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Let’s look at the benefits and drawbacks of each: Embedded deployment Just pick the most appropriate option based on your goals, requirements, and situation. But there’s no single correct or incorrect approach. Two different deployment options are supported by ModSecurity: embedded deployment and reverse proxy deployment. It’s fair to say, though, that these features could be seen as a distraction from the core intent behind ModSecurity’s creation: to serve as a predictable tool for inspecting HTTP traffic efficiently. However, let’s be clear: certain aspects of ModSecurity can be considered to be beyond the scope of these guiding principles.įor instance, ModSecurity is capable of adjusting the way in which Apache identifies itself to others, keeping the ModSecurity Apache process contained, and implementing an efficient plan to deal with that well-known XSS weakness in Adobe Reader. When you’re equipped with the crucial facts, you’ll be able to understand ModSecurity’s weakest areas and find workarounds yourself. But a predictable tool could be the next best thing - and that’s where ModSecurity shines yet again.
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We all know the “perfect” tool doesn’t exist, and possibly never will. So, they decided to limit the functionality available to users, but to focus on making the ideas they actually implemented the best they could be. They did so because they knew they had fewer resources than they needed to make those ideas a reality effectively. They chose not to act on a lot of these, and put them aside for a later time. Quality, not quantityĭuring the lengthy development and fine-tuning of ModSecurity, the team explored numerous ideas for what it could actually do. So, ModSecurity offers such high flexibility by providing a rule language that enables you to achieve what you need to, along with the freedom to apply rules only where necessary. Not everything has to work exactly the same for each user. That’s because it was created by a security expert who wanted to intercept and analyze HTTP traffic for safety purposes, yet realized that everyone had to do things their own way sometimes. It’s actually fairly mind-blowing in its flexibility, to be frank. FlexibilityĪs we’ve already mentioned, ModSecurity is remarkably flexible. But it’ll leave choices up to you, for your complete peace of mind. Of course, it’ll provide you with a wealth of information. Why? Because it’ll never initiate changes to transaction data without you instructing to do so first. If you’re concerned about letting tools make decisions for you, particularly when conducting transactions, ModSecurity makes things a little easier for you.
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ModSecurity is based on four main principles: Passiveness
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