Which are characteristics of application firewalls?

Application firewalls are designed to monitor and control network traffic based on specific application-level protocols. One of the key characteristics of application firewalls is their ability to act as proxies for network traffic. By proxying traffic, these firewalls can inspect, filter, and modify the data packets being sent and received by applications. This approach allows them to enforce security policies more effectively at the application layer, such as preventing unwanted or potentially harmful traffic from reaching the intended destination.

In contrast to network firewalls that work primarily at the transport and network layers, application firewalls focus on the specific behaviors and contexts of individual applications, enabling them to detect and respond to complex threats more accurately. This proxying capability is essential for blocking malicious activities, application vulnerabilities, and data breaches.

Other choices present different functionalities or characteristics which are not as core to the application firewall. While application firewalls can implement authentication measures, that is not a defining characteristic of their primary function. Similarly, while they can mask the internal network to some extent, this is not their main role. Lastly, application firewalls may not always be extremely fast and might introduce some latency due to the deep packet inspection and processing involved in proxying traffic.