AWS WAF vs FortiWeb Web Application Firewall (WAF) comparison

AWS Web Application Firewall (WAF) is a firewall security system that monitors incoming and outgoing traffic for applications and websites based on your pre-defined web security rules. AWS WAF defends applications and websites from common Web attacks that could otherwise damage application performance and availability and compromise security.

You can create rules in AWS WAF that can include blocking specific HTTP headers, IP addresses, and URI strings. These rules prevent common web exploits, such as SQL injection or cross-site scripting. Once defined, new rules are deployed within seconds, and can easily be tracked so you can monitor their effectiveness via real-time insights. These saved metrics include URIs, IP addresses, and geo locations for each request.

AWS WAF Features

Some of the solution's top features include:

• Web traffic filtering: Get an extra layer of security by creating a centralized set of rules, easily deployable across multiple websites. These rules filter out web traffic based on conditions like HTTP headers, URIs, and IP addresses. This is very helpful for protection against exploits such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting as well as attacks from third-party applications.

• Bot control: Malicious bot traffic can consume excessive resources and cause downtime. Gain visibility and control over bot traffic with a managed rule group. You can easily block harmful bots, such as scrapers and crawlers, and you can allow common bots, like search engines and status monitors.

• Fraud prevention: Effectively defend your application against bot attacks by monitoring your application’s login page with a managed rule group that prevents hackers from accessing user accounts using compromised credentials. The managed rule group helps protect against credential stuffing attacks, brute-force login attempts, and other harmful login activities.

• API for AWS WAF Management: Automatically create and maintain rules and integrate them into your development process.

• Metrics for real-time visibility: Receive real-time metrics and captures of raw requests with details about geo-locations, IP addresses, URIs, user agents, and referrers. Integrate seamlessly with Amazon CloudWatch to set up custom alarms when events or attacks occur. These metrics provide valuable data intelligence that can be used to create new rules that significantly improve your application protections.

• Firewall management: AWS Firewall Manager automatically scans and notifies the security team when there is a policy violation, so they can swiftly take action. When new resources are created, your security team can guarantee that they comply with your organization’s security rules.

Reviews from Real Users

AWS WAF stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are its user-friendly interface and its integration capabilities.

Kavin K., a security analyst at M2P Fintech, writes, “I believe the most impressive features are integration and ease of use. The best part of AWS WAF is the cloud-native WAF integration. There aren't any hidden deployments or hidden infrastructure which we have to maintain to have AWS WAF. AWS maintains everything; all we have to do is click the button, and WAF will be activated. Any packet coming through the internet will be filtered through.”

FortiWeb Web Application Firewall uses machine learning to reduce false positives, detects zero-day threats, and blocks DDoS attacks. It integrates with existing security infrastructure and provides SD-WAN capabilities, offering protection for websites and mobile applications.

FortiWeb WAF secures web applications with features like machine learning-based threat detection, DDoS attack mitigation, and robust integration capabilities. Additionally, it manages HTTP traffic and offers SD-WAN functionalities. Built for GDPR compliance, it supports API protection and bot mitigation while enabling secure mobile and cloud application access. Users implement it across multi-cloud environments and in data centers offering advanced security and compliance, including PCI DSS. Despite feature-rich abilities, users seek enhanced database updates, better enterprise integration, and more accessible analytics. Improvements in support response, documentation, and scalability are desired to strengthen its robust security offering.

• Machine Learning: Reduces false positives and detects zero-day attacks.
• DDoS Protection: Blocks distributed denial of service attacks.
• Integration: Seamlessly fits with existing infrastructure.
• GDPR Compliance: Ensures data privacy and protection standards.
• SD-WAN Capabilities: Manages network distribution effectively.
• Mobile and API Security: Protects applications and APIs efficiently.

• Cost-Effectiveness: Offers a balance between features and pricing.
• User-Friendly: Easy to navigate and manage deployments.
• Global Deployment: Supports multi-cloud and cross-data center usage.
• Security Compliance: Meets standards like PCI DSS for secure operations.
• Enhanced Application Security: Provides comprehensive protection for apps.

FortiWeb WAF is widely implemented in data centers and financial industries, ensuring robust protection for web applications and sites. It supports multi-cloud environments on platforms like AWS and Azure, providing secure access while meeting compliance standards. Users benefit from enhanced application security and load balancing capabilities, making it a preferred choice in financial sectors that require VPN and SD-WAN consistency.