Barracuda CloudGen WAF for AWS - PAYG

My main use case for Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service  is protecting web applications running on HTTP and HTTPS sockets from OWASP Top 10 attacks, malicious bots, account takeover attempts, and L3 to L7 DDoS attacks.

Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service  is a cloud-delivered web application firewall designed to protect web applications and APIs from threats such as OWASP Top 10 attacks, malicious bots, account takeover attempts, and L3 to L7 DDoS attacks. It is positioned as a fast to deploy and manage WAF  service with pre-built templates, centralized policy control, API protection, and automation support through REST APIs. Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service is a cloud WAF  that helps protect websites and APIs quickly without the overhead of deploying and managing traditional web appliances.

Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service offers several best features including a cloud-delivered WAF for web apps and APIs, fast setup via deployment wizard and templates, protection against OWASP Top 10 and zero-day style web threats, API security for REST, JSON, and GraphQL APIs including discovery and exposure of shadow APIs, bot protection, unmetered L3 and L7 DDoS protection, automation support, and compliance visibility and reporting.

I find API security, web app and API security, and bot protection to be the most valuable day-to-day features of Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service. Using Barracuda is very easy and fast due to the fast deployment wizard, allowing deployment based on wizards or templates. Onboarding applications is very easy with a turnaround time of only one or two days. API security covers all API types, starting with REST, JSON, and GraphQL APIs. Bot protection includes malicious learning backend for malicious bots, credential stuffing, brute force, and account takeover defense.

Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service has impacted my organization positively with fast deployment and simple onboarding. One of the strongest points is the speed of deployment, which features a three-step deployment wizard, pre-built templates, and quick onboarding, making it suitable for teams that want protection fast without complex infrastructure setup. For example, if a business wants to protect a customer portal or public website quickly, Barracuda can be onboarded in a minute using pre-defined templates instead of spending days tuning an appliance.

Another strength is strong API and application protection. Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service protects both traditional web applications and modern APIs, including REST, JSON, and GraphQL, and it supports API discovery to identify exposed shadow and zombie APIs. Bot and account takeover protection is included along with DDoS protection which adds application level DDoS that protects L3 to L7 type of DDoS threats like HTTP flood. There is a good balance of simplicity and control.

I notice faster time to detection because since the onboarding uses a wizard and template, the organization can reduce deployment effort by 30 to 50% faster deployment effort for standard web app onboarding. There is lower operational overhead since the solution is delivered as a service, allowing customers to avoid appliance lifecycle management and benefit from automated updates and managed service characteristics. From an ROI and impact perspective, there is a 20 to 35% reduction in day-to-day administrative effort. Additionally, there is reduced business impact from downtime because built-in L3 to L7 DDoS protection and application layer security can reduce outage risk and service disruption for customer-facing applications.

Regarding improvements for Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service, the UI and user experience can feel dated. While the interface is functional and centralized, some third-party reviews indicate that the UI can feel outdated, and enhancements are required to provide an executive look that can be aligned with modern and intuitive next-generation competitors.

The licensing and cost structure perspective may need clear planning. Barracuda service is customizable but external references note that licensing and cost planning can become complex.

Advanced analytics and executive reporting could be better. The platform provides visibility and compliance reporting but organizations looking for a very polished executive dashboard, deep attack visualization, or broader cloud-native security context may find it more focused on WAF operation.

Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service is best suited for app and API protection and is not a full CNAPP  platform. It is strong for application layer protection but is not positioned as a full CNAPP  covering posture management. Modernizing the UI further, simplifying packaging and licensing clarity, enhancing the executive reporting and risk dashboard, and expanding broader cloud-native integration would be beneficial improvements.

I have been using Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service for almost eight years.

I do not see any latency with Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service. It is a software as a service, so the provider maintains all the infrastructure and it is very scalable, so I do not see any challenge.

Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service is extremely accurate in detection and reporting, and I find very few false positives. When deploying this solution, you have to take care of a few things very cautiously, especially understanding how the application works and defining the policy carefully. Otherwise, it could bring false positive alert fatigue. Alert fatigue depends on who is implementing the solution. If experienced and expert people with Barracuda implement the solution, you will get less alert fatigue.

Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service can handle increases in traffic or new applications easily since this particular solution is built for that specific purpose.

Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service provides good support and the support team is very cooperative and helpful.

I purchased Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service via a partner and not through the AWS Marketplace .

Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service is a cloud-delivered web application firewall designed to protect web applications and APIs from threats such as OWASP Top 10 attacks, malicious bots, account takeover attempts, and L3 to L7 DDoS attacks. It is positioned as a fast to deploy and manage WAF service with pre-built templates, centralized policy control, API protection, and automation support through REST APIs. Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service is a cloud WAF that helps protect websites and APIs quickly without the overhead of deploying and managing traditional web appliances.

I maintain all the governance and security for Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service as per the standard. Each organization has certain compliance requirements that they need to adhere to, and these are already in place with Barracuda. I fully agree with the policy mapping that is shown when designing the WAF policy and it is very much in line with compliance strategy.

Since the solution is delivered as a service, customers avoid appliance lifecycle management and benefit from automated updates and managed service characteristics. From an ROI and impact perspective, there is a 20 to 35% reduction in day-to-day administrative effort. Additionally, built-in L3 to L7 DDoS protection and application layer security can reduce outage risk and service disruption for customer-facing applications.

The licensing and cost structure perspective may need clear planning. Barracuda service is customizable but external references note that licensing and cost planning can become complex.

If organizations have any public-facing application, they should use WAF-as-a-Service and Barracuda is a good choice, but there are other choices as well. When choosing any solution, you have to check other aspects such as the people aspect, people, process, and technology. These three have to be consolidated. If any organization needs suggestions, they could reach out to me for help in choosing the right solution.

Barracuda WAF-as-a-Service is best suited for app and API protection and is not a full CNAPP platform. It is strong for application layer protection but is not positioned as a full CNAPP covering posture management. Modernizing the UI further, simplifying packaging and licensing clarity, enhancing the executive reporting and risk dashboard, and expanding broader cloud-native integration would be beneficial. I would rate my overall experience with this solution as an eight.

Public Cloud

Amazon Web Services  (AWS )

What do you like best about the product?

It is an enterprise level firewall at less than an enterprise cost. I would put them next to Cisco or Juniper any day. They are functional, reliable, quick, and the support from Barracuda is second to NONE.

What do you dislike about the product?

Nothing. I mean they could cost less, but you get what you pay for at the end of the day and when you are protecting a company from people doing things they shouldn't have to do, cost starts to become not as relevant.

What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?

It is securing internet access for our whole agency. We use small firewalls at small facilities to build VPN tunnels back to the main facility. The original problem it solved was an inherent ACL in a Cisco ASA that I needed around for a specific purpose and Cisco was unwilling to do anything to make it work. Barracuda, I could do it out of the box... and that was the old X series firewalls. The cloudgens are light years ahead of them when they stopped making the X's.

What do you like best about the product?

Its automation feature is very impressive. Integration in the cloud is very easy. Central management system with deep threat protection.

What do you dislike about the product?

All the things are nice features are also good, but it is costly. and the learning curve is steep.

What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?

Cybersecurity. Packet tracing and log monitoring. Threat detection.

What do you like best about the product?

I find Barracuda CloudGen Firewall valuable for monitoring and controlling our network traffic. The technical support is always top notch and available, which really helps us. The initial setup was very easy, making it straightforward right from the start.

What do you dislike about the product?

I think an improvement could have to do with having some sort of log review by AI to determine if there are issues with the firewalls that are not being seen with the monitor.

What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall provides a single portal for firewall protection information and supports the monitoring and controlling of our network traffic.