Top 4 Cloud-Based Web Application Firewalls for Small and Medium Businesses

Web application attacks aimed at small businesses are exponentially rising. Over 84% of websites tested by one leading cybersecurity firm were found to have at least one serious vulnerability…

As an experienced security analyst, I strongly recommend SMBs deploy a cloud-based web application firewall (WAF) to protect your online assets and customer data against threats like SQL injections, cross-site scripting, brute force attacks, and more…

Choose the Right Solution Based On Your Needs
Depending on your budget, site traffic, compliance requirements and risk tolerance – solutions from Cloudflare, Sucuri, Astra Security and StackPath each offer robust templates to customize protection for your specificapplication…

Here are the top options with detailed comparisons across key factors like features, detection rate, scalability and customer support:

Cloudflare Web Application Firewall
Trusted by millions of sites globally, Cloudflare offers both power and ease of use right out of the box. With advanced protections like automated SQL injection prevention and bot mitigation you can rest easy knowing your site‘s attack surface is minimized.

Founded in 2009 by CEO Matthew Prince, Cloudflare has rapidly become an industry leader used by approximately 20% of the web due to a track record of blocking serious threats. The Cloudflare WAF automatically applies rules to combat OWASP top 10 vulnerabilities, stopping attacks like:

  • Cross-site scripting (XSS) – By scanning for malicious JavaScript payloads, Cloudflare protects your site from injection attacks which could allow takeover by bad actors
  • SQL injection (SQLi)
  • Cross-site request forgery (CSRF)
  • Remote code execution (RCE) attacks

Additionally, Cloudflare‘s network blocks an average of 72 billion cyber threats per day…

Sucuri Web Application Firewall
Offering enterprise-grade protection for SMB budgets starting at $9.99 a month, Sucuri is trusted by over 200,000 websites including leading CMS platforms and Fortune 500 companies…

Founded in 2010 by CEO Daniel Cid, Sucuri combats the latest application vulnerabilities while providing 24/7 support and customization options that compete with WAFs costing over $1,000 per month.

Sucuri Firewall stops over 30+ million website attacks every month by leveraging core defenses like:

  • Layer 7 DoS/DDoS protection
  • Blocking OWASP top 10 attacks
  • IP reputation monitoring
  • Behavioral anomaly detection
  • Machine learning algorithms continuously updated for zero day exploits

Customers like GreenSpace recommend Sucuri for offering "a lot of value for the money” while seamlessly integrating with CMS platforms…

Astra Web Application Firewall
Delivering enterprise-grade protection tailored for SMBs, Astra Security packs a robust feature set combining a cloud-based firewall, IP blocking, vulnerability scans and more into budget-friendly plans…

Led by cybersecurity veteran co-founders Sundar Balasubramanian and Purandar Das, Astra brings decades of experience developing advanced threat detection capabilities unmatched among comparably-priced competitors.

Astra‘s behavioral analysis technology secured sites against high-severity threats like:

  • Cross-site scripting (XSS)
  • SQL injection (SQLi)
  • Remote code execution (RCE)
  • Local file inclusion (LFI) and remote file inclusion (RFI) attacks

With the ability to block both inbound and outbound attacks instantly, Astra‘s 24/7 WAF stopped over 4 million exploits last year with a 99.99% mitigation rate across clients. Around-the-clock monitoring also ensures your policy evolves alongside the threat landscape…

StackPath Web Application Firewall
As a rising WAF provider on Gartner’s Magic Quadrant focused purely on cloud security, StackPath eliminates tedious WAF management while providing complete protection wherever your traffic originates…

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