What role does Akamai’s Site Shield play?

Akamai’s Site Shield acts as an additional security layer for web applications. Its primary function is to ensure the security of the web origins by preventing direct access to these origins from external sources. Instead, Site Shield directs all traffic through Akamai's distributed edge servers, which helps mitigate potential attacks, such as DDoS attacks, by filtering out malicious traffic before it can reach the web origin. This setup not only enhances security but also serves as a way to protect sensitive data and maintain the integrity of the application being hosted.

The other options do not accurately represent Site Shield's functionality. Logging all website traffic for analysis would be a function of a different security tool focused on traffic analysis rather than a protective measure like Site Shield. Optimizing images for quicker loading relates more to performance optimization tools rather than security. Increasing bandwidth for all users does not relate to Site Shield’s role, as it focuses primarily on securing traffic rather than enhancing bandwidth. Hence, the role of Site Shield is primarily focused on providing an added layer of security for web applications.