Most people spend their free time binge-watching shows or gaming.
Me? I spin up SafeLine WAF and go hunting for malicious bots.
Why? Because bots never sleep. From spam submissions and credential stuffing to automated vulnerability scans, they’re constantly knocking on your server’s door. And while you could ignore them, I find it way more satisfying to watch them fail.
Why SafeLine?
SafeLine isn’t just another WAF. It’s an open source, high-performance web application firewall designed for developers, sysadmins, and security pros who actually like seeing results.
Some highlights:
- Dynamic Protection — Blocks suspicious traffic in real time.
- Human Verification — Cloud-based algorithms to separate humans from automated scripts.
- Custom Rules — Tune detection patterns to your exact needs.
- Detailed Logs — See exactly what SafeLine caught and why.
My Setup
I run SafeLine in a containerized environment, which makes experimenting ridiculously easy.
Example docker-compose snippet:
services:
safeline-mgt:
image: chaitin/safeline-mgt
environment:
- MGT_PG=postgres://safeline-ce:${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}@safeline-pg/safeline-ce?sslmode=disable
- LUIGI_HOST=safeline-luigi
ports:
- "1443:1443"
This lets me spin it up, tweak a few variables, and immediately test against simulated bot traffic.
How I Use It to Fight Bots
- Deploy SafeLine in front of my target app.
- Feed it custom rules for known bad user-agents and suspicious request patterns.
- Enable challenge pages so bots hit a dead end while humans pass through.
- Monitor logs to watch them fail in real time (yes, it’s as fun as it sounds).
Why It’s Worth Doing in Your Free Time
- You learn more about attack patterns than you would from just reading docs.
- You see how WAF rules actually perform against live bot traffic.
- You get the satisfaction of shutting down malicious requests before they cause trouble.
If you’ve got an hour to kill this weekend, try spinning up SafeLine and watching bots run head-first into a digital wall.
Trust me, it’s better than Netflix.
Join the SafeLine Community
If you continue to experience issues, feel free to contact SafeLine support for further assistance.
Top comments (1)
nice setup