Edge WAF Protection with In-VPC Threat Inspection

What the solution is

Google Cloud Armor is an edge-based Web Application Firewall (WAF) and DDoS mitigation service integrated directly into Google Cloud's external load-balancing infrastructure. Cloud Next Generation Firewall (Cloud NGFW) with intrusion detection and threat prevention capabilities provides managed Layer 7 deep packet inspection inside the Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) network.

How it meets the requirements

• Edge DDoS & WAF Protection: Applying a Google Cloud Armor security policy with preconfigured expression sets (such as OWASP Top 10 CRS rules for SQL injection and cross-site scripting) to the external Application Load Balancer backend service inspects and filters incoming HTTP(S) traffic at Google's global edge before it reaches internal VPC resources.
• Deep Packet Inspection in VPC: Configuring Cloud NGFW threat prevention security profiles and attaching a security profile group to network firewall policy rules enables Layer 7 deep packet inspection to detect vulnerabilities, malware signatures, and lateral movement across internal network traffic.

Key advantages and capabilities

• Google Edge Filtering: Stops volumetric DDoS floods and malicious Layer 7 web payloads without consuming VPC compute or ingress bandwidth.
• Preconfigured Rule Sets: Employs managed WAF signatures for rapid protection against SQLi, XSS, RFI, and LFI.
• In-Depth Threat Detection: Inspects network payloads across Layer 4 through Layer 7 inside the VPC without requiring complex third-party appliance scaling.
• Unified Architecture: Integrates seamlessly with Cloud Load Balancing, VPC firewall policies, and Security Operations.

Why this is optimal

This architecture establishes true defense-in-depth by pairing edge-based Layer 7 filtering via Google Cloud Armor with in-VPC packet inspection via Cloud NGFW threat prevention profiles.