![Web Application Firewall (noun) [Word Notes] — Hacking Humans cover](https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/81b1d6b4-1647-11f1-93dc-c3456fa477c7/image/441b0ca2db080b93b935568d381ce462.png?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress)
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You're listening to the Cyberwire Network, powered by N2K. Most security conferences talk about Zero Trust. Zero Trust World puts you inside this is a hands on cybersecurity event designed for practitioners who want real skills, not just theory. You'll take part in Live Hacking Labs where you'll attack real environments, see how modern threats actually work, and learn how to stop them before they turn into incidents. But Zero Trust World is more than labs. You'll also experience expert led sessions, practical case studies, and technical deep dives focused on real world implementation. Whether you're blue team, red team, or responsible for securing an entire organization, the content is built to be immediately useful. You'll earn CPE credits, connect with peers across the industry and leave with strategies you can put into action right away. Join us March 4th through the 6th in Orlando, Florida. Register now@ZTW.com and take your Zero Trust strategy from theory to execution.
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The word is Web application Firewall. Spelled Web as in the Internet application as in a software program, and firewall as in a barrier between two networks that can limit network traffic between the two sides. Definition a layer 7 firewall designed to block threats at the application layer of the Open System Interconnection model. The OSI model. Example sentence With a Web application firewall or waf, firewall administrators can make rules like the marketing group can go to Facebook, but the sales group can't. Origin and context in 1988, Jeff Mogul, Brian Reed, and Paul Vicsey, working for Digital Equipment Corporation, conducted the first research on firewall technology. This was the first generation of firewall architecture. Between 1989 and 1990, Dave Presotto and Howard Trickey of Bell Laboratories pioneered the second generation with their research in circuit relays. They also implemented the first working model of the third generation firewall architecture, known as application layer firewalls. Between 1990 and 1991, Gene Spafford of Purdue University, Bill Cheswick of Bell Labs, and Marcus Ranum independently researched application layer firewalls. These eventually evolved into next generation firewalls many years later. In 1992, Digital Equipment Corporation shipped Deck Seal, the first commercial firewall, and included proxies developed by Marcus Ranum. In 1994, Check Point Software released the first stateful Inspection Commercial Firewall A Layer 3 firewall Layer 3 refers to the OSI model, meaning that firewall administrators can make rules based on IP addresses, ports, and protocols. In 1994, William Cheswick and Steve Bellavin published Firewalls and Internet Security Repelling the Wily Hacker, the first book on firewalls as a technology. They called it a circuit level gateway and packet filtering technology. Interestingly, their ideas came from the desire not to keep intruders out of their networks, but to keep employees from going to bad places on the Internet. Palo Alto Networks launched the first next Generation Firewall in 2007, a firewall that not only does staple inspection at layer 3, but more importantly allows rules at the application layer. Layer 7 firewall administrators could not only block network traffic to and from bad IP addresses, but also could block access to applications tied to the authenticated user. By the 2000 and tens, some firewalls had morphed into giant orchestration engines. In other words, instead of deploying multiple independent security tools in line at the perimeter that the infosec teams had to manage and orchestrate separately, the next generation firewall became a Swiss army knife of security tools. One box, either hardware or software that could do layer 3 policy layer 7 policy intrusion detection, anti malware, XDR, etc. By the late 2000 and tens, the secure web gateway emerged as a simpler firewall that abandoned the orchestration engine idea and just performed layer 7 policy functions, but specifically for endpoint user web traffic. Firewall administrators can make rules for URL filtering, malicious code detection, and application controls for popular web based applications such as instant messaging and Skype. In contrast, web application firewalls can do most of the same things as secure web gateways, plus some basic heuristics and anomaly detection to prevent exploitation of application vulnerabilities. Nerd reference in 2015, Bill Cheswick presented at the Vintage Computer Federation conference and talked about some of the early days of computer security when he took a job at the famous Bell labs in the 1980s and worked for some computer science legends like Dennis Ritchie, the co creator at the C programming language and the Unix operating system written in C with colleagues Ken Thompson, Brian Kernighan and Rob pike, and he talked about how his experiments with proto firewalls protected Bell Labs from the infamous Morris worm in the late 1980s.
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And in 1987 I said, I wonder if I could work at Bell Labs. Could this? Could I do this? I'm an IT guy. I could go be janitor for Dennis Ritchie. How cool would that be? I applied and the interview for the day involved eight people, most of whom many of you have heard of Brian Kernighan, Rob Pike, Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie and a couple others. My future bosses. And I decided even if at the end of the day they decided I was a jerk and they never wanted to see me again, it was a pretty remarkable day. And it turns out they hired me. I was working there for three weeks and I said, well, I've started work. I volunteered to work as postmaster, which is kind of like volunteering to be proctologist. It's a thankless job because if you get it right, nobody notices and if you don't, they're really pissed off with you. And I went up to the postmaster, Dave Prozado, and I said, this email seems like a wave of the future. I want to learn something about it. I'll be postmaster. He said, okay, you got it. I also took over a prototype firewall he put up about a year before and started running it. About a year later the Morris worm came out and our firewall stopped it. In fact, I woke up the morning the Morris worm hit the Internet and a friend of ours had called the house and said, there's something bad on the Internet, you might want to check it out. And I went into work and there was Peter Weinberger on the phone calling various places and saying, did you get the worm? We didn't.
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Ha ha ha.
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And of course it was my firewall that was keeping it out.
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Wordnotes is written by Tim Nodar, executive produced by Peter Kilpe and edited by John Petrick and me, Rick Howard. The mixed sound, design and original all been crafted by the ridiculously talented Elliot Peltzman. Thanks for listening.
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If you only attend one cybersecurity conference this year, make it RSAC 2020 26. It's happening March 23rd through the 26th in San Francisco, bringing together the global security community for four days of expert insights, hands on learning and real innovation. I'll say this plainly, I never miss this conference. The ideas and conversations stay with me all year. Join thousands of practitioners and leaders tackling today's toughest challenges and shaping what comes next. Register today@rsaconference.com cyberwire26 I'll you in San Francisco. When it comes to mobile application security, good enough is a risk. A recent Survey shows that 72% of organizations reported at least one mobile application security incident last year and 92% of responders reported threat levels have increased in the past two years. Guard Square delivers the highest level of security for your mobile apps without compromising performance time to market or user experience. Discover how Guard Square provides industry leading security for your Android and iOS apps at www.guardsquare.com.