Azure Application Gateway is a powerful tool for managing traffic to web applications. It offers advanced security features, including the Web Application Firewall (WAF), to protect web applications from common exploits and vulnerabilities. In this post, we will discuss the security features of Azure Application Gateway, focusing on the WAF and other advanced security capabilities for protecting web applications.
Azure Application Gateway Security Features
Azure Application Gateway is an application delivery controller (ADC) that provides advanced routing capabilities, such as URL-based routing and SSL termination. It also offers Transport Layer Security (TLS), previously known as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), termination, cookie-based session affinity, round-robin load distribution, and content-based routing.
Application Gateway security enhancements include TLS policy management and end-to-end TLS support. Application security is strengthened by WAF integration into Application Gateway. The combination protects your web applications against common vulnerabilities. And it provides an easy-to-configure central location to manage.
Web Application Firewall (WAF)
The Azure Web Application Firewall (WAF) on Azure Application Gateway provides centralised protection of your web applications from common exploits and vulnerabilities. Web applications are increasingly targeted by malicious attacks that exploit commonly known vulnerabilities. SQL injection and cross-site scripting are among the most common attacks. WAF on Application Gateway is based on the Core Rule Set (CRS) from the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP).
All of the WAF features exist inside of a WAF policy. You can create multiple policies, and they can be associated with an Application Gateway, to individual listeners, or to path-based routing rules on an Application Gateway. This way, you can have separate policies for each site behind your Application Gateway if needed. For more information on WAF policies, see Create a WAF Policy.
Other Advanced Security Capabilities
Azure Application Gateway also provides other advanced security capabilities for protecting web applications. These include:
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Protection against DDoS attacks: Application Gateway provides protection against Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. It can detect and mitigate DDoS attacks in real-time.
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Protection against malicious bots: Application Gateway can protect your web applications from malicious bots with the IP Reputation ruleset.
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Monitoring: Application Gateway provides real-time monitoring of attacks against your web applications. The log is integrated with Azure Monitor to track WAF alerts and easily monitor trends.
Step-by-Step Guide to Implementing Application Gateway with WAF
- Create an Application Gateway resource in the Azure portal.
- Create a backend pool and add backend instances.
- Create a listener and associate it with the backend pool.
- Create a rule and associate it with the listener.
- Create a WAF policy and associate it with the rule.
- Configure the WAF policy to meet your security requirements.
- Enable the WAF policy.
For more detailed instructions, see Create an application gateway with a web application firewall using the Azure portal.
Conclusion
Azure Application Gateway is a powerful tool for managing traffic to web applications. It offers advanced security features, including the Web Application Firewall (WAF), to protect web applications from common exploits and vulnerabilities. In addition to the WAF, Application Gateway provides other advanced security capabilities, such as protection against DDoS attacks and malicious bots, and real-time monitoring. By using Azure Application Gateway, you can ensure that your web applications are secure and protected from malicious attacks.