Keyloggers are hardware or software that record keyboard input by capturing all keystrokes typed on a keyboard, including usernames and passwords. Keyloggers can be used for helpful, legal reasons, or cause harm when used by malicious actors. In this article, we explain what keyloggers are and how they work, how to detect keylogger activity, and how to remove keyloggers. You’ll also learn personal and enterprise-level protective measures against malicious keyloggers.
What Are Keyloggers?
Keyloggers, also known as keystroke loggers or keyboard capturers, are specialized hardware or software that capture keyboard input in real time. They capture all keystrokes typed on a keyboard. This includes sensitive information such as usernames and passwords. Keyloggers can even record keystrokes from hardware and on-screen keyboards including numerical keys and special characters.
Individuals, businesses, and governments utilize keyloggers for various purposes, both legitimate and malicious. Parents employ keyloggers to monitor their children’s online activities, safeguarding them from potential dangers and tracking interactions on platforms like WhatsApp, call logs, and even their location. Businesses use keyloggers to enhance productivity by monitoring employee behavior, especially in remote work contexts, ensuring adherence to policies like cybersecurity and data leak prevention. Government agencies may deploy keyloggers for intelligence and cybersecurity, with law enforcement using them for surveillance and fraud prevention—although unauthorized keylogging without consent or a valid warrant is often considered unethical and possibly illegal.
How Keyloggers Work
Captured keystrokes are typically stored in a specific file or location called a keylog, and then transmitted as a logfile. This logfile provides a detailed record of the online and offline activities performed on the affected device, organized and formatted in a way that enables analysis or further action by whoever is overseeing the keylogging.
The information collected by keyloggers can include websites visited, as well as sensitive data like usernames, passwords, PINs, and credit card details that were entered on those websites. Keyloggers can also be configured to capture mouse clicks, microphone inputs, webcam or screen captures, network and Wi-Fi information, system details, clipboard contents, browser history, search engine queries, and instant messaging conversations.
Types of Keyloggers: Hardware and Software
There are two primary types of keyloggers: hardware keyloggers and software keyloggers. Hardware Keyloggers are physical devices used to record keystrokes. They come in various forms, shapes, and sizes, and are connected between the keyboard and the computer’s CPU. Some hardware keyloggers can even be built into keyboards or hardware circuitry. Physical access to the target device is usually required to install and retrieve hardware keyloggers. Wireless keyloggers are an exception to this rule, as they can transmit the captured log files wirelessly to a remote location.
Software keyloggers are software programs designed to record and monitor keyboard inputs. They can be installed by the user intentionally, added by third parties (including attackers,) or unknowingly installed as a result of downloading malware or spyware from malicious websites. Software keyloggers are generally easier to install compared to hardware keyloggers, and can be more challenging to detect or remove. Some software keyloggers, known as kernel-based keyloggers, operate at the core level of the operating system, making them particularly challenging to identify and eliminate as they can hide in root folders.
| Criteria | Hardware keyloggers | Software keyloggers |
| Installation | Physically installed either between a computer’s keyboard and the PS/2 or USB port, or within keyboard circuitry | Installed by user or third party physically, or in some malicious cases installed remotely via email attachments, downloads, or compromised websites |
| Execution | Plug and play, no executable software required, independent of the operating system, and non-detectable | Runs in the background without user knowledge, may disguise itself as a legitimate process or implement rootkit functionality to evade detection |
| Logging | Captures keystrokes in real time by intercepting electrical signals sent from the keyboard to the computer | Captures keystrokes in real time by intercepting electrical signals sent from the keyboard to the computer |
| Storage | Captured keystrokes are stored within the keylogger’s built-in memory or removable SD card; some storage devices can store millions of keystrokes | Captured keystrokes may be encrypted and temporarily stored as keylogs/logfiles on the infected computer’s storage or in a hidden location before transmission |
| Timestamping | Software keyloggers may incorporate timestamping functionality on keylogs | Software keyloggers may incorporate timestamping functionality on keylogs |
| Encryption | Rarely used, but a password is required to access logfiles after retrieval of keylogger; wireless hardware keylogger memory may be protected by hardware encryption | Logs may be compressed and encrypted to improve transmission privacy, efficiency, and frequency |
| Retrieval | Often requires physical access to the victim’s device to retrieve the keylogger, except for wireless hardware keyloggers | Physical access to affected computer is not required for retrieval of keylogger and keylogs or logfiles |
| Transmission/Exfiltration | Wireless hardware keyloggers act as Wi-Fi hotspots and can live-transmit keystroke data wirelessly or via email | Keystroke data is transmitted via email or uploaded to remote FTP server |
| Analysis | Operator/attacker analyzes keylogs/logfiles for specific data | Operator/attacker analyzes keylogs/logfiles for specific data |
How Are Keyloggers Used?
Keyloggers are used by their operators to look for specific information in the data collected. Operators sift through the data looking for information that serves their specific purpose, whether benign or malicious.
Keylogger Use by Malicious Attackers
For a malicious attacker, the primary objective is to harvest sensitive information from the captured keylogs. This may include usernames, passwords, credit card details, and PINs. Armed with this information, attackers can carry out identity theft, make unauthorized financial transactions, or gain unauthorized access to various accounts and systems. They might target online banking accounts, email accounts, or social media profiles—any platform that requires login credentials. The use of keyloggers for malicious purposes is illegal and unethical.
Keylogger Use by Benign Operators
In a legitimate context, keylog data may be used by employers to ensure employee compliance with company policies, analyzing the sites visited, time spent on websites, browser history, and application usage. This information helps employers gauge productivity, adherence to cybersecurity policies, and adherence to work-related tasks. It is most commonly used for remote workers, when there is no physical oversight of the employee. Keylogger use in a legitimate context should be transparent, legal, and respect the privacy and rights of individuals being monitored.
How to Detect Keyloggers
Learning how to detect keyloggers is a crucial step in preventing potential damage from keylogging attacks. If legitimate keylogging is in place, you should have been informed about it and it should not cause the red flags mentioned in this section. These detection procedures are intended for malicious keyloggers.
Hardware keyloggers are easiest to detect by simple physical inspection of keyboard circuitry or USB and PS/2 ports. Pay particular attention to hardware additions on the computer, such as unknown memory sticks/dongles.
Some software keyloggers, especially those with rootkit functionality, can be challenging to detect. A powerful antivirus scan can discover keyloggers or other malware. You can also use command line (CMD) prompts or perform a quick scan on Windows to check for software loggers. Go to Windows key > Settings > Update and Security > Windows Security > Virus and threat protection > Quick scan.
In addition, the following computer behaviors can help to alert you to possible software keylogger activity regardless of your operating system.
1. Unknown programs: If you don’t recognize or remember installing a program/software/app that is on your device, it could be a keylogger installed without your knowledge.
2. Slow performance: Keylogger activity in the background may result in abnormally slow performance. Check background processes on Windows Task Manager (Windows) or Activity Monitor (macOS.)
3. Constant crashes: You may experience frequent freezes and programs crashing unexpectedly if keylogger software is in use.
4. Unusual keyboard behavior: Watch out for unusual keyboard behaviors such as automatic typing or mistyping. Though this can be caused by incorrect keyboard layout, Num Lock, outdated drivers, or a faulty keyboard—but such actions can also be caused by keyloggers.
5. Pop-ups and site redirects: Annoying pop-ups and site redirects can be indicative of either keylogging attacks or adware activity.
6. Changed browser settings: A browser-based keylogger from malicious sites can change your browser settings. These attacks use CSS scripts, Man-In-The-Browser (MITB) attacks, or web-form-based keyloggers.
7. Strange log-in notifications: Strange log-in notifications may be the result of a hacker who has obtained your login credentials via keylogging and is attempting to access your account.
8. Unsolicited authentication prompts: Unexpected or unsolicited one-time passwords (OTPs) and two-factor authentication (2FA) prompts can indicate that a threat actor has accessed your credentials using a keylogger.
9. Unknown online activity: If you log in to an online service and notice unknown activity or changed settings, someone may have accessed your account using data gathered by a keylogger.
10. Unusual network traffic: In some cases, unusual network activity may also be indicative of keylogger presence. This can usually be spotted via network traffic monitoring.
Combining several of these keylogger detection techniques maximizes the likelihood of detecting malicious keylogger activity. The next step is to put a stop to keylogging by removing the keylogger.
How to Remove Keyloggers
Once keyloggers have been detected, it is recommended to immediately take the following countermeasures to protect your business and prevent future keylogging attacks.
Physical Intervention
Remove any unknown devices from the computer, such as a USB dongle or memory stick, especially those near the keyboard. If you suspect keylogging hardware, it’s best to have a technician disassemble the keyboard and check for embedded hardware keyloggers, especially if no external devices are visible and other responses, outlined below, have been exhausted. This gives you the best chance of uncovering any malicious devices without damaging your computer.
Uninstall Unknown Programs
Remove programs, software, or apps that you don’t recognize or don’t remember installing. You may first want to use a search engine to check if those programs, software, or apps are legitimate software that you downloaded but are not in use.
To uninstall an app on Windows, press Windows key > Settings > Apps > select app > Uninstall.
To uninstall a program on Windows via the control panel, go to Control Panel > Programs > Uninstall a program > right-click program > Uninstall.
Use Task Manager
If a known keylogger app or program doesn’t reflect on your apps or programs list, it could mean that the app is hidden. Keyloggers with rootkit functionality operate this way. In such instances, the Task Manager can be helpful in locating and removing the keylogger.
To find and remove a keylogger using the Windows Task Manager app, right-click on the taskbar to go to Task Manager or press Ctrl + Shift + Esc. Then, locate the keylogger by name, logo, or icon and right-click. This can be difficult as most keyloggers will disguise their real names. Double check app legitimacy via a search engine or ask IT personnel for clarification.
From the menu options, click Open file location. Locate and double-click the application file marked Setup/Uninstall. You can locate the particular application file by hovering your mouse pointer over all files labeled Application. When dealing with unknown files in the Windows Program folder exercise caution and double check with a simple online search.
Click Yes to grant administrative permission to make changes, then click Yes to uninstall. This will completely remove the keylogger from your computer.
Clear Temporary Files
Keyloggers can hide in your temporary files folder. Temporary files are created to temporarily store information and free memory for other tasks. They’re also safety nets that prevent data loss when programs run. It is also important to clear temporary files on mobile devices.
To clear temporary files on Windows, press Windows key > Settings > System > Storage > Temporary files > select files > Remove files.
Restore Default Browser Settings
Browser-based keyloggers can be removed by restoring default browser settings. It is also important to restore the browser’s default settings on mobile devices if keylogger activity is suspected.
Reset Computer
You can reset your computer to a point (date and time) before the keylogger infection. This action will give you a fresh start, but will remove most of your apps, pre-installed desktop apps, antivirus software, digital licenses, and associated digital content. It is essential to ensure that important files and programs are backed up before resetting—and to be certain that a keylogger is not disguised as one of these.
To reset your Windows computer, press Windows key > Settings > Update and security > Recovery > Reset this PC > Get started > Keep my files or Remove everything.
Use Windows Security
The most popular operating systems, Windows and macOS, offer some level of threat protection. For instance, Windows Security (Defender) can scan your PC and remove viruses and other threats such as keyloggers. This is one of the best free antivirus programs.
To remove keyloggers using Windows Security, press the Windows key > Settings > Update and Security > Windows Security > Virus and threat protection > Scan options > Full scan > Scan now. Then, remove any keyloggers or malware that is found.
Enable Microsoft Defender Offline Scan
Microsoft Defender Offline Scan scans your PC for malicious software such as keyloggers and automatically removes them even when you’re offline. It is quick and easy to set up.
To enable Microsoft Defender Offline Scan, press the Windows key > Settings > Update and Security > Windows Security > Virus and threat protection > Scan options > Microsoft Defender Offline Scan > Scan now.
Use Dedicated Antivirus/Spyware Remover
If all else fails, a dedicated and robust antivirus or spyware removal tool can help to remove keyloggers from your device. There are many options to choose from. Some of the most popular include Bitdefender, Kaspersky, Norton, and McAfee.
How to Protect Yourself From Keyloggers
As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Proactively preventing keylogger infection is much easier than removing keyloggers. Consider taking the following steps to protect yourself from keylogging attacks.
| Action | Description |
| Stay informed | Understand and stay up to date on keyloggers, their characteristics, the ways they operate, symptoms of keylogger attacks, and necessary countermeasures. |
| Monitor devices | Never leave personal or company-issued devices unattended or in places where unauthorized persons can access them and introduce keyloggers. |
| Move devices away from CCTV | Move devices away from CCTV, as threat actors can replay footage to capture keyboard input or keystroke patterns entered by users. |
| Lock devices | Lock your devices when not in use. Set up a PIN/password and minimize Sleep/Hibernate intervals. |
| Supervise contractors | Always supervise external IT contractors who have access to your company’s IT infrastructure to prevent malicious actors from installing keyloggers. |
| Inspect hardware | Routinely inspect your devices for hardware keyloggers, paying attention to USB-PS/2 ports and keyboard internals. |
| Download with caution | Most software keyloggers are contracted through malicious downloads. Avoid cracked or pirated software. Only download software or files from trusted sources. |
| Beware of email links and attachments | Email links and attachments from unknown sources are red flags, they can contain keyloggers. Double-check suspicious messages from known contacts to eliminate phishing, spear-phishing, or impersonation. |
| Use ad blockers and pop-up blockers | Ad-blockers and pop-up blockers do not directly prevent keylogging. However, they can block malicious scripts and prevent site redirects to malicious websites distributing keyloggers. |
| Try keystroke encryption | Keystroke encryption prevents keyboard inputs from being intercepted by keyloggers. It encrypts keystrokes with a military-grade cryptographic algorithm that can only be decrypted by the operating system or the receiving application. |
| Use auto-fill | Enable auto-fill in your browser settings so web forms fill automatically with a single click, without typing or tapping the keyboard. |
| Practice good password hygiene | Use password managers to skip typing usernames and passwords for keyloggers to steal, but be wary of browser extension versions. Do not reuse or repeat passwords, and update your passwords regularly to invalidate any stolen passwords. |
| Enable authentication and log-in alerts | Enable two-factor authentication (2FA), one-time passwords (OTP) and log-in alerts. They can alert you to unauthorized access by hackers using details obtained via keylogging. |
| Update operating system | Regularly updating your operating system, software, apps, and programs patches vulnerabilities protecting you from existing, evolving, and emerging threats, including keylogging. |
| Enable Virus and threat protection in Windows | Press Windows key > Settings > Update and Security > Windows Security > Virus and threat protection > Virus and threat protection settings > Manage settings, then turn on real-time protection, cloud-delivered protection, automatic sample submission, and tamper protection. |
| Use strong antivirus | A robust antivirus, anti-keylogger, or anti-spyware can detect, remove, and protect against most keyloggers. |
Protect Yourself With Gcore’s Web Application Security
Gcore protects against zero-day attacks and the OWASP Top 10. Zero-day attacks exploit previously unknown software vulnerabilities that may be used to deliver malware such as keyloggers. The same applies to OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities, such as injecting or cross-site scripting.
Gcore’s advanced Web Application Security solution utilizes machine learning and real-time monitoring to scan and filter incoming traffic. It protects your assets against zero-day attacks and OWASP Top 10 attacks that can be used by attackers to deliver malware which may contain keyloggers.
Conclusion
When used ethically, as in parental or employee monitoring, keyloggers can be helpful. However, when used maliciously to steal sensitive data, keylogging attacks represent a major vulnerability, especially for enterprises that enable remote work from a range of devices. You can take steps to protect against and remove keyloggers yourself, but sometimes extra help is required.
With Gcore’s Web Application Security solution, your critical assets are protected against all forms of OWASP Top 10 and zero-day attacks that can be exploited to deliver malware which may include keyloggers.
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Flexible DDoS mitigation with BGP Flowspec
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Securing AI from the ground up: defense across the lifecycle
As more AI workloads shift to the edge for lower latency and localized processing, the attack surface expands. Defending a data center is old news. Now, you’re securing distributed training pipelines, mobile inference APIs, and storage environments that may operate independently of centralized infrastructure, especially in edge or federated learning contexts. Every stage introduces unique risks. 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These attacks don’t break training, they bend it.A poisoned model may appear functional, but behaves unpredictably, embeds logic triggers, or amplifies harmful bias. The impact is serious later in the AI workflow: compromised outputs, unexpected behavior, or regulatory non-compliance…not due to drift, but due to training-time manipulation.How to protect itValidate datasets with schema checks, label audits, and outlier detection.Version, sign, and hash all training data to verify integrity and trace changes.Apply RBAC and identity-aware proxies (like OPA or SPIFFE) to limit who can alter or inject data.Use adversarial training to improve model robustness against manipulated inputs.Development and testing: guard the logicOnce you’ve got a trained model, the next challenge is protecting the logic itself: what it knows and how it works. The goal here is to make attacks economically unfeasible.Why it mattersModels encode proprietary logic. When exposed via poorly secured APIs or unprotected inference endpoints, they’re vulnerable to:Model inversion: Extracting training dataExtraction: Reconstructing logicMembership inference: Revealing whether a datapoint was in trainingHow to protect itApply rate limits, logging, and anomaly detection to monitor usage patterns.Disable model export by default. Only enable with approval and logging.Use quantization, pruning, or graph obfuscation to reduce extractability.Explore output fingerprinting or watermarking to trace unauthorized use in high-value inference scenarios.Run white-box and black-box adversarial evaluations during testing.Integrate these security checks into your CI/CD pipeline as part of your MLOps workflow.Inference: real-time, real riskInference doesn’t get a free pass because it’s fast. Security needs to be just as real-time as the insights your AI delivers.Why it mattersAdversarial attacks exploit the way models generalize. A single pixel change or word swap can flip the classification.When inference powers fraud detection or autonomous systems, a small change can have a big impact.How to protect itSanitize input using JPEG compression, denoising, or frequency filtering.Train on adversarial examples to improve robustness.Enforce authentication and access control for all inference APIs—no open ports.Encrypt inference traffic with TLS. For added privacy, use trusted execution environments (TEEs).For highly sensitive cases, consider homomorphic encryption or SMPC—strong but compute-intensive solutions.Check out our free white paper on inference optimization.Storage and deployment: don’t let your model leakOnce your model’s trained and tested, you’ve still got to deploy and store it securely—often across multiple locations.Why it mattersUnsecured storage is a goldmine for attackers. With access to the model binary, they can reverse-engineer, clone, or rehost your IP.How to protect itStore models on encrypted volumes or within enclaves.Sign and verify builds before deployment.Enforce MFA, RBAC, and immutable logging on deployment pipelines.Monitor for anomalous access patterns—rate, volume, or source-based.Edge strategy: security that moves with your AIAs AI moves to the edge, centralized security breaks down. You need protection that operates as close to the data as your inference does.That’s why we at Gcore integrate protection into AI workflows from start to finish:WAAP and DDoS mitigation at edge nodes—not just centralized DCs.Encrypted transport (TLS 1.3) and in-node processing reduce exposure.Inline detection of API abuse and L7 attacks with auto-mitigation.180+ global PoPs to maintain consistency across regions.AI security is lifecycle securityNo single firewall, model tweak, or security plugin can secure AI workloads in isolation. You need defense in depth: layered, lifecycle-wide protections that work at the data layer, the API surface, and the edge.Ready to secure your AI stack from data to edge inference?Talk to our AI security experts
3 ways to safeguard your website against DDoS attacks—and why it matters
DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attacks are a type of cyberattack in which a hacker overwhelms a server with an excessive number of requests, causing the server to stop functioning correctly and denying access to legitimate users. The volume of these types of attacks is increasing, with a 56% year-on-year rise recorded in late 2024, driven by factors including the growing availability of AI-powered tools, poorly secured IoT devices, and geopolitical tensions worldwide.Fortunately, there are effective ways to defend against DDoS attacks. Because these threats can target different layers of your network, a single tool isn’t enough, and a multi-layered approach is necessary. Businesses need to protect both the website itself and the infrastructure behind it. This article explores the three key security solutions that work together to protect your website—and the costly consequences of failing to prepare.The consequences of not protecting your website against DDoS attacksIf your website isn’t sufficiently protected, DDoS attacks can have severe and far-reaching impacts on your website, business, and reputation. They not only disrupt the user experience but can spiral into complex, costly recovery efforts. Safeguarding your website against DDoS attacks is essential to preventing the following serious outcomes:Downtime: DDoS attacks can exhaust server resources (CPU, RAM, throughput), taking websites offline and making them unavailable to end users.Loss of business/customers: Frustrated users will leave, and many won’t return after failed checkouts or broken sessions.Financial losses: By obstructing online sales, DDoS attacks can cause businesses to suffer substantial loss of revenue.Reputational damage: Websites or businesses that suffer repeated unmitigated DDoS attacks may cause customers to lose trust in them.Loss of SEO rankings: A website could lose its hard-won SEO ranking if it experiences extended downtime due to DDoS attacks.Disaster recovery costs: DDoS disaster recovery costs can escalate quickly, encompassing hardware replacement, software upgrades, and the need to hire external specialists.Solution #1: Implement dedicated DDoS protection to safeguard your infrastructureAdvanced DDoS protection measures are customized solutions designed to protect your servers and infrastructure against DDoS attacks. DDoS protection helps defend against malicious traffic designed to crash servers and interrupt service.Solutions like Gcore DDoS Protection continuously monitor incoming traffic for suspicious patterns, allowing them to automatically detect and mitigate attacks in real time. If your resources are attacked, the system filters out harmful traffic before it reaches your servers. This means that real users can access your website without interruption, even during an attack.For example, a financial services provider could be targeted by cybercriminals attempting to disrupt services with a large-scale volumetric DDoS attack. With dedicated DDoS protection, the provider can automatically detect and filter out malicious traffic before it impacts users. Customers can continue to log in, check balances, and complete transactions, while the system adapts to the evolving nature of the attack in the background, maintaining uninterrupted service.The protection scales with your business needs, automatically adapting to higher traffic loads or more complex attacks. Up-to-date reports and round-the-clock technical support allow you to keep track of your website status at all times.Solution #2: Enable WAAP to protect your websiteGcore WAAP (web application and API protection) is a comprehensive solution that monitors, detects, and mitigates cyber threats, including DDoS layer 7 attacks. WAAP uses AI-driven algorithms to monitor, detect, and mitigate threats in real time, offering an additional layer of defense against sophisticated attackers. Once set up, the system provides powerful tools to create custom rules and set specific triggers. For example, you can specify the conditions under which certain requests should be blocked, such as sudden spikes in API calls or specific malicious patterns common in DDoS attacks.For instance, an e-commerce platform during a major sale like Black Friday could be targeted by bots attempting to flood the site with fake login or checkout requests. WAAP can differentiate between genuine users and malicious bots by analyzing traffic patterns, rate of requests, and attack behaviors. It blocks malicious requests so that real customers can continue to complete transactions without disruption.Solution #3: Connect to a CDN to strengthen defenses furtherA trustworthy content delivery network (CDN) is another valuable addition to your security stack. A CDN is a globally distributed server network that ensures efficient content delivery. CDNs spread traffic across multiple global edge servers, reducing the load on the origin server. During a DDoS attack, a CDN with DDoS protection can protect servers and end users. It filters traffic at the edge, blocking threats before they ever reach your infrastructure. Caching servers within the CDN network then deliver the requested content to legitimate users, preventing network congestion and denial of service to end users.For instance, a gaming company launching a highly anticipated multiplayer title could face a massive surge in traffic as players around the world attempt to download and access the game simultaneously. This critical moment also makes the platform a prime target for DDoS attacks aimed at disrupting the launch. A CDN with integrated DDoS protection can absorb and filter out malicious traffic at the edge before it reaches the core infrastructure. Legitimate players continue to enjoy fast downloads and seamless gameplay, while the origin servers remain stable and protected from overload or downtime.In addition, Super Transit intelligently routes your traffic via Gcore’s 180+ point-of-presence global network, proactively detecting, mitigating, and filtering DDoS attacks. Even mid-attack, users experience seamless access with no interruptions. They also benefit from an enhanced end-user experience, thanks to shorter routes between users and servers that reduce latency.Taking the next steps to protect your websiteDDoS attacks pose significant threats to websites, but a proactive approach is the best way to keep your site online, secure, and resilient. Regardless of your industry or location, it’s crucial to take action to safeguard your website and maintain its uninterrupted availability.Enabling Gcore DDoS protection is a simple and proven way to boost your digital infrastructure’s resiliency against different types of DDoS attacks. Gcore DDoS protection also integrates with other security solutions, including Gcore WAAP, which protects your website and CDNs. These tools work seamlessly together to provide advanced website protection, offering improved security and performance in one intuitive platform.If you’re ready to try Gcore Edge Security, fill in the form below and one of our security experts will be in touch for a personalized consultation.
From reactive to proactive: how AI is transforming WAF cybersecurity solutions
While digital transformation in recent years has driven great innovation, cyber threats have changed in parallel, evolving to target the very applications businesses rely on to thrive. Traditional web application security measures, foundational as they may be, are no longer effective in combating sophisticated attacks in time. Enter the next generation of WAFs (web application firewalls) powered by artificial intelligence.Next-generation WAFs, often incorporated into WAAP solutions, do much more than respond to threats; instead, they will use AI and ML-powered techniques to predict and neutralize threats in real time. This helps businesses to stay ahead of bad actors by securing applications, keeping valuable data safe, and protecting hard-earned brand reputations against ever-present dangers in an expanding digital world.From static to AI-powered web application firewallsTraditional WAFs were relied on to protect web applications against known threats, such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting. They’ve done a great job as the first line of defense, but their reliance on static rules and signature-based detection means they struggle to keep up with today’s fast-evolving cyber threats. To understand in depth why traditional WAFs are no longer sufficient in today’s threat landscape, read our ebook.AI and ML have already revolutionized what a WAF can do. AI/ML-driven WAFs can examine vast streams of traffic data and detect patterns, including new threats, right at the emergence stage. The real-time adaptability that this allows is effective even against zero-day attacks and complex new hacking techniques.How AI-powered WAP proactively stops threatsOne of the most significant advantages of AI/ML-powered WAFs is proactive identification and prevention capabilities. Here's how this works:Traffic pattern analysis: AI systems monitor both incoming and outgoing traffic to set up baselines for normal behavior. This can then allow for the detection of anomalies that could show a zero-day attack or malicious activity.Real-time decision making: Machine learning models keep learning from live traffic and detect suspicious activities on the go sans waiting for any updates in the rule set. This proactive approach ensures that businesses are guarded from emerging threats before they escalate.Heuristic tagging and behavioral insights: Advanced heuristics used by AI-driven systems tag everything from sessionless clients to unusual request frequencies. It helps administrators classify potential bots or automated attacks much faster.Ability to counter zero-day attacks: Traditional WAF solutions can only mitigate attacks that are already in the process of accessing sensitive areas. AI/ML-powered WAFs, on the other hand, can use data to identify and detect patterns indicative of future attacks, stopping attackers in their tracks and preventing future damage.Intelligent policy management: Adaptive WAFs detect suspicious activity and alert users to misconfigured security policies accordingly. They reduce the need for manual configuration while assuring better protection.Integrated defense layers: One of the strongest features of AI/ML-powered systems is the ease with which they integrate other layers of security, including bot protection and DDoS mitigation, into a connected architecture that protects several attack surfaces.User experience and operational impactAI-driven WAFs improve the day-to-day operations of security teams by transforming how they approach threat management. With intuitive dashboards and clearly presented analytics, as offered by Gcore WAAP, these tools empower security professionals to quickly interpret complex data, streamline decision-making, and respond proactively to threats.Instead of manually analyzing vast amounts of traffic data, teams now receive immediate alerts highlighting critical security events, such as abnormal IP behaviors or unusual session activity. Each alert includes actionable recommendations, enabling rapid adjustments to security policies without guesswork or delay.By automating the identification of sophisticated threats such as credential stuffing, scraping, and DDoS attacks, AI-powered solutions significantly reduce manual workloads. Advanced behavioral profiling and heuristic tagging pinpoint genuine threats with high accuracy, allowing security teams to concentrate their efforts where they're most needed.Embracing intelligent security with Gcore’s AI-driven WAAPOur AI-powered WAAP solution provides intelligent, interrelated protection to empower companies to actively outperform even the most sophisticated, ever-changing threats by applying advanced traffic analysis, heuristic tagging, and adaptive learning. With its cross-domain functionality and actionable security insights, this solution stands out as an invaluable tool for both security architects and strategic decision-makers. It combines innovation and practicality to address the needs of modern businesses.Curious to learn more about WAAP? Check out our ebook for cybersecurity best practices, the most common threats to look out for, and how WAAP can safeguard your businesses’ digital assets. Or, get in touch with our team to learn more about Gcore WAAP.Learn why WAAP is essential for modern businesses with a free ebook
How AI helps prevent API attacks
APIs have become an integral part of modern digital infrastructure, and it can be easy to take their security for granted. But, unfortunately, APIs are a popular target for attackers. Hackers can use APIs to access crucial data and services, and breaching APIs allows attackers to bypass traditional security controls.Most companies focus on speed of development and deployment ahead of security when crafting APIs, making them vulnerable to issues like insecure authentication, poor validation, or misconfigured endpoints, which attackers can abuse. Additionally, the interconnected nature of APIs creates multiple endpoints, widening the attack surface and creating additional points of entry that attackers can exploit.As threats evolve and the attack surface grows to include more API endpoints, integrating AI threat detection and mitigation is an absolute must for businesses to take serious, deliberate action against API cyberattacks. Let’s find out why.Staying ahead of zero-day API attacksOf all the cyber attacks that commonly threaten APIs, zero-day attacks, leveraging unknown vulnerabilities, are probably the toughest to defeat. Traditional solutions rely more on the existence of preconfigured rules or signatures along with human interference to detect and block such attacks. This approach often fails against novel threats and can block legitimate traffic, leaving applications vulnerable and making APIs inaccessible to users.APIs must balance between allowing legitimate users access and maintaining security. AI and ML technologies excel at identifying zero-day attacks based on pattern and behavior analysis rather than known signatures. For instance, heuristic algorithms can detect anomalies, such as sudden spikes in unusual traffic or behaviors indicative of malicious intent.Consider the following example: A certain IP address makes an abnormally large number of requests to a rarely accessed endpoint. Even without prior knowledge of the IP or attack vector, an AI/ML-enhanced solution can flag the activity as suspicious and block it proactively. Using minimal indicators, such as frequency patterns or traffic anomalies, AI can stop attackers before they fully exploit vulnerabilities. Additionally, this means that only suspicious IPs are blocked, and legitimate users can continue to access APIs unimpeded.The risks of shadow APIsOne of the biggest risks is shadow APIs, which are endpoints that exist but aren't documented or monitored. These can arise from configuration mistakes, forgotten updates, or even rogue development practices. These unknown APIs are the ideal target for Layer 7 attacks, as they are often left undefended, making them easy targets.AI-powered API discovery tools map both known and unknown API endpoints, enabling the grouping and management of these endpoints so sensitive APIs can be properly secured. This level of visibility is critical to securing systems against API-targeting attacks; without it, businesses are left in the dark.API discovery as a critical security practiceWAAP with AI/ML capabilities excels in API security because it accurately checks and analyzes API traffic. The Gcore API discovery engine offers 97 to 99 percent accuracy, mapping APIs in users’ domains and using data to recommend policies to help secure APIs.How heuristics enhance WAAP AI capabilities to protect APIsWhile AI and ML form the backbone of modern WAAPs, heuristic methods complement them in enhancing detection accuracy. Heuristics allow the system to inspect granular behaviors, such as mouse clicks or scrolling patterns, which distinguish legitimate users from bots.For example, most scraping attacks involve automated scripts that interact with APIs in predictable and repetitive manners. In those cases, WAAP can use request patterns or user action monitoring to identify the script with high accuracy. Heuristics may define bots by checking how users interact with page elements, such as buttons or forms, and flagging those that behave unnaturally.This layered approach ensures that the most sophisticated automated attack attempts are caught in the net and mitigated without affecting legitimate traffic.Protect your APIs with the click of a button using Gcore WAAPAI offers proactive, intelligent solutions that can address the modern complexities of cybersecurity. These technologies empower organizations to secure APIs against even the most sophisticated threats, including zero-day vulnerabilities and undiscovered APIs.Interested in protecting your APIs with WAAP? Download our ebook to discover cybersecurity best practices, the most prevalent threats, and how WAAP can protect your business’s digital infrastructure, including APIs. Or, reach out to our team to learn more about Gcore WAAP.Discover why WAAP is a must-have for API protection
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