Reverse proxy¶

To minimize risks of Web server exploitation, use a pool of reverse proxies in DMZ to isolate services inside of the cloud that may be vulnerable to attacks when directly accessed from the Internet.

To set up a reverse proxy:

1. Install the latest vanilla Linux distribution (Ubuntu) with all security patches installed.

2. Install a minimal set of packages.

   Note

   Only web server components must be provided with the latest security updates. No cloud services should be exposed in DMZ.

3. Install Nginx as a lightweight reverse proxy server with a support of encryption and caching.

You can also use a reverse proxy as:

• a load balancer
• a web accelerator to accelerate encryption for TLS connections
• a security gateway to filter out malformed requests