How to Use Cloudflare's WAF with Appdome MobileBOT™ Defense

Last updated February 14, 2024 by Appdome

Overview

Web Application Firewalls (WAFs), like the one offered by Cloudflare, play a crucial role in protecting web applications from a wide range of cyber threats. Using CloudFlare Workers with Appdome’s MobileBOT™ Defense solution offers app developers a streamlined approach to protect backend APIs against malicious bots and botnets, credential stuffing attacks, DDoS, invalid traffic and other automated attacks. In this guide, you will learn how to set up Appdome MobileBOT™ Defense and mutual TLS (mTLS).

Prerequisites for Using Cloudflare Workers

For utilizing Appdome Mobile Anti-Bot Defense with CloudFlare Workers, you’ll need the following:

Workers
Workers KV
An Android or iOS app that is secured by Appdome MobileBOT™ Defense
An Appdome MobileBOT™ Defense License

Implementing Appdome MobileBOT™ Defense with Cloudflare Workers

Cloudflare Worker Setup

1. Install Wrangler CLI tool

To install Wrangler, ensure you have Node.js and npm installed, preferably using a Node version manager like Volta or nvm. Using a version manager helps avoid permission issues and allows you to change Node.js versions. Wrangler requires a Node.js version of 16.13.0 or later.

Wrangler is installed locally into each of your projects. This allows you and your team to use the same Wrangler version, control Wrangler versions for each project, and rollback to an earlier version of Wrangler, if needed.

To install Wrangler within your Worker project, run:

npm install wrangler --save-dev

2. Run Wrangler Login

wrangler login

Workers KV Setup

1. Create a KV namespace called AD_NONCES. This namespace will be utilized within the worker.

2. After establishing the namespace, copy its ID.

Kv Workers And Pages

3. Navigate to the provided folder by Appdome:

File

4. Click on the ‘wrangler.toml‘ file

5. Insert the ID number into the wrangler.toml file under kv_namespaces, specifically under the variable AD_NONCES.

6. Populate the following Appdome variables:

AD_TARGET
AD_HOST
AD_SHARED_SECRET
AD_COMPROMISED_SECRET
AD_HEARTBEAT_VALIDITY

The basic form of the method put() should look like this:

Sample wrangler.toml Configuration

name = "cloudflare"
main = "src/worker.ts"
compatibility_date = "2023-09-04"
node_compat = true

# Variable bindings. These are arbitrary, plaintext strings (similar to environment variables)
# Note: Use secrets to store sensitive data.
# Docs: https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/platform/environment-variables
[vars]
AD_TARGET = "www.appdome.com"
AD_HOST = "www.appdome.com"
AD_SHARED_SECRET = "123t"
AD_COMPROMISED_SECRET = "zxc123"
AD_HEARTBEAT_VALIDITY = "60"

# Bind a KV Namespace. Use KV as persistent storage for small key-value pairs.
# Docs: https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/runtime-apis/kv
[[kv_namespaces]]
binding = "AD_NONCES"
id = ""

Provide a Private RSA Key

This private key is essential for payload decryption. It matches the public key provided during the build process.

The key should be saved in plain text in the src/worker.ts file.

Click on ‘src‘

File

2. Click on ‘worker.ts‘

Worker:ts

Worker Deployment

Using the Wrangler CLI tool. Execute the following command:

npm run deploy

Configure Custom Domain

To set up your custom domain, please refer to the instructions on Custom Domain Setup

Setup SSL certificates and mTLS

Set up your SSL certificates via your Cloudflare environment. For a detailed guide, consult the Client Certificates documentation

Optional: If you have enabled mTLS in your Appdome fusion set, make sure to also enable Cloudflare mTLS in order for mutual authentication from both sides. Learn more about enabling mTLS.

Conclusion

By using CloudFlare Workers Server and Appdome’s MobileBOT™ Defense, you can protect your backend APIs against malicious bots and enhance the security of mobile apps. By mastering and implementing the aforementioned configurations, businesses can safeguard and optimize their mobile app traffic.

Thank you!

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