As enterprises move more of their business transactions online, they face the challenge of defending a perimeter that grows increasingly porous. Proprietary data and business-critical operations are being exposed through Web interfaces that are accessible from any where in the world and highly vulnerable to the Internet’s growing threat environment.

The network firewalls that once locked down the enterprise perimeter are ineffective against Web-based attacks that are quickly rising in frequency, scale, and severity. These Layer 7 attacks now account for between 60 and 80% of all reported security incidents. 1 By exploiting common Web application security flaws, the attacks are able to cause tremendous business disruption, particularly through the theft of sensitive enterprise information as well as customer and employee personal data.

This paper examines current trends in Web application security, assessing the present threat environment as well as limitations in existing approaches to protection. It then looks at how Akamai’s new distributed Web Application Firewall solution overcomes these challenges, working as an integral part of a defense-in-depth security architecture to provide robust and scalable protection that is both practical and cost effective.