What is the purpose of a Web Application Firewall (WAF) and how does it differ from a network firewall?

Question

Cybersecurity Fundamentals — Hard

What is the purpose of a Web Application Firewall (WAF) and how does it differ from a network firewall?

Accepted Answer

A Web Application Firewall (WAF) protects against web-specific attacks like SQLi, XSS, and CSRF by filtering HTTP/HTTPS traffic at the application layer. In contrast, a network firewall operates at Layers 3-4, controlling traffic based on IP addresses and ports.