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Enhancing Web Application Security and Uptime with Fastly's Next-Gen WAF: A Case Study on amazee.io
Technology Category
- Cybersecurity & Privacy - Application Security
- Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms
Applicable Industries
- Cement
- Construction & Infrastructure
Applicable Functions
- Maintenance
- Quality Assurance
Use Cases
- Construction Management
- Tamper Detection
Services
- Testing & Certification
The Challenge
amazee.io, an open-source application delivery solution provider, was facing challenges in maintaining the seamless operation of its ZeroOps platform. The company's customer base was expanding, and with it, the need for more robust security measures and certificate management. High-profile customers were using the Lagoon platform for business-critical applications, which necessitated stringent security demands. The company was also dealing with issues of false positives and alert fatigue, which were frequent irritants. Traditional Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) were proving to be inadequate, often blocking legitimate traffic or requiring constant tuning and re-tuning. Furthermore, one of amazee.io's major customers had an active bug bounty, which led to constant scanning of the site and required a significant upscaling of the customer's database cluster to handle the load.
About The Customer
amazee.io is an open-source application delivery solution provider that offers an infrastructure-independent, ZeroOps platform designed for Kubernetes-based cloud environments. The company hosts websites for major brands and government agencies on its Lagoon platform, guaranteeing up to 99.99% uptime. amazee.io's customers rely on the ZeroOps platform to work seamlessly, keeping infrastructure out of sight and out of mind. The company's customer base is diverse, with some prioritizing compliance, especially government agencies, while others are more concerned about downtime and the associated reputational risk and loss of revenue.
The Solution
amazee.io turned to Fastly's Next-Gen WAF and CDN to address these challenges. The Next-Gen WAF was a natural progression for the ZeroOps platform, offering a groundbreaking approach to web application security. Unlike traditional WAFs, Fastly's Next-Gen WAF uses SmartParse technology to take a contextual approach to traffic signals, allowing for more accurate blocking of bad behavior while allowing legitimate traffic. This solution was particularly beneficial for amazee.io, given the transient nature of IPs. The implementation of Fastly's Next-Gen WAF resulted in up to 80 percent of traffic being blocked before reaching the application, significantly reducing infrastructure costs. Additionally, Fastly's CDN and Next-Gen WAF enabled amazee.io to offer its clients 99.99% uptime, a critical selling point for the platform. Fastly's self-service tools also provided amazee.io with the flexibility to make changes to its infrastructure without requiring professional services involvement, enhancing agility and customer service.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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