WAF Management

Once you're up and running, assess how any future Web application firewall changes may impact your Web applications, and vice versa. You must, of course, document the changes you make to your network infrastructure for future reference and troubleshooting. This involves tracking any changes made to their configuration now and in the future.

Changes to the production environment should always occur during a monitored maintenance window. Make sure all affected parties throughout the organization are advised in advance of the timing and scope of the changes. To ensure that configurations aren't changed unintentionally or without due process, you must control physical as well as logical access to your security devices. Strict adherence to change control, business continuity, and disaster recovery policies will all play a part in protecting the WAF and your business.

Because application-layer firewalls examine the entire network packet rather than just the network addresses and ports, they have more extensive logging capabilities and can record application-specific commands. So, don't...

Web applications will never be 100 percent secure. Even without internal pressures to deploy Web applications quickly, there will be vulnerabilities that are open to threats. By having a Web application firewall in place as part of a layered security model, you can observe, monitor and look for signs of intrusion. It can also mean the difference between scrambling to fix a vulnerability or having the breathing room to repair the vulnerability to your own timetable.

Michael Cobb, CISSP-ISSAP, is the founder and managing director of Cobweb Applications Ltd., a consultancy that offers IT training and support in data security and analysis. Send comments on this article to feedback@infosecuritymag.com

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