Security Automations for AWS WAF

Overview:

The Security Automations for AWS WAF solution is designed to automatically deploy and configure AWS Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to protect web applications from common web-based attacks. By selecting preconfigured protective features, users can define the rules included in an AWS WAF web access control list (web ACL). Once deployed, AWS WAF inspects web requests to protect Amazon CloudFront distributions or Application Load Balancers.

Key Benefits:

1. Automatic WAF Rules Configuration: The solution utilizes an AWS CloudFormation template to automate the setup of AWS WAF settings and protective features chosen during deployment. This simplifies the process of configuring AWS WAF to protect web applications.
2. Log Analysis: When activated, the solution provisions an Amazon Athena query and an AWS Lambda function to orchestrate Athena’s execution, process result outputs, and update AWS WAF. This enables analysis of logs and helps in understanding attack patterns and protection provided by AWS WAF.
3. Customized Monitoring Dashboard: The solution emits CloudWatch metrics such as allowed requests and blocked requests. These metrics can be used to build a custom monitoring dashboard that visualizes insights into attack patterns and the effectiveness of AWS WAF protection.

Technical Details:

Architecture:
The solution’s architecture involves the following components:

1. AWS WAF Web ACL: This acts as the central inspection and decision point for all incoming requests. The protective functions that are activated determine the custom rules added to the web ACL.

Flow:
The flow of the solution involves the following steps:

1. Users deploy the solution using an AWS CloudFormation template.
2. The CloudFormation template configures AWS WAF settings and protective features based on user selections.
3. When activated, the solution sets up Amazon Athena and a scheduled AWS Lambda function.
4. The Lambda function orchestrates the execution of Athena queries, processes the query results, and updates AWS WAF rules accordingly.
5. AWS WAF inspects incoming web requests, applying the custom rules from the web ACL to protect the application.

Use Cases:

• Web Application Protection: The solution is suitable for protecting web applications from common web-based attacks, such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and more.
• Automated Security: The solution automates the deployment and management of AWS WAF rules, reducing the manual effort required to set up effective web application protection.

Summary:

The Security Automations for AWS WAF solution simplifies the process of configuring and managing AWS WAF rules to protect web applications. It offers automatic rules configuration, log analysis, and the ability to build customized monitoring dashboards to visualize protection effectiveness. The architecture involves deploying AWS WAF Web ACL and integrating it with Amazon Athena and AWS Lambda for rule updates based on log analysis.