19. A company hired a security consultant to suggest a device that will protect its inbound HTTP traffic by immediately blocking security violations. Which of the following should the consultant most likely suggest?
Answer: D
A Web Application Firewall (WAF) is the best choice for protecting inbound HTTP traffic.
A Web Application Firewall (WAF) is specifically designed to filter and monitor HTTP traffic between a web application and the internet, immediately blocking security violations such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting attacks.
A) IPS
An Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) is designed to detect and prevent identified threats by blocking harmful traffic. However, it primarily focuses on network traffic and may not be as effective in specifically addressing application-layer threats to HTTP traffic as a WAF.
B) IDS
An Intrusion Detection System (IDS) monitors network traffic and alerts administrators of potential threats but does not actively block them. Therefore, this option does not meet the requirement of immediately blocking security violations.
C) Proxy
A proxy server acts as an intermediary for requests from clients seeking resources from other servers. While it can provide some level of security by filtering traffic, it does not specifically target and block application-layer vulnerabilities as effectively as a WAF.
D) WAF
A Web Application Firewall (WAF) is designed to protect web applications by filtering and monitoring HTTP traffic, making it the most suitable choice for immediately blocking security violations that target web applications directly.
Conclusion
The WAF stands out as the most appropriate solution for the company's need to protect inbound HTTP traffic since it is tailored to address application-specific vulnerabilities. In contrast, the other options, while valuable in their own right, do not offer the same level of immediate and targeted protection against web application threats.