open-appsec

What open-appsec is

open-appsec is an open-source web application and API security solution that uses machine learning to analyze HTTP/S requests and block malicious activity. Its web application firewall aims to protect against OWASP Top 10 and zero-day attacks without requiring threat signature updates. API protection against malicious payloads is available in all editions, while OpenAPI schema enforcement is a Premium feature. Community Edition rate limiting can use IP addresses; Premium can also apply limits using keys in JWTs, cookies, or headers.

The agent can be deployed on Kubernetes, Linux, or Docker and integrated with supported servers and gateways. Documented integrations include NGINX, NGINX Ingress, Kong, APISIX, Envoy, Istio, NGINX Proxy Manager, NPMplus, and Docker SWAG. Declarative configuration options include Helm, Kubernetes annotations, Terraform, and a GraphQL API. Security processing takes place locally, keeping sensitive data in the protected environment and making traffic processing independent of third-party uptime. Agents communicate with the maker's Fog service over encrypted HTTP/TLS on port 443, with OAuth 2.0 authentication and a 256-bit key for one-time registration. Premium adds anti-bot protection, file security, and IPS protection for more than 2,800 web CVEs. The site identifies Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. as the operator.

Who it suits

open-appsec suits teams protecting web applications and APIs that want machine-learning-based request inspection and local security processing. It may also suit teams deploying through Kubernetes, Linux, or Docker and configuring protection declaratively.

Limits

The free Community Edition can rate-limit by IP address; key-based limiting using JWTs, cookies, or headers is a Premium feature. Premium subscriptions have monthly request allowances: 10M for yearly, 5M for quarterly, and 1M for monthly, with additional-request charges for each plan.

Getting started

1. Visit https://www.openappsec.io/.
2. Choose the Community Edition or a Premium subscription.
3. Deploy the agent on Kubernetes, Linux, or Docker.
4. Integrate it with a supported web server or gateway.
5. Configure management through Helm, Kubernetes annotations, Terraform, or the GraphQL API.

Verdict

Choose open-appsec if you need open-source web and API protection with local traffic processing and deployment options across Kubernetes, Linux, or Docker. Look to Premium if you need OpenAPI schema enforcement, broader rate-limit key options, anti-bot protection, file security, or IPS protection.