Web exploits are malicious attacks on web applications, designed to exploit vulnerabilities in an application or server to gain unauthorized access or perform other malicious activities.
There are several types of web exploits, ranging from cross-site scripting (XSS) to SQL injection and remote file inclusion (RFI).
Examples of Web Exploits
Cross-site scripting (XSS): XSS attack allows an attacker to inject malicious code into a web page that is executed whenever the page is loaded by a user's browser. The attacker can then steal a user's sensitive information, such as login credentials or even install malware on the user's computer.
SQL Injection: It is a type of web exploit, where attackers try to inject SQL statements into a database query, allowing them to retrieve, modify or delete data in the database. This attack can cause severe damage to a web application as it can lead to data breaches, unauthorized data access, and data manipulation.
Remote File Inclusion (RFI): RFI is an exploit where attackers try to trick the web application into executing remote files hosted on a different server. This type of attack can cause damage by giving the attacker direct access to the server and exposing sensitive files or code.
AWS Web Application Firewall (WAF)
AWS Web Application Firewall (WAF) is a web security service that can protect your web applications from common web exploits and attacks. It works by inspecting incoming traffic to your application and using custom rules to block or allow traffic based on defined criteria. AWS WAF can be deployed on Amazon CloudFront, Application Load Balancer, and API Gateway.
How to Use AWS WAF to Protect a Web Application
You can use AWS WAF to protect your web application by following these steps:
Create a WAF Web ACL: First, create a WAF Web Application Firewall by defining the rules to block or allow incoming traffic.
Associate the WAF Web ACL with Resources: After creating a WAF Web ACL, you can choose the specific resources, such as EC2 instances, Application Load Balancer, or API Gateway, to which to associate the created WAF.
Specify Rules and Rate Limits: You can configure WAF rules and rate limits to block or allow traffic based on specific patterns like IP addresses, HTTP Headers, Query parameters, etc.
Attaching AWS Shield: AWS Shield is a managed service that protects web applications against DDoS attacks. By attaching AWS Shield with WAF, the application can be protected from various DDoS threats and increase application availability.
Enable AWS KMS: Apart from the above measures, you can also encrypt sensitive data to keep it secure. AWS KMS can be utilized to encrypt sensitive data like passwords, tokens, keys, etc., to prevent unauthorized access.
How to Configure WAF Rules and Rate Limits
AWS WAF provides a variety of rules and rate limits that can be implemented to protect your web application from cyber attacks. Here are some of the rules and rate limits:
IP Blocking: This rule enables blocking a specific IP address or a range of IP addresses.
Cross-Site Scripting Rule: It examines the incoming request for malicious code or scripts and blocks them before they reach the application.
SQL Injection Rule: This rule checks incoming request parameters to detect SQL injection attacks and blocks them before they reach the application.
Rate-Based Rule: A rate-based rule analysis requests from a source and blocks the requests that exceed a specified rate threshold.
Conclusion
In conclusion, web exploits are a significant threat to web applications and can cause severe damage to businesses. AWS WAF provides an excellent option to secure web applications from common web exploits and attacks like SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and remote file inclusion. By configuring WAF rules and rate limits along with AWS Shield and AWS KMS, you can secure your web application and ensure that it runs smoothly without any interruption.