Exploring and Improving the Usability of ModSecurity Web Application Firewall

Murat Alagoz; Mevlut Serkan Tok; Kemal Bicakci

doi:10.1109/ISCTURKEY53027.2021.9654294

Exploring and Improving the Usability of ModSecurity Web Application Firewall

Murat Alagoz, Mevlut Serkan Tok, Kemal Bicakci

Informatics Institute

Gazi University

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

ModSecurity is an open-source web application firewall. The correct configuration is key to its effective operation but could be tricky since usability flaws could lead to errors and misconfiguration, threatening the security and availability. In this study, we first conduct the usability inspection of ModSecurity through a hybrid approach consisting of heuristic evaluation and cognitive walkthrough. We find out that ModSecurity has no feedback for semantic errors or successful rule implementation during the rule entry process, and the webserver goes down if there is a syntax error in any implemented rule. We propose a rule checking and feedback mechanism to mitigate these drawbacks. Then, we perform a between-subjects user study to evaluate the effectiveness and usability of our proposed method. The results indicate that unsuccessful rule entry rate and syntax error-related web server downtime significantly reduced with the rule checking and feedback mechanism introduced to ModSecurity. Thereby, we improve ModSecurity's effectiveness as well as the level of security and availability of ModSecurity-protected web servers.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	14th International Conference on Information Security and Cryptology, ISCTURKEY 2021 - Proceedings
Editors	Seref Sagiroglu, Sedat Akleylek, Mustafa Alkan, Ferruh Ozbudak, Yavuz Canbay, Ertugrul Karacuha, Ali Aydin Selcuk
Publisher	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages	51-56
Number of pages	6
ISBN (Electronic)	9781665407762
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/ISCTURKEY53027.2021.9654294
Publication status	Published - 2021
Event	14th International Conference on Information Security and Cryptology, ISCTURKEY 2021 - Ankara, Turkey Duration: 2 Dec 2021 → 3 Dec 2021

Publication series

Name	14th International Conference on Information Security and Cryptology, ISCTURKEY 2021 - Proceedings

Conference

Conference	14th International Conference on Information Security and Cryptology, ISCTURKEY 2021
Country/Territory	Turkey
City	Ankara
Period	2/12/21 → 3/12/21

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 IEEE.

Keywords

command-line interface
human-computer interaction
ModSecurity
usability
Usable security
web application firewall

Access to Document

10.1109/ISCTURKEY53027.2021.9654294

Cite this

Alagoz, M., Tok, M. S., & Bicakci, K. (2021). Exploring and Improving the Usability of ModSecurity Web Application Firewall. In S. Sagiroglu, S. Akleylek, M. Alkan, F. Ozbudak, Y. Canbay, E. Karacuha, & A. A. Selcuk (Eds.), 14th International Conference on Information Security and Cryptology, ISCTURKEY 2021 - Proceedings (pp. 51-56). (14th International Conference on Information Security and Cryptology, ISCTURKEY 2021 - Proceedings). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.. https://doi.org/10.1109/ISCTURKEY53027.2021.9654294

Alagoz, Murat ; Tok, Mevlut Serkan ; Bicakci, Kemal. / Exploring and Improving the Usability of ModSecurity Web Application Firewall. 14th International Conference on Information Security and Cryptology, ISCTURKEY 2021 - Proceedings. editor / Seref Sagiroglu ; Sedat Akleylek ; Mustafa Alkan ; Ferruh Ozbudak ; Yavuz Canbay ; Ertugrul Karacuha ; Ali Aydin Selcuk. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2021. pp. 51-56 (14th International Conference on Information Security and Cryptology, ISCTURKEY 2021 - Proceedings).

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title = "Exploring and Improving the Usability of ModSecurity Web Application Firewall",

abstract = "ModSecurity is an open-source web application firewall. The correct configuration is key to its effective operation but could be tricky since usability flaws could lead to errors and misconfiguration, threatening the security and availability. In this study, we first conduct the usability inspection of ModSecurity through a hybrid approach consisting of heuristic evaluation and cognitive walkthrough. We find out that ModSecurity has no feedback for semantic errors or successful rule implementation during the rule entry process, and the webserver goes down if there is a syntax error in any implemented rule. We propose a rule checking and feedback mechanism to mitigate these drawbacks. Then, we perform a between-subjects user study to evaluate the effectiveness and usability of our proposed method. The results indicate that unsuccessful rule entry rate and syntax error-related web server downtime significantly reduced with the rule checking and feedback mechanism introduced to ModSecurity. Thereby, we improve ModSecurity's effectiveness as well as the level of security and availability of ModSecurity-protected web servers.",

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author = "Murat Alagoz and Tok, {Mevlut Serkan} and Kemal Bicakci",

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Alagoz, M, Tok, MS & Bicakci, K 2021, Exploring and Improving the Usability of ModSecurity Web Application Firewall. in S Sagiroglu, S Akleylek, M Alkan, F Ozbudak, Y Canbay, E Karacuha & AA Selcuk (eds), 14th International Conference on Information Security and Cryptology, ISCTURKEY 2021 - Proceedings. 14th International Conference on Information Security and Cryptology, ISCTURKEY 2021 - Proceedings, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., pp. 51-56, 14th International Conference on Information Security and Cryptology, ISCTURKEY 2021, Ankara, Turkey, 2/12/21. https://doi.org/10.1109/ISCTURKEY53027.2021.9654294

Exploring and Improving the Usability of ModSecurity Web Application Firewall. / Alagoz, Murat; Tok, Mevlut Serkan; Bicakci, Kemal.
14th International Conference on Information Security and Cryptology, ISCTURKEY 2021 - Proceedings. ed. / Seref Sagiroglu; Sedat Akleylek; Mustafa Alkan; Ferruh Ozbudak; Yavuz Canbay; Ertugrul Karacuha; Ali Aydin Selcuk. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2021. p. 51-56 (14th International Conference on Information Security and Cryptology, ISCTURKEY 2021 - Proceedings).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - Exploring and Improving the Usability of ModSecurity Web Application Firewall

AU - Alagoz, Murat

AU - Tok, Mevlut Serkan

AU - Bicakci, Kemal

PY - 2021

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N2 - ModSecurity is an open-source web application firewall. The correct configuration is key to its effective operation but could be tricky since usability flaws could lead to errors and misconfiguration, threatening the security and availability. In this study, we first conduct the usability inspection of ModSecurity through a hybrid approach consisting of heuristic evaluation and cognitive walkthrough. We find out that ModSecurity has no feedback for semantic errors or successful rule implementation during the rule entry process, and the webserver goes down if there is a syntax error in any implemented rule. We propose a rule checking and feedback mechanism to mitigate these drawbacks. Then, we perform a between-subjects user study to evaluate the effectiveness and usability of our proposed method. The results indicate that unsuccessful rule entry rate and syntax error-related web server downtime significantly reduced with the rule checking and feedback mechanism introduced to ModSecurity. Thereby, we improve ModSecurity's effectiveness as well as the level of security and availability of ModSecurity-protected web servers.

AB - ModSecurity is an open-source web application firewall. The correct configuration is key to its effective operation but could be tricky since usability flaws could lead to errors and misconfiguration, threatening the security and availability. In this study, we first conduct the usability inspection of ModSecurity through a hybrid approach consisting of heuristic evaluation and cognitive walkthrough. We find out that ModSecurity has no feedback for semantic errors or successful rule implementation during the rule entry process, and the webserver goes down if there is a syntax error in any implemented rule. We propose a rule checking and feedback mechanism to mitigate these drawbacks. Then, we perform a between-subjects user study to evaluate the effectiveness and usability of our proposed method. The results indicate that unsuccessful rule entry rate and syntax error-related web server downtime significantly reduced with the rule checking and feedback mechanism introduced to ModSecurity. Thereby, we improve ModSecurity's effectiveness as well as the level of security and availability of ModSecurity-protected web servers.

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M3 - Conference contribution

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A2 - Canbay, Yavuz

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A2 - Selcuk, Ali Aydin

PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.

T2 - 14th International Conference on Information Security and Cryptology, ISCTURKEY 2021

Y2 - 2 December 2021 through 3 December 2021

ER -

Alagoz M, Tok MS, Bicakci K. Exploring and Improving the Usability of ModSecurity Web Application Firewall. In Sagiroglu S, Akleylek S, Alkan M, Ozbudak F, Canbay Y, Karacuha E, Selcuk AA, editors, 14th International Conference on Information Security and Cryptology, ISCTURKEY 2021 - Proceedings. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. 2021. p. 51-56. (14th International Conference on Information Security and Cryptology, ISCTURKEY 2021 - Proceedings). doi: 10.1109/ISCTURKEY53027.2021.9654294

Exploring and Improving the Usability of ModSecurity Web Application Firewall

Abstract

Publication series

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Bibliographical note

Keywords

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