The Best Free WAF You’re Not Using: SafeLine

Modern web applications require more than traditional firewalls, necessitating a Web Application Firewall (WAF). A WAF operates at the application layer to protect against threats like SQL injection and XSS by filtering HTTP(S) traffic. Choosing a WAF involves balancing security, ease of use, and performance. SafeLine, developed by Chaitin Tech, emerges as a compelling solution in this regard. It boasts a high-performance design with nearly a decade of security experience. SafeLine distinguishes itself with an intelligent semantic analysis detection engine, surpassing traditional rule-based filters. This engine effectively identifies both known and unknown threats with remarkable accuracy. Notably, SafeLine offers enterprise-grade protection for free, utilizing the same advanced detection engine as its commercial counterpart. Its key features include intelligent detection without signature updates, minimal latency measured in milliseconds, and efficient performance handling over 2000 transactions per second per CPU core. SafeLine is also easy to deploy, running in Docker with a simple installation script and out-of-the-box configuration. Built on the robust Nginx engine, it provides high availability and stability suitable for production environments. The project is actively maintained, supported by a strong community, making it an excellent choice for comprehensive web application security without significant costs.