Web application and API protection solutions
Reduce risk and complexity with comprehensive protection for apps and APIs anywhere.
Reduce risk and complexity with comprehensive protection for apps and APIs anywhere.
The F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform (ADSP) converges essential defenses—WAF, API security, bot management, DDoS mitigation, and more—into an integrated Web App and API Protection (WAAP) solution. As AI, hybrid multicloud architectures, and API sprawl continue to expand the attack surface, point products are creating gaps and management overhead. Integrated WAAP reduces sprawl and complexity, improve consistency, and protect critical digital experiences from evolving runtime attacks.
Stop common and emerging application-layer exploits with an effective WAF as the core enforcement point for WAAP protections.
Discover and protect APIs to reduce blind spots, prevent abuse, and protect sensitive data and business logic.
Detect sophisticated automated threats using multiple signals to protect customers, reduce fraud, and limit abuse.
Mitigate multi-vector attacks that disrupt application services, protecting uptime and performance across distributed environments.
Critical application vulnerabilities continue to emerge and attackers are moving ever faster to exploit them—often before patches are available. F5 helps reduce exposure by delivering protection close to the application across on-premises, cloud, and edge environments. With WAF protections and consistent policy management, teams can apply virtual patching to mitigate OWASP Top 10 and safeguard against zero-day risks while simplifying operations across hybrid multicloud deployments.
F5 Web Application Firewall ›
Ensure consistent protection across distributed apps and environments with SaaS WAF
Defend applications with advanced WAF controls and virtual patching
Secure modern apps and APIs running on F5 NGINX with Kubernetes-ready WAF
Global, SaaS-delivered managed WAF service to protect applications 24/7
Unknown and poorly inventoried APIs expand the attack surface and expose sensitive data and business logic. F5 enables discovery and cataloging of API endpoints, baselining normal behavior and protecting APIs from development through runtime. With centralized visibility and enforcement across hybrid multicloud environments, organizations can reduce API blind spots, improve governance, and secure modern application development and connectivity at scale.
F5 API Security ›
Discover and safeguard API endpoints with behavior analytics and protection
Manage and secure API traffic in modern environments with NGINX tooling
As applications and APIs spread across hybrid and multicloud environments, unknown or exposed assets and unaddressed vulnerabilities increase risk. F5 continuously assesses the external attack surface, identifying exposed web apps and APIs using automated testing to uncover vulnerabilities. When paired with inline controls, assessment insights inform prioritized remediation, reducing exposure while fixes are implemented.
Find applications and APIs to harden, and vulnerabilities to remediate
Monitor and reduce client-side risk from third-party and injected scripts
Bots and malicious automation attacks probe for weaknesses, abuse business logic, and drive account takeover (ATO) and fraud. F5 helps detect and mitigate bots and other automated threats using multiple signals and analytics, applying step-up challenges only when needed. This improves protection and resilience without degrading the customer experience while supporting consistent operations across distributed environments.
F5 Bot Management Services ›
Stop automated attacks using multi-signal detection and adaptive mitigations
Add analytics signals to improve detection, tuning, and security outcomes
Control third-party aggregator traffic to reduce abuse and business risk
Identify and mitigate malicious browser-side scripts and data skimming
DDoS attacks are increasing in frequency, scale and sophistication, impacting application availability and performance. F5 helps defend against blended, multi-vector DoS and DDoS attacks by integrating protection into distributed architectures and deployment models. Critical application services are protected through the appropriate mix of on-premises and cloud mitigation while maintaining user experience and operational control.
F5 DDoS Protection ›
Stop multi-vector DDoS attacks with SaaS mitigation across distributed environments
Lightweight protection against Layer 7 DoS and DDoS attacks from F5 NGINX
Detect and mitigate DoS/DDoS with high-performance controls on-prem or with BIG-IP VE
Financial services data is among the most valuable targets for cybercriminals. As banks adopt AI and expand digital services, applications and APIs have become prime attack surfaces - putting sensitive data, customer trust, and regulatory compliance at risk.
F5 delivers AI‑powered application and API security for financial services, protecting banking workloads across on‑premises, hybrid, and multicloud environments. By embedding security directly into the CI/CD pipeline, F5 helps financial institutions prevent exploits before they lead to fraud, account takeovers, regulatory fines, service outages, or reputational damage.
REPORT
Practical WAAP controls and the KPIs based on insights from BFSI security leaders
CASE STUDY
Achieved 100% API visibility and reduced time spent managing distributed environments by 75%
CASE STUDY
F5 helped customer to transition to a cloud-first strategy with enhanced SaaS based security
AI is transforming healthcare, but rapidly expanding applications and APIs are increasing security risk. As cyberattacks rise, healthcare organizations must go beyond compliance to protect patient data, ensure system availability, and support innovation.
F5 Web Application and API Protection (WAAP) secures healthcare apps and APIs across on‑premises, hybrid, and multicloud environments. F5 helps providers support HIPAA, HITECH, and PCI‑DSS requirements while defending against exploits, business logic abuse, ransomware, and denial‑of‑service attacks—protecting patient trust without slowing innovation.
BLOG
Learn how healthcare organizations are defending against ransomware threats
CASE STUDY
F5 provides multi-cloud security and protects the healthcare ecosystem from latest cyber threats
PARTNER SOLUTION
Improve EMR security and reduce impacts to patient care caused by vulnerabilities and breaches
CASE STUDY
F5 helped customer reduce malicious traffic by 40% and improved threat visibility and overall security
As government agencies adopt AI, cloud, and digital services, application and API security is essential to protecting sensitive data and maintaining public trust. Expanding attack surfaces, legacy systems, and evolving threats demand more than basic security.
F5 Web Application and API Protection (WAAP) secures applications and APIs across on‑premises, hybrid, and multicloud environments. With zero trust foundations and AI‑driven proactive security controls that support FISMA, CJIS, and NIST SP 800‑53 requirements, F5 defends apps and APIs against exploits, API abuse, denial‑of‑service attacks, and data exfiltration ensuring mission continuity.
WHITE PAPER
A robust framework to enhance security, compliance and risk management across federal agencies.
CASE STUDY
F5 helped customer to mitigate single- cloud provider dependancy with consistent security
SOLUTION
Comprehensive set of application security solutions to protect agency data
As cybercriminals use AI to accelerate and scale attacks, omnichannel retail applications and APIs face constant risk—from vulnerability exploits and business logic abuse to client‑side threats and automated attacks that target eCommerce web apps, mobile apps, and backend APIs.
F5 Web Application and API Protection (WAAP) delivers a unified security platform across the data center, cloud, and edge. With integrated, human‑assisted AI bot management, F5 helps retailers stop account takeover, credential stuffing, fraud, and data breaches, keeping customer data safe and eCommerce workflows resilient without disrupting customer experiences or slowing innovation.
BLOG
PCI DSS Is the Baseline. eCommerce providers should consider unified security platforms
REPORT
Forrester Consulting evaluated challenges, TCO, and ROI for F5 Distributed Cloud Bot Defense with 5 retail customers
CASE STUDY
F5 helped customer to ensure applications are always available and always secure
CASE STUDY
F5 prevents site outages and prevents revenue loss
SOLUTION OVERVIEW
SOLUTION OVERVIEW
WAAP is a converged approach to active application protection with WAF at its core, plus API security, bot management, and DDoS mitigation in an integrated solution. A traditional WAF primarily focuses on application-level vulnerability exploit mitigation (for example, injection attacks and application-layer DoS). WAAP expands coverage to include API discovery, detection, and protection, automated threat mitigation (bots and automated attacks), and resilience against DDoS attacks. WAAP helps reduce security gaps and operational overhead versus managing separate point products.
Credential stuffing and account takeover attempts are often automated. Effective defenses combine detection, risk scoring, and actions that minimize user friction for legitimate users. Bot defenses can distinguish human-based attacks from automated attacks using multiple signals (client, device, browser, identity, and behavior) and apply adaptive mitigation. Within F5’s ADSP, bot mitigation and defense integrates across environments (including BIG-IP and NGINX), using telemetry and analytics to adapt as attackers change tactics.
Visibility is the key starting point for maintaining a secure API inventory. With greater visibility, you can identify known, unknown, and shadow APIs, enabling more effective validation and protection using a combination of WAF and API security controls (schema- or definition-based validation wherever possible, plus behavioral monitoring and anomaly detection). Holistic security ensures applying consistent policies across hybrid multicloud deployments, making monitoring sensitive data exposure and misconfigurations easier, and providing greater control in setting usage thresholds to reduce abuse and DoS risk. Centralized management and integrated monitoring help avoid gaps created by tool sprawl.
BOLA (Broken Object Level Authorization) is an API-specific threat where attackers leverage unauthorized access to objects. WAAP addresses this by combining WAF enforcement with deeper API security: Discovery/inventory of endpoints, continuous traffic monitoring, behavioral analysis, and anomaly detection to identify misuse, abuse, and access violations. WAAP also helps reduce blind spots where API-to-API traffic may not cross a traditional perimeter WAF, ensuring consistent runtime protection across interfaces and environments.
Look for an integrated platform that includes the four core capabilities: WAF, API protection, bot mitigation, and DDoS mitigation. Key capabilities to look for include: strong API discovery and posture visibility, behavioral anomaly detection, bot defenses that use multiple signals (not just CAPTCHA), options to deploy as SaaS and still support on-prem needs, centralized management and reporting, low-latency inline enforcement, and operational features that reduce false positives and alert fatigue (for example, analytics and AI/ML-assisted prioritization).
