AWS WAF Simplifies Security Logging with New Free Vended Logs
Seattle, WA – September 8, 2025 – Amazon Web Services (AWS) today announced a significant enhancement to its Web Application Firewall (WAF) service, introducing free WAF Vended Logs based on request volume. This new offering promises to streamline security monitoring and analysis for AWS WAF users, providing valuable insights into web traffic patterns and potential threats without incurring additional logging costs.
Previously, capturing detailed WAF logs often involved additional configuration and potential cost considerations, particularly for high-traffic applications. This new feature directly addresses that concern by integrating a free logging option that scales with the volume of requests processed by AWS WAF. This move underscores AWS’s commitment to making robust security solutions more accessible and cost-effective for businesses of all sizes.
The newly introduced Vended Logs will provide comprehensive information about the requests that AWS WAF inspects. This includes details such as:
- Request Headers: Essential information about the originating request, including user-agent, referrer, and content type.
- Request Body (if applicable and configured): For certain types of rules, the body of the request can be logged, offering deeper context for analysis.
- IP Address of the Requester: Crucial for identifying the source of traffic, whether legitimate or malicious.
- Timestamp of the Request: Allows for precise tracking and correlation of events.
- Rule Actions Taken: Information on whether a request was allowed, blocked, or flagged by specific WAF rules.
- Rule Details: Insights into which specific WAF rules were triggered, aiding in understanding the security posture.
- Geo-location Data: Helps in identifying traffic originating from specific geographical regions.
The “based on request volume” aspect signifies that the logging capability is now intrinsically linked to the WAF service itself, rather than being a separate, potentially costly add-on. This means that as your application experiences more traffic, AWS WAF will automatically log these requests, ensuring that your security visibility grows alongside your usage. This tiered approach simplifies budgeting and removes the guesswork typically associated with log management costs for security events.
This announcement is particularly welcome for organizations that rely on AWS WAF to protect their web applications from common exploits like SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and other web-based attacks. The availability of free, detailed logs will empower security teams and developers to:
- Enhance Threat Detection: By analyzing log data, security personnel can identify suspicious patterns and emerging threats more effectively.
- Improve Incident Response: Detailed logs provide the necessary context to quickly understand the nature and scope of security incidents, facilitating faster and more efficient remediation.
- Optimize WAF Rule Configurations: Insights from log analysis can help fine-tune WAF rules, reducing false positives and ensuring that legitimate traffic is not inadvertently blocked.
- Conduct Security Audits: Comprehensive logs serve as a valuable resource for internal and external security audits, demonstrating compliance and security best practices.
- Understand Application Behavior: Beyond security, the logs can also offer valuable insights into how applications are being accessed and used.
AWS WAF Vended Logs are designed to be easily integrated with other AWS services for further analysis and visualization. This includes services like Amazon CloudWatch for real-time monitoring and alerting, Amazon S3 for long-term storage and archival, and Amazon Athena for interactive querying of log data. This seamless integration allows for the creation of powerful, end-to-end security monitoring solutions.
The introduction of free WAF Vended Logs based on request volume represents a significant step forward in making advanced web application security more accessible. By removing a key cost barrier and simplifying log management, AWS is enabling more customers to leverage the full power of AWS WAF for robust protection of their digital assets. This update is effective immediately, and customers can begin utilizing these enhanced logging capabilities to bolster their security posture.
AWS WAF now includes free WAF Vended Logs based on request volume
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Amazon published ‘AWS WAF now includes free WAF Vended Logs based on request volume’ at 2025-09-08 15:27. Please write a detailed article about this news in a polite tone with relevant information. Please reply in English with the article only.