CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the intelligent edge platform for securing and delivering digital experiences, today announced that Akamai was recognized by Gartner as a Leader in the 2018 Magic Quadrant for Web Application Firewalls for the second year in a row. Gartner analysts evaluated 14 vendors, based on their ability to execute and completeness of vision.

Web application security is a growing concern, as more businesses support new digital business initiatives with public-facing applications, including API-driven mobile or IoT applications. As a result, web application was the number one attack pattern leading to a data breach in 2017, according to the Verizon 2017 Data Breach Investigations report. To put that volume into perspective, Akamai's most recent State of the Internet Security report highlighted that Akamai defended against over 400 million web application attacks over a six month period.

The Gartner report states, "By 2023, more than 30% of public-facing web applications will be protected by cloud web application and API protection (WAAP) services that combine distributed denial of service (DDoS) protection, bot mitigation, API protection and WAFs. This is an increase from fewer than 10% today."

"Akamai maintains that protecting critical sites and apps requires massive capacity and robust, risk-adaptive intelligence delivered at the edge," said Josh Shaul, Vice President of Web Security, Akamai. "Our customers maximize their security posture through a combination of DDoS mitigation, application and API security, as well as context-based reputation services and behavioral intelligence. Akamai's web application firewall solutions provide robust rules that are curated by security researchers and continuously evolved by powerful machine learning algorithms, with tailored risk scores to inform digital businesses of vulnerabilities and emerging threats." 

Gartner observes diverging expectations between customers considering cloud WAF services and WAF appliances: "Organizations looking for cloud WAF services generally expect multiple, bundled features – notably DDoS protection, bot management and CDN – in an easy-to-deploy and easy-to operate package. They increasingly request more depth for security controls, and better granularity for configuration options, but are often under time pressures to deploy the WAF."

According to Gartner, "In the long term, cloud WAF services, which were built from the beginning to be multitenant and cloud-centric, avoid costly maintenance of legacy code. They also provide a competitive advantage, with faster release cycles and rapid implementation of innovative features."

"We are thrilled that Gartner has once again recognized Akamai in the Leader quadrant, which we feel validates our achievements to date, as well as our customer-driven strategic direction in the web application firewall space," concluded Shaul. "We are proud to continue leading the market as a pure-play edge platform and proving the value of the scale and intelligence that edge security provides."

A complimentary copy of the complete report, Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Web Application Firewalls, Jeremy D'Hoinne, Adam Hils, Ayal Tirosh, Claudio Neiva, 29 August 2018, including the Magic Quadrant graphic, is available here. For additional information regarding Akamai's WAF offerings, visit here.

Gartner Disclaimer
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About Akamai
Akamai secures and delivers digital experiences for the world's largest companies. Akamai's intelligent edge platform surrounds everything, from the enterprise to the cloud, so customers and their businesses can be fast, smart, and secure. Top brands globally rely on Akamai to help them realize competitive advantage through agile solutions that extend the power of their multi-cloud architectures. Akamai keeps decisions, apps and experiences closer to users than anyone — and attacks and threats far away. Akamai's portfolio of edge security, web and mobile performance, enterprise access and video delivery solutions is supported by unmatched customer service, analytics and 24/7/365 monitoring. To learn why the world's top brands trust Akamai, visit www.akamai.com, blogs.akamai.com, or @Akamai on Twitter.

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SOURCE Akamai Technologies, Inc.