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Don't just learn the cloud—BYTE it!
Byte the Cloud is your go-to, on-the-go, podcast for mastering AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud certifications and exam prep!
Chris 0:00
All right, so let's, uh, let's dive into something super important for us cloud engineers, especially if you're working with AWS, okay, and that's the AWS web application firewall, or WAF, for short, right? Now, you all are probably familiar with firewalls in general, right? Of course, yeah, like the guardians of our networks, but WAF, it's a little different. It's like a specialized security guard, yeah? You know, yeah, standing right in front of our web applications. It's filtering out all that bad traffic. Yeah,
Kelly 0:26
that's a great way to put it. It's like screening all those requests, you know, making sure that nothing malicious gets through to your application or your data, exactly.
Chris 0:34
So, can you give us a real world example of this, like, let's say I'm in charge of an E commerce site, sure? How would WAF help me protect it?
Kelly 0:42
Well, imagine your site is suddenly hit with a ton of traffic, okay? And it's coming from like, hundreds of different it addresses, oh, wow, all hitting the same page at the same time. It's the
Chris 0:55
DDoS attack, right?
Kelly 0:56
Exactly. That's a distributed denial of service attack, or DDoS, yeah, it's a classic way to try and overload a system and take it down right, right? So WF can be set up to see these weird traffic patterns, okay, and then just block all those suspicious requests automatically so your website can stay up and running for all your actual customers. So
Chris 1:16
it's not just about like stopping targeted hacks, but also just like these huge floods of disruptive traffic, exactly.
Kelly 1:22
Yeah, that's pretty cool, yeah. But
Chris 1:25
what about those more sneaky attacks like SQL injection? Can wave help
Kelly 1:29
with that too? Absolutely, yeah. Waves great at protecting against those common web exploits. Okay, good. So like with SQL injection, yeah, what attackers try to do is sneak in some malicious SQL code right into your application. Oh, I see to maybe get access to your database. Okay, but with WAF, you can actually set up rules that look for those suspicious patterns and incoming requests and block them before they even hit your
Chris 1:54
application. Wow. So it's like having a security expert analyzing every single line of code, right? Yeah, pretty much. That's amazing. Now I know wave is just one service in AWS. How does it fit in with everything else?
Kelly 2:07
That's a good question. WAF isn't a standalone thing. It's designed to work seamlessly with other AWS services, okay, which makes it really powerful and flexible, right? So you can use it to protect applications running on, say, EC2 instances behind a load balancer. Or you could use it to protect API gateway endpoints. You can even integrate it with CloudFront, that's AWS content delivery network, to protect content at the edge.
Chris 2:34
So no matter how my application's set up in AWS, there's a way to use WAF, exactly. Yeah, that's great. But what about limitations? Every security tool has those, right?
Kelly 2:43
You're absolutely right. WAF is powerful, but you've got to know what it can't do, okay? And one key thing is that it mainly focuses on HTTP and HTTPS traffic. So if there's an attack on a different part of your infrastructure, WAF won't help with that, right, right? It's like having a super strong front door, but leaving a window open, you've got to have a full security strategy to cover all your bases.
Chris 3:03
That makes total sense. One piece of the puzzle, not the whole thing, exactly. Now I know a lot of our listeners are prepping for AWS certifications. Oh
Kelly 3:11
yeah, that's right.
Chris 3:13
So let's talk about how WAF might show up on the exam. What kind of questions should they be ready for?
Kelly 3:18
Good idea. So a basic one might be, let's say you have an application load balancer, sending traffic to your web servers. Okay, how would you use WAF to protect that from all those common attacks we talked about? All
Chris 3:33
right, so we've got an application behind a load balancer. What's the first step? The
Kelly 3:36
important thing here is understanding how WAF works with other AWS services. Okay? You'd start by creating something called a web ACL. It stands for web access control list. You can think of it as a set of rules that tell WAF what to allow and what to
Chris 3:52
block. So it's like the rule book for WAF, yeah. And we attach that to the load balancers, so WAF knows what traffic to look at. You
Kelly 3:59
got it? And within that web ACL, you can set up all kinds of rules. You can use AWS managed rule sets, which are pre configured rules to protect against common exploits like SQL injection or cross site scripting. Oh,
Chris 4:13
so you don't have to start from spice every time
Kelly 4:15
exactly. You can use AWS as expertise for those common threats. That's super helpful. But you can also create your own custom rules, which can be really helpful if you have specific threads or vulnerabilities you need to address.
Chris 4:27
So as a mix of using those pre built defenses and being able to customize it for your specific needs exactly, okay, that makes sense. So let's say I've got my web ACL set up. It's attached to my load balancer, and it's blocking bad traffic. How do I actually see what's going on? How do I know what WAF is doing? That's
Kelly 4:45
where logging comes in. Okay. WAF keeps detailed logs of all the requests it processes, even the ones it blocks. You can turn on logging for your web ACLs and have those logs sent to an Amazon S3
Chris 4:56
bucket. So I'm basically keeping track of all. All the activity, yeah,
Kelly 5:00
you're recording all the information about what WAF is doing. Okay? And then what? How do I make sense of all those logs? Well, you have a few options. You could analyze them directly in S3 using tools like Amazon Athena, which lets you run queries on the data right. Or you could use a service like Kinesis Firehose to stream the logs to a real time analytics platform, something like Elasticsearch or even cloud watch,
Chris 5:23
so I can choose between real time insights or a more in depth historical analysis. Exactly. It
Kelly 5:29
depends on your needs. That's cool. Yeah. Okay, let's
Chris 5:32
switch gears for a second and talk about security groups. How are they different from WAF, and how do they work together?
Kelly 5:37
That's a really good question. Yeah, it shows how AWS takes a multi layered approach to security. Security Groups are kind of your first line of defense. They're like a virtual firewall for your EC2 instances, right? They control traffic at the network level, deciding what IP addresses and ports can even talk to your servers. So
Chris 5:56
security groups are managing those network connections while WAF is focused on the content of the requests themselves.
Kelly 6:02
You got it. They work at different levels. Security Groups are like gatekeepers, while WA is more like customs, checking what's actually coming through the gate. So
Chris 6:11
they work together for a more complete security setup, right? Think of it
Kelly 6:15
this way, okay? Security groups might stop an attacker from even reaching your application while WAF would stop them from actually exploiting a weakness in your code, even if they did manage to get through so it's like a double layer of protection Exactly. They
Chris 6:30
complement each other. That's a great way to explain it. So we've got a good understanding of what WAF is, why it matters, and how it fits into the whole AWS security picture, yeah, and that's
Kelly 6:41
just the beginning. There's so much more to explore with WAF, especially those custom rules, right? Well, it
Chris 6:47
sounds like we're ready to dive even deeper, I think. So we'll explore some more advanced WAF scenarios in our next segment. Perfect. Stay tuned. Okay, so
Kelly 6:54
we were talking about those custom WAF rules,
Chris 6:58
yeah, those had a pretty powerful
Kelly 7:00
right? They give you so much control over, you know, what WAF actually looks at and how it reacts exactly,
Chris 7:06
and we talked about the AWS managed rule sets, which are great for, like, those everyday attacks, right, the common stuff, but what if I'm dealing with something a bit more unique, yeah, like a very specific threat, something those pre configured rules might not catch. Yeah,
Kelly 7:22
that's when you need custom rules.
Chris 7:24
Okay, so how do I actually create one? Well, you can think
Kelly 7:27
of them as like a series of if this, then that statements, okay, I like that simple, right? You set the conditions WAF should look for in those incoming requests, and then you tell it what to do if those conditions are met. So
Chris 7:40
if WAF sees this particular thing, then it does that specific action Exactly.
Kelly 7:45
It's all about defining those conditions and actions.
Chris 7:48
Can you give me an example? Sure.
Kelly 7:49
Let's say you want to block requests from a bunch of IP addresses. You know are bad news. Oh, yeah, that makes sense. You would make a rule where the condition is. IP address matches this list, and the action would be block it. Okay,
Chris 8:02
that's pretty straightforward. But what if the attack is more sneaky, like, what if they're trying to hide malicious code in a specific part of the request, not just coming from a known bad IP?
Kelly 8:14
Ah, that's where things get a bit more interesting. I bet WF can check out different parts of the HTTP request, not just the IP address. You can look at headers, the URI string, query parameters, even the body of the request itself, wow. So we can get really granular with it, right? And you can use all sorts of operators and matching techniques to set really specific conditions, like what Jimmy example. Well, you could use regular expressions. For instance, oh, yeah, those.
Chris 8:42
I've heard of them, but they can be a bit tricky. Sometimes they
Kelly 8:45
can be Yeah, but they're super useful. They basically let you describe patterns in text. It's like a super powered search function, okay? So you could use a regular expression to look for say, requests that have certain keywords that usually signal an attack, or you could use them to check if input data is in the correct format, like
Chris 9:03
making sure an email address is actually an email address exactly, or
Kelly 9:07
that a credit card number follows the right pattern. It helps you filter out those sneaky attacks. That's
Chris 9:13
really cool. So we've got these conditions and actions. What kind of actions can WAF actually take when a rule is triggered? The
Kelly 9:20
most common one is just to block the request completely. Makes sense. Yeah, stop it right there. Yeah, that's the simplest way to prevent an attack. But you've got other options too. Oh, you could allow the request, but log it so you can analyze it later, so you're keeping an eye on it, right? That can be helpful if you're trying to gather more info about an attack, or if you're not totally sure if something is actually malicious, so
Chris 9:43
it's not just black and white block or allow there's some gray area in there, exactly,
Kelly 9:47
and you can even use with to redirect the request to a different page or show a custom error message. Oh, that's interesting.
Chris 9:55
So we can customize how the user experiences it, even if there's a security. Issue Exactly? It gives you a lot of control. I'm starting to see how powerful this can be, but I imagine it can also get pretty complex, right? It definitely can. Yeah, all these custom rules and settings, that's why
Kelly 10:09
you gotta have a good strategy when you're setting up. WAF, okay, think about what your application actually needs, right? What are the biggest risks, exactly? What are the most likely attacks you'll face? So
Chris 10:20
it comes back to understanding the threats first, right,
Kelly 10:23
and then tailoring your defenses accordingly. And
Chris 10:26
don't try to do everything at once. Yeah, don't get overwhelmed.
Kelly 10:29
Start with a few basic rules that cover your most important concerns and then build from there. Okay,
Chris 10:35
that makes sense a gradual approach. Now, you mentioned that WAF integrates with other AWS services. Can you give me an example of how that actually works in practice? Sure. So let's think about CloudFront. Okay, that's AWS content delivery network, right? Yep, it's
Kelly 10:50
used to distribute static content like images and CSS files to users around the world. Got it now you can integrate with with CloudFront to protect that content right
Chris 11:00
at the edge, meaning before it even reaches my servers, exactly. So
Kelly 11:04
WEF is checking things out and filtering out any bad traffic before it even gets close to your origin servers.
Chris 11:11
So it's like extending my security perimeter way out exactly. And
Kelly 11:14
that's just one example. You can also use WAF with API gateway.
Chris 11:18
Oh, right, the service for creating and managing APIs. Yep, by connecting
Kelly 11:22
a WAF web ACL to your API gateway stages, you can protect your APIs from those same web attacks. So
Chris 11:29
WAF can protect my APIs just like regular web applications. You got it. Okay. Cool. And what about those bots? We talked about, ah, right, bots. How does WAF deal with those?
Kelly 11:39
Well, WAF has a few tricks for handling bots. One of the best is using rate based rules. Okay? These rules let you limit how many requests can come from a single IP address or a range of IPS within a certain time frame. So
Chris 11:53
if one IP is making way too many requests, WAF can flag that as suspicious Exactly.
Kelly 11:59
That's one way to catch bots, you can also use those regular expressions we talked about to look for bot like patterns in the user agent string, user agent string, remind me what that is. Again, sure it's a little piece of information in the HTTP request that tells you what browser or app is making the request, right,
Chris 12:15
right? So we're trying to figure out if it's an actual person or a bot, exactly.
Kelly 12:18
And if you need even more bot protection. You can hook up WAF with AWS shield advanced.
Chris 12:24
Oh, that's the service for DDoS attacks, right? Yeah, including attacks from botnets. Okay, so we've got options. We can use rate based rules, analyze user agent strings, or even bring in shield advanced for the really tough cases, exactly, lots of tools to choose from. Now switching back to exam prep for a sec. What are some things people often get wrong about WAF that might trip them up on the exam?
Kelly 12:49
One big one is thinking WAF is a set it and forget it kind of thing, right? I could see that people might think they just create a few rules and then they're good to go. But that's not how it works. WAF needs regular attention. You
Chris 13:00
got to keep an eye on it so it's not a magic solution.
Kelly 13:03
No magic here. You got to review those logs, look at traffic patterns and change your rules as needed, because
Chris 13:08
new threats are always popping up exactly. You got to stay one step ahead, makes sense. So it's like any security practice, you need to be vigilant and ready to adapt
Kelly 13:18
Absolutely. And another common mistake is not understanding exactly what WEF can protect. Okay? Remember, WF is all about web application traffic, HTTP and HTTPS. It won't protect your entire infrastructure, right? It's
Chris 13:33
focused on that one area, yeah. So you need
Kelly 13:35
other security measures in place for different parts of your system. It goes back to that layered approach we talked about,
Chris 13:40
right? WAF is one layer, but you need other layers too. Exactly,
Kelly 13:43
WAF is super important, but it's not the only tool. You'll need great
Chris 13:47
advice. Oh, so we've covered a lot of ground on WAF. We've looked at the basics and some more advanced features, like those custom rules and how it integrates with other services. We've even touched on some exam prep tips. What else should our listeners know?
Kelly 14:01
Yeah, it's been a great, Deep Dive. I think for me, the most important thing to remember about WAF is that it's not a one and done thing. It's all about iterating, learning, adapting and refining over time,
Chris 14:11
right? Like you said, not a magic bullet. You can't just set it up and forget about it. So how do you suggest people approach that? Where do they even start?
Kelly 14:20
I think the first thing is, get familiar with the AWS WAF documentation. It's really detailed, and it covers all the little things about the service, right? The docs are always a good place to start exactly. And then, you know, don't be afraid to actually try things out. Set up a test environment, mess around with different configurations, break some things, see what happens exactly. You learn a lot from making mistakes. That's how you really understand how it works. Hands
Chris 14:42
on, experience is the best teacher. Any other advice for people just starting out with way,
Kelly 14:47
don't forget about the AWS community. There are tons of forums, blog posts, all kinds of resources where you can connect with other cloud engineers. Yeah,
Chris 14:56
it's great to learn from each other's experiences
Kelly 14:58
exactly you can share. Bear knowledge, get help with problems. You know, it's a great resource. Definitely.
Chris 15:03
We're all in this together. Now, before we wrap up, I wanted to touch on something we haven't really talked about yet, how way fits into the whole AWS well architected framework.
Kelly 15:13
Oh, good point. That framework gives us all those best practices for building secure, reliable and efficient systems in AWS, and security is a huge part of that right and
Chris 15:25
wave is a key part of achieving those security best practices. By using it properly. You're not just protecting your apps. You're also showing that you're building systems the right way, according to those standards. Exactly.
Kelly 15:38
It's about building security in from the very beginning, taking a proactive approach.
Chris 15:42
So it's not just about reacting to threats, it's about preventing them in the first place,
Kelly 15:46
exactly, and it shows you're serious about security and you're following the best practices. Awesome.
Chris 15:50
Well, I think we've covered a lot today. We've broken down AWS wave, looked at what it can do, and hopefully, given our listeners the info they need, to start using it effectively. Yeah, we
Kelly 16:00
went from the basics to some more advanced stuff. Even touched on some exam tips, exactly,
Chris 16:05
and this is just the start. The world of AWS is always changing. So keep learning, keep experimenting. The more you explore, the more you'll realize just how powerful WAF is for building really secure applications. And
Kelly 16:18
don't forget, you're not alone in this. The AWS community is there to help you, so share your experiences and learn from others. Great
Chris 16:25
advice. Well, that wraps up our deep dive into AWS WAF. We hope you found it helpful. Keep building, keep innovating, and keep those cloud skills sharp. See in the cloud.