Key Questions to Ask Your WAF Provider Before Choosing a Solution

Choosing the right WAF solution is not just about ticking a checkbox—it’s about ensuring real-time security, threat intelligence, and seamless operations.

A poorly chosen WAF can lead to downtime, false positives, compliance gaps, and missed zero-day threats. So, before you commit to a WAF provider, ask these critical questions to ensure your web applications and APIs are protected against evolving cyber threats.

1. Do You Need Instant Protection Against Unpatched Vulnerabilities?

Many attacks exploit known vulnerabilities before organizations can apply official patches. With the time-to-exploit (TTE) dropping to just five days in 2023—down from 63 days in 2018-19 and 32 days in 2021-22—threat actors are moving faster than ever. Virtual patching blocks these exploits instantly, reducing breach risks.

Additionally, virtual patching is a powerful compensatory control recognized by major regulatory bodies. Leveraging this can buy your team valuable time during security accreditations and audits.

Ask Your WAF Provider:

• Does the WAF support virtual patching?
• Who applies the patches—your team or the vendor’s security experts? If they are by the vendor, do they guarantee zero false positives?
• How quickly can a virtual patch be deployed after a new vulnerability is discovered?
• Does it work across all web applications and APIs?

If your team lacks in-house expertise, choosing a managed WAF with virtual patching as a service ensures continuous protection. More importantly, a WAF should enable custom rule creation to fine-tune security policies for your unique application environment.

For example, if a vulnerability is discovered in a third-party library, a custom rule can be deployed instantly to block exploit attempts targeting that specific vulnerability. Similarly, if a zero-day attack is detected in real-time, managed security teams can create instant protective rules until an official fix is released.

Check out why a managed WAF is a must-have to stop website attacks

2. Do You Have a Public-Facing or High-Sensitivity Web Property?

If your business operates a public-facing web application (e-commerce, SaaS, banking, etc.), the security stakes are even higher.

Ask Your WAF Provider:

• How does the WAAP protect against large-scale DDoS attacks, credential stuffing, and API abuse?
• Can it inspect encrypted (TLS/SSL) traffic without degrading performance?
• Does it provide real-time threat intelligence and automated protection against zero-day exploits?
• Can it detect and block sophisticated bot-driven fraud (e.g., account takeovers, carding attacks)?
• Does your WAF protect the origin server from direct attacks?
• What percentage of applications using your WAF are deployed in block mode?
• Do you offer Data Loss Prevention (DLP) capabilities?
• If your WAF goes down, will my applications also be affected?
• Does it support a Zero Trust security model to control access and prevent lateral movement?
• Can it integrate with SIEM and threat intelligence platforms for advanced monitoring?
• Does it dynamically scale to handle sudden traffic spikes and unexpected attack surges?

A basic WAF that simply blocks common OWASP Top 10 threats isn’t enough for industries handling sensitive customer data, financial transactions, or critical infrastructure operations.

Your WAF must go beyond signature-based detection, leveraging AI-driven threat intelligence to block evolving threats. It should support TLS/SSL decryption to inspect encrypted traffic, preventing hidden malware and injection attacks.

For compliance-heavy industries, Zero Trust security models ensure only legitimate users can access critical resources. Additionally, data loss prevention (DLP) mechanisms protect PII, healthcare records, and financial data from exposure.

Discover the techniques WAF/WAAP uses to block malicious requests.

3. Do You Deal with Bots and Unwanted Automated Traffic?

In 2024, over 765 million bot attacks were blocked on AppTrana WAAP, marking a 48% rise from Q1 to Q4.

Malicious bots scrape data, brute-force logins, commit fraud, and inflate server costs. A strong WAF should manage bot traffic without disrupting real users.

Ask Your WAF Provider:

• Does it offer bot detection and mitigation in real time?
• Is bot mitigation a built-in feature, or is it an add-on that requires extra licensing?
• Can it differentiate between good bots (Google, Bing) and bad bots (scrapers, credential stuffers)?
• Does it use AI/ML-based behavior analysis to detect sophisticated bots?
• Can it provide detailed bot traffic reports to assess attack trends and impact?
• Does it offer CAPTCHA, rate limiting, and fingerprinting techniques to challenge suspicious bots?
• Does it provide a bot score to categorize traffic and allow legitimate users?
• Can it automatically adapt security rules based on bot behavior patterns?

Look for customizable bot scores, allowing security teams to define thresholds for blocking, challenging, or rate-limiting suspicious requests. The WAF should also provide granular control, enabling you to block bots based on IP reputation, request patterns, or geolocation, ensuring legitimate users experience no friction while stopping malicious automation.

4. Do You Have Compliance Obligations (PCI DSS, GDPR, HIPAA, etc.)?

Regulatory compliance isn’t just about avoiding fines—it ensures customer trust and data protection.

Ask Your WAF Provider:

• Does the WAF help meet PCI DSS, GDPR, HIPAA, and other industry regulations?
• Does it help with vulnerability remediation? Open vulnerabilities could be the difference between getting a security accreditation on time or getting delayed by months.
• Does it provide real-time risk assessment beyond compliance checklists?
• Does it provide real-time visibility into security incidents for compliance monitoring?
• How does it handle personally identifiable information (PII) protection?

If your WAF doesn’t align with compliance needs, you risk penalties and potential lawsuits. A robust WAF should provide continuous risk assessment, real-time vulnerability mitigation, and proactive security measures to go beyond the checklist approach.

Maintaining zero vulnerabilities is crucial for organizations handling sensitive data and operating in regulated industries. AppTrana’s SwyftComply provides autonomous patching for open vulnerabilities within 72 hours, minimizing exposure to threats. This proactive approach helps organizations stay compliant while protecting applications from known and unknown risks.

5. Do You Have Software Stacks That Are Difficult to Upgrade?

Many businesses run legacy applications that are hard to upgrade, leaving them exposed to security vulnerabilities.

Ask Your WAF Provider:

• Does it provide security for legacy applications without modifying the source code?
• Can it protect older frameworks like PHP 5, Java 6, or ASP.NET without performance issues?

A good WAAP protects legacy applications, so you don’t have to risk downtime or major development costs.

6. Do You Need Breathing Room from Zero-Day Attacks?

Zero-day vulnerabilities can cripple businesses before vendors release patches.

Ask Your WAF Provider:

• How does it detect and block zero-day attacks?
• Does it offer machine-learning based anomaly detection?
• Does it support real-time threat intelligence feeds?
• What are the SLAs for patching any vulnerabilities that do not have coverage?
• Once these patches are released, who takes care of false positive testing?

A proactive WAF with managed security services ensures real-time protection against zero-day threats by blocking exploitation attempts before they cause damage. Security experts actively monitor attack patterns, deploy virtual patches, and write custom security rules to stop zero-day exploits in real time. This ensures that businesses remain protected even as new vulnerabilities emerge.

AppTrana WAAP has 24, 48 and 72 hour SLAs for patching critical, high and medium vulnerabilities respectively. All these patches are tested for false positives and automatically applied to all our customers.

7. Do You Want to Reduce Your Development Time to Market?

Developers spend hours implementing security fixes that that a WAF can help mitigate through automated protections.

Ask Your WAF Provider:

• Does it support DevSecOps integration with CI/CD pipelines?
• Can it automate security rule updates for new application versions?
• Does it provide comprehensive API security without adding development complexity?
• How does it handle false positives to prevent disruptions in application functionality?
• Can it integrate with infrastructure-as-code (IaC) tools?
• If there are open vulnerabilities, can we request a virtual patch and release the code?

A modern WAF should seamlessly integrate into the development lifecycle to ensure security doesn’t become a bottleneck. Features like auto-generated security policies for new deployments, real-time API protection, and instant virtual patching for vulnerabilities reduce manual intervention, helping businesses move from development to production faster.

Security teams often hesitate to deploy WAF in block mode due to false positive concerns, leaving security gaps. A WAF with false positive monitoring and fine-tuning is essential. Managed WAF solutions like AppTrana include a dedicated SOC team that continuously monitors and fine-tunes security rules, ensuring accurate threat detection and a zero false positive experience.

8. What Are the Deployment Options?

A WAF should integrate seamlessly into your infrastructure without causing downtime or performance bottlenecks.

Ask Your WAF Provider:

• What deployment models do you support (cloud-based, on-premises, hybrid)?
• How easy is it to deploy without disrupting existing applications?
• Can it be deployed inline or in out-of-band mode for monitoring only?
• Does it support automatic scaling for traffic surges?
• Is it compatible with your existing CDN, load balancer, and security stack?
• Does it provide containerized or Kubernetes-native protection?

A flexible WAF should offer multiple deployment options, ensuring security doesn’t come at the cost of performance or operational complexity. Whether you need API gateway integration, container security, or full traffic inspection at the edge, your WAF should align with your infrastructure needs.

Explore Key Considerations for WAF Deployment to choose the right model.

9. Do You Need Comprehensive Security Logging and Reporting?

Effective logging and reporting are essential for monitoring security incidents, analysing traffic patterns, and maintaining compliance.

Ask Your WAF Provider:

• What level of detail do security and traffic logs capture? – Ensure logs include timestamps, IP addresses, request details, and attack patterns for comprehensive visibility.
• How accessible are logs and audit trails? – Check if logs are available in real-time, how long they are retained, and how easily they can be retrieved.
• Does the provider offer customizable reports? – Look for flexibility in filtering data and generating reports tailored to your security and compliance needs.
• Can reports be generated on demand and scheduled automatically? – Ensure you can access real-time insights while also automating periodic reports.
• What formats are available for reports? – Check if reports can be exported in PDF, CSV, JSON, or other formats for easy sharing and integration.
• Does the provider offer user-friendly visual dashboards? – Clear data presentation helps in quickly identifying trends and anomalies.
• How are reports distributed or integrated with other security tools? – Verify if reports can be automatically shared via email, APIs, or integrated into SIEM solutions.

10. What Is Your Pricing Model?

Many WAF providers charge based on bandwidth, requests, or attack volume, leading to unexpected costs.

Ask Your WAF Provider:

• Is pricing fixed or usage-based?
• Are there tiered costs for DDoS protection, bot mitigation, or API security?
• Do you offer unmetered DDoS protection?
• Which features are included in the base plan, and which require additional payment?
• How does your pricing differ for single-domain vs. multi-domain protection?
• Is pricing based on Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDNs), subdomains, or applications?
• If I need to protect my staging/UAT environments, will they be billed separately?
• Do you offer virtual patching as part of the plan or separately?
• Is managed WAF/WAAP included, or is it an extra service?
• How is traffic volume measured in your pricing model (requests, peak Mbps, or bandwidth)?
• What happens if I exceed my allocated request or bandwidth limits?

A transparent pricing model ensures you don’t face unexpected bills after an attack.

Explore the factors affecting Cloud WAF pricing

Picking the right WAF isn’t just about cost—it’s about long-term value. Factor in subscription fees, usage charges, support costs, and hidden overages to calculate the true cost over time.

Rank providers based on security, TCO, and SLAs, then shortlist the top three. But don’t stop there—run real-world tests. WAFs can be black boxes, and issues like SSL pinning may break workflows. Testing reveals hidden flaws and shows how responsive support really is—because in a real attack, you need more than just a WAF, you need a security partner who responds in real time

Dive into the top WAF providers in the market to compare security, TCO, and real-world performance.

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