New protections will secure organizations – by default – from attempted attacks, abuse, and tampering as they increasingly rely on AI models

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET), the leading connectivity cloud company, today announced the development of Firewall for AI, a new layer of protection that will identify abuse and attacks before they reach and tamper with Large Language Models (LLMs), a type of AI application that interprets human language and other types of complex data. Backed by the power of Cloudflare’s global network, one of the largest in the world, Firewall for AI will position Cloudflare as one of the only security providers prepared to combat the next wave of attacks in the AI revolution – those targeting the functionality, critical data, and trade secrets held within LLMs.

A recent study revealed that only one in four C-suite level executives have the confidence that their organizations are well-prepared to address AI risks. When it comes to protecting LLMs, it can be extremely challenging to bake in adequate security systems from the start, as it is near impossible to limit user interactions and these models are not predetermined by design – e.g., they may produce a variety of outputs even when given the same input. As a result, LLMs are becoming a defenseless path for threat actors – leaving organizations vulnerable to model tampering, attacks and abuse.

"When new types of applications emerge, new types of threats follow quickly. That's no different for AI-powered applications," said Matthew Prince, Co-Founder & CEO at Cloudflare. “With Cloudflare’s Firewall for AI, we are helping build security into the AI landscape from the start. We will provide one of the first-ever shields for AI models that will allow businesses to take advantage of the opportunity that the technology unlocks, while ensuring they are protected.”

With Cloudflare’s Firewall for AI, security teams will be able to protect their LLM applications from the potential vulnerabilities that can be weaponized against AI models. Cloudflare will help enable customers to:

• Rapidly detect new threats: Firewall for AI may be deployed in front of any LLM running on Cloudflare’s Workers AI. By scanning and evaluating prompts submitted by a user, it will better identify attempts to exploit a model and extract data.
• Automatically block threats – with no human intervention needed: Built on top of Cloudflare's global network, Firewall for AI will be deployed close to the end user, providing unprecedented ability to protect models from abuse almost immediately.
• Implement security by default, for free: Any customer running an LLM on Cloudflare’s Workers AI can be safeguarded by Firewall for AI for free, helping to prevent growing concerns like prompt injection and data leakage.

According to Gartner®, "You cannot secure a GenAI application in isolation. Always start with a solid foundation of cloud security, data security and application security, before planning and deploying GenAI-specific security controls." Cloudflare Firewall for AI will add additional layers to its existing comprehensive security platform, ultimately plugging the threats posed by emerging technology.

To learn more, please check out the resources below:

• Blog: Cloudflare Announces Firewall for AI
• Cloudflare Firewall for AI

Source: "Generative AI Adoption: Top Security Threats, Risks and Mitigations", Gartner, Dennis Xu, Kevin Schmidt, January 17th, 2024

About Cloudflare

Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET) is the leading connectivity cloud company. It empowers organizations to make their employees, applications and networks faster and more secure everywhere, while reducing complexity and cost. Cloudflare’s connectivity cloud delivers the most full-featured, unified platform of cloud-native products and developer tools, so any organization can gain the control they need to work, develop, and accelerate their business.

Powered by one of the world’s largest and most interconnected networks, Cloudflare blocks billions of threats online for its customers every day. It is trusted by millions of organizations – from the largest brands to entrepreneurs and small businesses to nonprofits, humanitarian groups, and governments across the globe.

Learn more about Cloudflare’s connectivity cloud at cloudflare.com/connectivity-cloud. Learn more about the latest Internet trends and insights at https://radar.cloudflare.com.

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Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “explore,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “could,” “intend,” “target,” “project,” “contemplate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” or “continue,” or the negative of these words, or other similar terms or expressions that concern Cloudflare’s expectations, strategy, plans, or intentions. However, not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Forward-looking statements expressed or implied in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the capabilities and effectiveness of Cloudflare Firewall for AI and other products technology, the benefits to Cloudflare’s customers from using Cloudflare Firewall for AI and other products technology, the timing of when Cloudflare Firewall for AI or any of its related features will be developed and available in beta form, or generally available, to all current and potential Cloudflare customers, Cloudflare’s plans and objectives for, and the timing of, Cloudflare Firewall for AI and other products and technology, Cloudflare’s technological development, future operations, growth, initiatives, or strategies, and comments made by Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince and others. Actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including but not limited to, risks detailed in Cloudflare’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including Cloudflare’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on February 21, 2024, as well as other filings that Cloudflare may make from time to time with the SEC.

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Contacts

Cloudflare, Inc.

Daniella Vallurupalli

Vice President, Head of Global Communications

[email protected]