Background
A mid-sized online business approached Securitribe with concerns about their website security. They had recently conducted a security scan using Qualys and received a low security rating. This not only put their business at risk but also impacted customer trust and compliance obligations. With cyber threats evolving rapidly, the company needed a proactive security enhancement plan.
Challenges
- Weak Security Posture: The initial Qualys scan revealed multiple vulnerabilities, including misconfigured security headers, outdated encryption settings, and lack of robust bot protection.
- Frequent False Positives & Attacks: The website was experiencing high volumes of bot traffic, including credential stuffing and scraping attempts.
- Compliance Risks: The business required a stronger security posture to meet industry standards and protect customer data.
Securitribe’s Approach
To address these challenges, Securitribe developed a structured security improvement plan that focused on:
Implementing Cloudflare Web Application Firewall (WAF)
We integrated Cloudflare’s WAF to provide real-time threat mitigation against OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities, including SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS). Key configurations included:
- Fine-tuning firewall rules to block malicious traffic while avoiding disruptions to legitimate users.
- Enabling rate limiting to prevent brute force and automated bot attacks.
- Blocking bad bots and known malicious IPs to reduce security risks.
Security Header Hardening
Many of the website’s vulnerabilities stemmed from improper HTTP security headers. We implemented the following:
- Strict-Transport-Security (HSTS): Ensuring all traffic is forced over HTTPS.
- Content Security Policy (CSP): Mitigating the risk of XSS attacks by restricting allowed content sources.
- X-Frame-Options: Preventing clickjacking attacks.
TLS and Encryption Enhancements
We enforced modern encryption standards to strengthen communication security:
- Upgraded to TLS 1.3 for faster and more secure encryption.
- Enabled Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS) to prevent encrypted data interception.
Application-Level Security Audits
Beyond infrastructure security, we reviewed the website’s application code and CMS settings to:
- Patch vulnerabilities in third-party plugins and frameworks.
- Enforce secure authentication mechanisms.
- Restrict administrative access to trusted IPs only.
Results
Following Securitribe’s interventions, the website’s security posture dramatically improved:
- Qualys Security Rating Improvement: Increased from C to A+.
- Reduction in Attack Traffic: Blocked over 95% of malicious bot requests.
- Improved Website Performance: Cloudflare’s CDN and caching optimizations led to a 20% faster load time.
- Regulatory Compliance Alignment: Security enhancements ensured compliance with data protection frameworks, enhancing customer trust.
Customer Testimonial
“Before working with Securitribe, we struggled with constant security concerns and a poor rating on Qualys. Their expert guidance and strategic implementation of Cloudflare WAF and other enhancements completely transformed our security posture. We now feel confident in our website’s resilience against cyber threats.”
Conclusion
This case study highlights how a structured, security-first approach can drastically improve website security. By leveraging Cloudflare’s WAF, fine-tuning security configurations, and strengthening encryption, Securitribe successfully helped the customer achieve a significantly stronger security standing.
If your business is facing similar challenges, contact Securitribe today to enhance your website security and protect your digital assets.
