Cyberattacks have increased sharply in the past year as AI, machine learning, and highly skilled attackers refine their tactics. Many organizations feel the impact directly because their cloud environments grow more complex every quarter. These conditions create an ideal opportunity for attackers who know that gaps often appear when internal IT teams lack time, tools, or cloud-specific expertise.
Most North American organizations now rely on cloud platforms for daily operations. While cloud adoption offers speed and flexibility, it also introduces new risks that are easy to overlook. Cloud networks change constantly, making it difficult to maintain full visibility, control, and consistent protection.
Studies show that 89% of organizations use a multi-cloud strategy, while 73% of cloud usage occurs in hybrid environments. These structure eliminate the traditional idea of a fixed perimeter. In the past, security teams guarded the network edge.
In the cloud, that edge dissolves, reshaping how we defend workloads and applications. Cloud infrastructure now supports every type of user, device, and application from anywhere. This constant movement makes implied trust dangerous because attackers can appear legitimate until the moment they act. This shift accelerated the adoption of zero trust, which limits access based on identity, context, and continuous verification.
Misconceptions About Cloud Security
Despite years of guidance, many small and mid-sized organizations still misunderstand what “perimeter protection” means in the cloud. Others continue to assume their cloud provider handles most security responsibilities. In reality, providers secure the underlying infrastructure, while organizations are responsible for protecting their own workloads, applications, identities, and data.
This confusion often leads to a common question:
Do we need an NGFW or a WAF and aren’t they both just firewalls?
Yes, both are firewalls, but they serve different purposes and protect different layers of your environment. Understanding the difference is essential for building a cloud security posture that fits your risk profile and operational needs.
NGFW vs. WAF: What Each Firewall Does
A Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) protects the network layer. It examines traffic moving into, out of, and within your environment and blocks threats that attempt to access or move across your network. NGFWs expand on traditional firewalls by adding deeper inspection and intelligent detection.
What an NGFW Does
- Intrusion Prevention System (IPS): Identifies and blocks malware, exploits, and suspicious behavior in real time.
- Deep Packet Inspection (DPI): Analyzes the entire packet, not just the header, to detect hidden threats.
- Application-Aware Filtering: Controls access to applications, even when traffic appears valid.
- AI and ML Detection: Uses behavioral analysis to recognize new or emerging threats.
- User and Device Identification: Links activity to verified identities to reduce false positives.
NGFWs are essential for hybrid and multi-cloud networks, remote work environments, and distributed architectures.
Web Application Firewall (WAF)
A Web Application Firewall protects the application layer. It secures customer portals, e-commerce platforms, APIs, mobile apps, SaaS tools, and any system that communicates over HTTP or HTTPS.
A WAF filters and monitors traffic going to and from an application, blocking attacks that exploit weaknesses in application code or logic.
What a WAF Does
- SQL Injection: Prevents attackers from manipulating or stealing database data.
- Cross-Site Scripting (XSS): Blocks malicious scripts injected into web pages.
- Broken Authentication Attacks: Stops attempts to bypass login or impersonate users.
- Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF): Prevents attackers from tricking users into unwanted actions.
- API Attacks: Protects API endpoints from abuse, overload, and exploitation.
WAFs are especially important for customer-facing systems, internal custom applications, APIs, e-commerce platforms, and partner portals. Developers often participate in tuning WAF policies because they understand the application’s intended behavior.
Understanding the Difference in One View
- An NGFW protects your network by inspecting traffic, identifying threats, and blocking unauthorized access.
- A WAF protects your web applications by preventing attacks that target application vulnerabilities.
Think of your cloud environment like an airport:
- An NGFW is the main security checkpoint, screening all travelers and luggage before they enter the terminal.
- A WAF is the boarding gate, performing deeper, flight-specific checks to ensure only the right passengers access that exact flight.
Both layers protect different parts of the airport, and neither replaces the other.
Do You Need Both NGFW and WAF?
The answer depends on your organization’s environment and risk profile.
- If you operate custom applications, portals, or APIs, you need a WAF.
- If you move large volumes of traffic across users, sites, and cloud workloads, you need an NGFW.
- If you operate in hybrid or multi-cloud environments, you likely benefit from both.
Relying only on one is similar to protecting your house with a strong door but leaving every interior room unlocked.
Where Cloud Security Strategy Is Heading
Gartner highlights key shifts shaping firewall strategy:
- By 2026, more than 60% of organizations will use multiple firewall deployment types, driving hybrid mesh firewall adoption.
- By 2025, 30% of new distributed branch-office firewall deployments will use firewall-as-a-service, and at least 80% of enterprises will have adopted a strategy to unify web, cloud services, and private application access using a SASE or SSE architecture.
Organizations want consistent, cloud-aligned security that reduces complexity. NGFWs and WAFs fit naturally into these evolving architectures.
How to Decide What Your Organization Needs
Choosing between an NGFW and a WAF becomes much easier when you assess how your environment actually operates. Start by asking three simple questions:
Do we have applications exposed to the internet or used externally?
If yes, you need a WAF. Any public-facing or customer-facing application becomes a target for attackers who look for weaknesses in code, authentication, or API endpoints. A WAF adds the application-specific protections an NGFW cannot provide.
Do we have large volumes of traffic across users, sites, or cloud workloads?
If yes, you need a NGFW. As your network expands, so does the opportunity for attackers to move laterally or exploit weak points. A next generation firewall monitors this traffic, identifies threats, and enforces consistent policies across the environment.
Do we operate in hybrid or multi-cloud environments?
If yes, both tools complement each other and reduce risk. Multiple clouds mean multiple access points, workloads, and application surfaces. Using both an NGFW and a WAF ensures each layer of the network and application is properly secured.
Ultimately, the best solution aligns with your workflows, compliance requirements, and overall risk tolerance. A clear understanding of how your systems communicate and where sensitive data lives will guide you toward the right mix of protections.
Final Thoughts
Selecting the right NGFW or WAF is ultimately about building a security strategy that supports your long-term architecture, not just addressing immediate threats. Once you understand the layers you need to protect, the next step is choosing technologies that integrate smoothly into your cloud, on-premises, or hybrid environments.
Most major cybersecurity vendors now offer mature solutions across both categories. Palo Alto Networks, Cisco, Fortinet, and Check Point provide leading next generation firewall platforms with strong performance, centralized management, and broad cloud support. For application-layer protection, F5, Cloudflare, Imperva, and AWS WAF deliver specialized capabilities designed for modern web applications and API-driven workloads.
Cloud Managed Networks is a proud partner of each of these vendors, giving our team deep experience with their technologies and deployment models.
If you want to learn more about how these solutions fit into your environment or simply want to talk through your firewall needs our specialists are here to help, Contact us.
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