App & API Protector: WAAP for modern apps and APIs
Akamai App & API Protector is a cloud-based web application and API protection (WAAP) solution that brings WAF, API security, bot mitigation, and Layer 7 DDoS defenses together with automation and adaptive intelligence. It’s built to secure complex, microservices-driven applications across edge, hybrid cloud, and multi-CDN environments — with less effort and overhead.
WAAP protects web apps and APIs from increasingly sophisticated attacks by inspecting and acting on HTTP/S traffic at the edge. For microservices-based architectures, it helps by:
- Discovering and profiling known and unknown APIs as services evolve, then enforcing constraints and protections automatically.
- Applying granular policies per hostname, path, or API with precise scoping (match targets and multiple security policies) to fit each service.
- Extending consistent protections beyond the CDN with App & API Protector Hybrid for on‑prem, Kubernetes, and multicloud ingress/egress.
Learn. An Adaptive Security Engine continuously analyzes traffic, learns patterns, and assigns request-level threat scores.
Defend. Every request is inspected in real time to stop web app and API attacks, malicious bots, and L7 DDoS.
Strengthen. A Behavioral DDoS Engine automatically detects and mitigates sophisticated application-layer attacks.
Simplify. Auto-updating rules, self-tuning recommendations, and automatic API discovery reduce manual effort and false positives.
SecureIQLab tested leading cloud WAAP solutions against 1,360+ threats; Akamai outperformed AWS, Cloudflare, and Microsoft in that evaluation. Download the comparative report.
Key capabilities
Adaptive protections and managed updates, including zero-day and CVE coverage, with policy-by-policy self-tuning.
Web app firewall plus L7 DDoS defense, built-in bot controls, automatic API discovery, and sensitive data protection in one solution.
DevOps-friendly operations via UI, APIs, Akamai CLI, and a Terraform provider for CI/CD.
Hybrid deployment to extend protections off the edge into on‑prem, hybrid cloud, and multi‑CDN environments.
SIEM integration and data export with connectors (including Splunk) for investigation and compliance reporting.
Optional managed services and expert assistance that scale to your team’s needs.
Edge WAAP. Terminate TLS and enforce protections at the Akamai edge to absorb attacks before they reach origin.
Hybrid WAAP. Use App & API Protector Hybrid to run consistent WAF/WAAP controls wherever apps live — on‑prem, across clouds, and in multi‑CDN footprints.
Policy building blocks. Use security configurations, shared resources (network lists, rate policies), security policies, and match targets to scope protections per app, API, business unit, or region.
Staged rollouts. Activate on staging first; then production with versioned configurations for safe change control and rollback.
Observability. Stream logs/telemetry to your SIEM and monitoring stack for threat hunting and incident response.
Reference architecture with zero-trust and compliance constraints
Edge and origin protection
App & API Protector at the edge for WAAP and L7 DDoS.
App & API Protector Hybrid for in‑cluster or on‑prem enforcement where edge termination isn’t feasible.
Identity and transport controls
Enforce TLS and optional mTLS at ingress; apply API authentication/authorization at gateways and services.
Least-privilege and segmentation
Scope policies to specific hostnames, paths, and APIs; combine with network lists and rate policies to reduce attack surface.
Monitoring and auditing
Stream security events to your SIEM for correlation, retention, and audit trails.
Compliance alignment
Use WAAP controls (WAF rules, bot mitigation, DDoS defense, sensitive data protection, logging) to support regulatory obligations for data protection, monitoring, and incident response.
Use this checklist when assessing WAAP solutions:
- Security efficacy
- Adaptive detection and managed updates
- Protection for OWASP Top 10 and OWASP API Top 10
- L7 DDoS behavioral defenses and bot mitigation
- Automatic API discovery and enforcement
- Operations and scale
- Self-tuning with actionable recommendations
- Versioning, staging, and rollback
- Hybrid/on‑prem and multicloud consistency
- DevOps integrations (APIs, CLI, Terraform)
- SIEM connectors and data export
- Performance and reliability
- Global edge footprint and low-latency processing
- SLA-backed availability and surge absorption
- Governance and support
- Role-based change control, audit logging
- Managed/co-managed options and expert services
- Total cost and consolidation
- Ability to reduce point tools (WAF, DDoS, bot, API security) while improving outcomes
Track KPIs:
- False positive rate and 95th/99th percentile decision latency
- Mean time to detect/mitigate attacks (MTTD/MTTM)
- API coverage (discovered vs. registered), policy drift, and configuration debt
- Availability and origin offload during large events
- Incident volume and alert fatigue trends (pre/post self-tuning)
Operational playbook for policies and SLOs
Baseline
Start with recommended presets in Alert mode.
Monitor traffic and attack analytics for 2–4 weeks.
Scope and segment
Create security policies per app/API path. Use match targets for precise scoping.
Managed updates and adaptive detections address zero-days, CVEs, and OWASP Top 10 risks. Self-tuning cuts false positives and keeps policies current. API-specific controls enforce schema and request constraints to reduce API abuse.
Is there added latency or performance impact?
App & API Protector runs on Akamai’s highly distributed edge and is designed so impact should not be perceptible to users.
How does it defend against advanced Layer 7 DDoS?
A Behavioral DDoS Engine detects application-layer anomalies in real time and mitigates automatically, while edge scale absorbs surges before they reach origin.
Can it integrate with my SIEM and security tools?
Yes. There are SIEM connectors (including Splunk) and data export options for investigation, detection, and forensics. You can also automate via APIs, CLI, and Terraform.
Can it support hybrid and multi‑cloud?
Yes. App & API Protector Hybrid extends protections off the edge to on‑prem, multicloud, and multi‑CDN environments with consistent policies.
Akamai vs. Cloudflare and Salt Security: what to consider
Scope of protection
App & API Protector is a unified WAAP with WAF, bot mitigation, L7 DDoS, and API security in one platform, with optional Hybrid deployment off the edge.
Salt Security focuses on API security. If you need full WAAP plus API discovery/protection and consistent hybrid enforcement, compare breadth and integration depth.
Hybrid and multicloud
Evaluate how each vendor enforces consistent policies across edge, on‑prem, and multicloud, and what operational tooling (versioning, staged activation, self-tuning) is available.
Independent testing and operations
Consider third‑party efficacy testing and operational fit. SecureIQLab’s latest comparison found Akamai a top performer among leading cloud WAAPs. Validate results against your traffic with a trial or bake‑off.
If you’d like a neutral scorecard to run a bake‑off, use the checklist and KPIs above.