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Arina Cholee
Arina Cholee

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SafeLine: The Must-Have WAF for SMEs

#websecurity #waf #safeline #cybersecurity

SafeLine is a self-hosted Web Application Firewall (WAF) designed to protect websites and web applications from cyberattacks. Built with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in mind, SafeLine provides enterprise-grade security while remaining easy to deploy and cost-effective.

Why SafeLine?

Small and medium businesses are increasingly targeted by cyber threats due to limited resources and expertise. According to recent reports:

  • 43% of cyberattacks target SMEs
  • 60% of attacked SMEs close within 6 months
  • Average cost of a data breach: $3.31M

SafeLine addresses these challenges by offering robust protection without requiring a dedicated security team. Its focus is on real-world attacks, including the growing wave of automated traffic generated by AI and bots.

“SafeLine WAF was created to protect web applications for SMEs from cyber threats by monitoring and filtering HTTP/HTTPS traffic. With the rise of Gen AI, automated website traffic has become overwhelming, affecting normal user experience and operations. SafeLine aims to provide strong anti-bot and anti-HTTP flood DDoS protection.”

Key Features

SafeLine combines semantic detection, dynamic protection, and advanced anti-bot mechanisms:

1. Attack Prevention

  • Blocks SQL Injection, XSS, OS command injection, CRLF injection, XXE, SSRF, and directory traversal
  • Low false-positive rate thanks to semantic detection engine

2. Rate Limiting

  • Protects against HTTP Flood DDoS attacks, brute force, and traffic surges
  • Configurable thresholds for throttling requests

3. Waiting Room

  • Queues excess traffic during spikes to prevent service disruption

4. Anti-Bot Challenge

  • Detects bots via browser behavior, JS execution, and fingerprinting
  • Human visitors proceed seamlessly without CAPTCHA

5. Authentication Challenge

  • Optional password protection for sensitive pages

6. Dynamic Protection

  • Automatically encrypts HTML and JavaScript code per page load
  • Scrambles critical paths like /admin/login dynamically

Advantages of Self-Hosted WAF

Compared to cloud-based WAFs, SafeLine offers SMEs:

  • Greater control over security policies and configurations
  • Data remains on-premises
  • Easy integration with other self-hosted security tools
  • Cost-effective for high-traffic sites by avoiding recurring cloud fees

“SafeLine detects attacks with a patented intelligent semantic analysis engine rather than traditional signatures, reducing false positives and negatives. Many WAFs are difficult to use, but SafeLine can be deployed with a single command and is simple to operate.”

The paid version, SafeLine Pro, offers more advanced features at a reasonable cost, making it accessible for SMEs.

How to Download & Install

SafeLine is available for free on GitHub:

GitHub Repository

Quick Install Example 

bash -c "$(curl -fsSLk https://waf.chaitin.com/release/latest/manager.sh)" -- --en
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  • Deploys the SafeLine manager and core services automatically
  • Dashboard access via browser after initial setup

For production setups, Docker Compose is recommended for more control and reliability.

Real-World Use Cases

SafeLine is ideal for:

  • Self-hosted websites and apps
  • SMEs looking for cost-effective, enterprise-grade WAF
  • Developers running CTFs or test environments
  • Businesses wanting protection against bots, DDoS, SQLi, XSS, and other web attacks

With semantic detection, dynamic protection, and bot defense, SafeLine ensures that malicious traffic is blocked before it reaches your application, while legitimate users remain unaffected.

Future Plans

SafeLine aims to evolve into a full Web Security Gateway, including features like:

  • Identity and Access Management (IAM)
  • Advanced internal team security policies
  • Expanded protection for internal APIs and microservices

“We aim to address all web security problems for our global customers through SafeLine.”

Conclusion

SafeLine provides SMEs with a self-hosted, powerful, and easy-to-use WAF:

  • Free & open-source
  • Semantic detection for advanced attack protection
  • Anti-bot & DDoS defense
  • Easy deployment and low maintenance

If you're looking for a robust WAF to secure your SME’s web presence, SafeLine is a top candidate.

SafeLine Resources
Website: https://ly.safepoint.cloud/ShZAy9x
Live Demo: https://demo.waf.chaitin.com:9443/statistics
Discord: https://discord.gg/dy3JT7dkmY
Docs: https://docs.waf.chaitin.com/en/home
GitHub: https://github.com/chaitin/SafeLine

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