6 Ways Akamai Innovates to Strengthen Their Leadership in Application Security
Akamai's dedication to digital security has always been the cornerstone of our service offerings, and the latest updates to Akamai App & API Protector, announced today, alongside our entire application security portfolio, serve as a testament to our unwavering commitment.
In this comprehensive blog post, we delve into six pivotal enhancements that exemplify Akamai's drive to innovative and fortify application security, including:
Enhanced Layer 7 DDoS protections
Advanced bot detection and response
Streamlined Simple Start Onboarding
Updated Web Security Analytics
Akamai Client-Side Protection & Compliance
New: CVE Protections Lookup
1. Enhanced Layer 7 DDoS protections
Akamai App & API Protector has set a new standard in Layer 7 distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) protection. This update is crucial as application-layer DDoS attacks grow in size, complexity and frequency. Akamai’s enhancements lower the effort to defend against sophisticated attacks, such as the configurable rate accounting window that addresses short bursts of DDoS attacks with great precision. Enhanced match conditions in rate policies, including rate limiting based on client IP reputation scores (which assign a risk score to IP address with recent malicious behavior) proactively stop malicious DDoS traffic at the edge.
URL protection with intelligent load shedding maximizes the availability of critical URLs, APIs, and microservices during a highly distributed attack by intelligently prioritizing user traffic over malicious sources. Platform DDoS intelligence in URL protection helps customers set up a proactive DDoS control by leveraging the threat intelligence from the world’s most distributed platform for cloud computing, security, and content delivery.
2. Advanced bot detection and response
Akamai recognized the evolving needs for bot management via web application and API protection (WAAP), Akamai has elevated its Bot Visibility & Mitigation capabilities. The newly incorporated Browser Impersonation Detection capability uses dynamic scoring models and machine learning to discern and counteract in-browser bot activities.
Bot Visibility & Mitigation now allows users to apply conditional responses, tailoring strategies to more effectively deter malicious bots. Furthermore, Akamai's roadmap includes interstitial challenges in App & API Protectors bot control capabilities.
3. Streamlined Simple Start Onboarding
To simplify the onboarding process for new customers, Akamai has introduced Simple Start Onboarding. New customers can now integrate with App & API Protector’s comprehensive and adaptive protections in as little as one day.
This tool provides a streamlined and guided process for rapid onboarding for users without prior Akamai experience, making the initial setup of the Akamai go-live experience completely self-serviceable. From assisted security posture configuration to actionable reporting and automated assistance, Akamai Simple Start Onboarding can significantly reduce the operational burden, saving your team time and energy.
Long-standing clients are not forgotten; since our new customers have had such success with Simple Start Onboarding, we are also releasing this simplified onboarding experience for our existing customers — empowering them to secure their growing digital estates with proactive and automated web protections.
4. Updated Web Security Analytics
Akamai Web Security Analytics lies at the heart of the Akamai Control Center, offering intelligence that simplifies operations and boosts analytics capabilities. The new updates include customizable dashboards, configuration change indicators, webhook alerts, and shortened deep links for easier sharing. These innovations save time and offer teams the flexibility to receive vital Web Security Analytics alerts in their chosen tools, such as Slack, to streamline their workflow.
5. Akamai Client-Side Protection & Compliance
As the effort needed to remain compliant increases, so do Akamai’s innovations to help simplify complex compliance requirements. Akamai Client-Side Protection & Compliance, a companion product to App & API Protector, helps protect against end-user data exfiltration and shields websites from JavaScript threats. It is designed to detect malicious script behavior and provide actionable alerts for security teams to mitigate harmful activity in real-time.
With purpose-built Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) v4.0 compliance capabilities, Client-Side Protection & Compliance supports organizations in:
Helping meet new script security requirements and protecting payment card data against client-side attacks
Easily managing payment page’s inventory of scripts, streamlining the auditing process via a single comprehensive dashboard
Receiving dedicated PCI alerts to respond quickly to compliance-related events.
Reducing the need to monitor compliance across customer estates – as this add-on to App & API Protector is controlled in the same portal.
6. New: CVE Protections Lookup
Akamai enables swift deployment of protections against emerging threats and high-profile CVEs with automatic updates. CVE Protections Lookup is a newly released game changer, allowing customers to search Akamai’s CVE database, assess threat levels, access CVE details, and understand Akamai’s measures against the vulnerability.
Developers and security practitioners can gain speed and efficiency by knowing where protections have been proactively applied to mitigate exploitations of the vulnerability.
The innovation continues
Akamai’s commitment to innovation extends beyond these enhancements, promising a future in which security operations are not just simplified but also imbued with the intelligence to preemptively counteract evolving threats.
With Akamai, customers are not just adopting a solution — they are embracing a partnership that offers proactive and intelligent defense mechanisms for today and beyond.
Jérôme Etienne of Groupe Rocher says, "We love working with Akamai. They consistently deliver great reliability and performance through their solutions….The team is an extension of our own, acting in a highly professional manner and always available if we need any help. They have enabled us to delight our customers with safe and efficient shopping experiences."
Providing unparalleled protection in an unpredictable digital landscape
As we move forward in an era when digital threats are omnipresent and ever-evolving, Akamai’s devotion to innovation means that our customers are several steps ahead in the cybersecurity game. With these six pivotal enhancements, Akamai continues to reinforce its position as a leader in application security solutions, providing unparalleled protection in an unpredictable digital landscape.
These enhancements and the vast protections for applications and APIs are reinforced by our customer support and optional tiers of professional services. SOCC Advanced Support Service (available soon!) will provide an enhanced high-touch and a personalized customer experience, immediate expert availability, and a quicker escalation path to SOCC management.
Discover these new features for yourself
At Akamai, we believe in proactive security that not only addresses today's challenges but also prepares for the future. Explore these new capabilities and strengthen your security environment with Akamai App & API Protector. Get started — and try out Simple Start Onboarding – with a free trial.
