Our new hardware Web Application Firewall (WAF) brings the security layer in front of your web applications inside your own Leaseweb environment, so the decisions about your web traffic stay with you.
Most digital independence reviews start with where data is stored and which cloud providers it depends on. The security layer gets less attention, even though it handles every request to your websites and APIs, and the customer data inside them.
TL;DR
Since November 5, 2026, Leaseweb customers can run their Web Application Firewall (WAF) inside their own environment, on a dedicated FortiWeb appliance. Your team decides where web traffic is inspected, who sees it and which rules apply. The hardware WAF is available for dedicated servers and dedicated racks in Europe and North America.
The dependency in your security layer
A network firewall keeps known bad actors away from your servers. Attackers who disguise malicious requests as ordinary web traffic are a different challenge, and that’s the job of a WAF.
A cloud WAF inspects your traffic by routing every request through the provider’s network before it reaches your servers. That adds a dependency many teams never chose consciously: the provider decides where your traffic is inspected, sees the customer data inside it, and shapes the rules that protect your applications.
For organizations that handle patient records or other personal data, those are exactly the decisions they want to make themselves.
Bringing those decisions back
The Leaseweb hardware WAF is a dedicated FortiWeb appliance from Fortinet, placed inline in your dedicated environment. Each of those decisions moves back to you:
- Who sees it. The appliance serves only you, so your customer data stays in your environment.
- Which rules apply. You receive the login details in the Customer Portal and configure the device yourself from the FortiWeb management console, including custom rules for legacy applications and internal workflows.
- Where traffic is inspected. The appliance sits inline behind your firewall, so all incoming web connections pass through it inside your Leaseweb environment before it hands them on to your servers.
In this setup, each layer has its own job. Your Leaseweb firewall filters traffic by IP address and port and covers protocols such as SSH and FTP. The WAF behind it focuses on HTTP and HTTPS, where web application attacks happen. Add a load balancer to spread traffic across your servers as you grow, all on dedicated infrastructure you control.
The hardware WAF comes in three bundles (Standard, Advanced and Enterprise), all with FortiCare Premium support. Each bundle has a fixed monthly price, so your WAF cost stays predictable as your traffic grows.
Independence means choosing your dependencies
The hardware WAF runs Fortinet technology. FortiGuard Labs keeps it up to date with data on the latest application vulnerabilities, bots and suspicious traffic patterns, and machine learning on the device flags unknown attacks, including zero-day threats. For configuration and policy questions, you work directly with Fortinet’s security experts through your own FortiCare support account. Leaseweb handles the hardware.
Those are dependencies you choose, each with a clear role. Your traffic, your data and your rules stay in your own hands.
The hardware WAF is available as an add-on to Leaseweb dedicated servers and dedicated racks in our European and North American data centers. Each appliance serves a single tenant, so it suits organizations that protect their own applications. If you run a multi-tenant platform or resell services to many end customers, our experts can help you choose the right setup for your architecture.
Start with three questions
Since 1997, we’ve helped businesses stay in control of their infrastructure, and that always starts with knowing where you stand. For web security, three questions will tell you:
- Where is your web traffic inspected today?
- Who can see the data inside it?
- Who decides which rules apply, and what would it take to change that?
If the answers point outside your own environment, talk to one of our experts about bringing those decisions back. Want to see how setup works first? Our knowledge base article walks through delivery, architecture and support.