AWS Shield vs Imperva API Security

AWS Shield helps AWS customers identify network security configuration issues and defend applications against web exploitation and distributed denial of service events. Shield Standard is automatically configured for AWS customers and provides common network- and transport-layer DDoS protection at no charge. Shield Advanced adds detection and automatic inline mitigation for sophisticated events across network, transport, and application layers. It monitors traffic patterns for anomalies such as HTTP and DNS query floods and supports EC2, Elastic Load Balancing, CloudFront, Global Accelerator, and Route 53. Advanced integrates with AWS WAF and AWS Firewall Manager, with event visibility through Amazon CloudWatch. It includes DDoS cost protection for qualifying usage spikes and up to 50 billion AWS WAF requests per subscribed payer account per calendar month for protected resources. The Advanced plan costs $3,000/mo, requires a one-year subscription commitment, and usage fees may apply. Network security director is in preview and is not included with either listed plan.

Imperva API Security brings API discovery, risk assessment, detection, and mitigation into one console for cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments. It monitors public, private, and shadow APIs, tracks changes, and identifies design flaws and vulnerabilities. Ongoing assessments address risks associated with the OWASP API Security Top 10. For Broken Object Level Authorization, its machine-learning-driven detection profiles traffic for behavioral changes and can block exploits. A separate testing function scans uploaded API specifications for posture gaps, design and configuration weaknesses, and risky endpoints. Teams can choose cloud-managed or self-managed management, with agent-based or agentless deployment options for cloud WAF, microservices, encrypted applications, and network-layer monitoring. Integrations include Kong, Mulesoft, Azure APIM, Apigee, and F5. API sensitivity classification includes government IDs, card details, addresses, and other personal information. With Imperva’s application security platform, it addresses nine OWASP API Top Ten risks; Unsafe Consumption of APIs is not covered. It runs on API, self-hosted, and web platforms. Pricing is on request; there is no free plan, and a 30-day trial may be limited to 100 Mbps, with excess traffic potentially null-routed.