AWS because it has the following advantages.

  ・ High security functions that can be used around the world
  ・ Providing new services based on user feedback (more than 3,000 results to date)
  ・ Returning profits through price reductions (more than 60 price reductions were achieved as of July 2017)
  ・ Fault tolerance and high availability to support global business
  ・ Information exchange and events through a rich user community

  With these advantages, you may be able to promote new businesses that utilize the cloud.

  It is expected that AWS will be recognized as an indispensable service for future business activities that require skillful use of the IT environment.
   

• 3. What is AWS WAF?

  At the heart of the advantages introduced above, AWS's AWS WAF, a security related system, is a particularly attractive service on AWS.

  AWS WAF provides high availability to stabilize your business continuity and gives an opportunity to review cost performance.
  Check out the features and advantages of AWS WAF below to find out what makes it so special.
   

  • a) AWS WAF Overview

    The "WAF" refers to the "Web Application Firewall" included in AWS.

    This is a security environment that has been attracting attention as one of the measures to protect software and hardware from attacks with web application vulnerabilities.

    Unlike general firewalls, IPS, IDS, and other security systems used in PCs, it is characterized by its ability to detect and block communications that meet specific conditions at the application level.

    In particular, it is expected to be extremely useful as it can be expected to be effective against the following attacks.

    ・ SQL injection
    ・ Cross-site scripting
    ・ Application DDoS

    With AWS WAF, you can expect to create a more ideal work environment by promoting security and availability improvement and performance review.

    There are a variety of use cases such as application vulnerability protection, DDos countermeasures at the application layer, blocking access by unauthorized bots, and countermeasures against unauthorized use of content.

    With the introduction of AWS WAF, it will be easier to take appropriate measures against any problems that may cause trouble when operating web applications.
     

  • b) Advantages of AWS WAF

    By leveraging AWS WAF's high security system, you can obtain a number of benefits.
    In particular, the following points can be said to be the triggers to introduce AWS.

    Countermeasures against any web attack
    ・ You can provide a high level of protection for your web application by using standard rules and APIs provided by AWS to counter any threats.
    ・ Using the API, you can check or block specific communication, and it is also possible to automate operations by updating the created rules.
    ・ The combination of high customizability will allow you to achieve the perfect usage for the web application you want to use.

    Easy to implement
    With AWS WAF, you just need to enable WAF on Amazon CloudFront, Application Load Balancer (ALB) and Amazon API Gateway and the required basic preparation for installation is completed.
    ・ Since there is no need to install software or prepare additional hardware, the environment can be set up smoothly.
    ・ Thanks to this environment, even if you add new settings or rules, you can apply the changes in a fraction of the time.
    ・ Even if you have to deal with sudden maintenance, you can immediately update the countermeasures, so you can ensure a high level of security.

    Operation at an appropriate cost
    ・ As AWS WAF is a pay-as-you-go system, you will only be charged for what you actually use.
    ・ As the usage fee fluctuates as necessary, you will be able to operate the service at a cost appropriate to your own web service.
    ・ Basically, the fee will vary depending on the number of rules to be deployed and the number of requests that the web application executes.
    ・ Since no initial cost or minimum monthly fee has been set, it is possible to avoid unnecessary costs.
     

  • c) Disadvantages of WAF

    AWS WAF is a very attractive security service, but there are some disadvantages or caveats.

    For example, the following points should be checked by users.

    High expertise is required
    AWS WAF has the ability to identify malicious attacks and deal with them individually, but it requires highly specialized skills to make effective use of them. As a result, users may have to learn and prepare for vulnerabilities themselves.

    If something goes wrong, and if you don't have the specialized skills or relevant experience, it may take some time to respond.
    That can be a time cost to the business and it will be an obstacle to smooth work.
    It is recommended that you understand in advance that a certain amount of expertise is required to build an environment suitable for each web service that deploys AWS WAF and to implement security measures.

    To take full advantage of the high performance of AWS WAF, you'll need the right skills.

    Although it is easy to deploy, it may be said that AWS WAF has a disadvantage in that there are some hurdles to correct usage.
     

• 4. Conclusion

  As an Amazon service, AWS WAF will continue to be an important part of your web application operations, so if you're interested in the benefits you can get from AWS WAF, this is a good opportunity to consider deploying it in earnest.

  If you find it difficult to use it, we recommend you to check out WafCharm, which supports security measures on AWS.

  WafCharm is a service that automatically operates AWS WAF rules with AI, and features 24/7 support in Japanese. Together, these deployments will increase security and availability and ensure that web applications can continue to operate in a more secure environment.