Overview

The reverse proxy contains a web application firewall capability which is based on the ModSecurity rules engine.

ModSecurity, sometimes called Modsec, is an open-source web application firewall (WAF). Originally designed as a module for the Apache HTTP Server, it has evolved to provide an array of Hypertext Transfer Protocol request and response filtering capabilities along with other security features across a number of different platforms including Apache HTTP Server, Microsoft IIS and Nginx.

The platform provides a rule configuration language known as 'SecRules' for real-time monitoring, logging, and filtering of Hypertext Transfer Protocol communications based on user-defined rules.

Although not its only configuration, ModSecurity is most commonly deployed to provide protection against generic classes of vulnerabilities using the OWASP ModSecurity Core Rule Set (CRS). This is an open-source set of rules written in ModSecurity's SecRules language. The project is part of OWASP, the Open Web Application Security Project.

The Reverse Proxy now incorporates the ModSecurity rules processing engine, which can be enabled on a per request basis, and the IBM® Verify Identity Access firmware embeds the OWASP ModSecurity Core Rule Set (CRS).