cloudflare/Reference

Cloudflare Security

Application security, DDoS protection, WAF, Bot Management, API Shield, Turnstile, and Zero Trust network access

securitywafddosbot-managementturnstile

Cloudflare Security

Comprehensive security solutions protecting web applications, APIs, and networks from threats at the edge.

DDoS Protection

Protect against DDoS attacks automatically with uncompromised performance.

Network Layer DDoS Protection

  • Always-on detection and mitigation
  • 100 Tbps capacity
  • Automatic signature generation
  • Zero-day attack response

Application Layer DDoS Protection

  • Volumetric attack mitigation
  • Rate limiting
  • Challenge mechanisms
  • Custom rules

HTTP/2 Attack Mitigation

  • Rapid reset attack protection
  • Continuation attack mitigation
  • Connection exhaustion prevention

Dashboard

  • Real-time traffic visualization
  • Attack log analysis
  • Mitigation history
  • Configure protection levels

API

  • PATCH API for protection settings
  • Configure mitigation thresholds
  • View attack metrics

Web Application Firewall (WAF)

Filter incoming traffic and protect against web app vulnerabilities.

Getting Started

  • Enable WAF
  • Configure rules
  • View analytics

WAF Custom Rules

Create custom rules to block, challenge, or allow traffic:

  • Match conditions: IP, country, AS number
  • HTTP headers, cookies, query parameters
  • Request methods, URIs
  • Bot scores

Managed Rules

Pre-configured rule sets:

  • Cloudflare Managed Ruleset: General protection
  • OWASP ModSecurity Core Rule Set: SQLi, XSS, LFI, RCE
  • Cloudflare Exposures: Leaked credentials, misconfigurations

Rate Limiting

Control traffic volume:

  • By IP: Requests per minute/second
  • By country: Geographic rate limits
  • By header: Custom header-based limits
  • By cookie: Authenticated user limits

Tools

  • WAF Debug: Log matching rules
  • Browse-Scan: Test rules before deployment
  • Cloudflare Scanner Detection: Detect reconnaissance

Examples

  • Block known malicious IPs
  • Challenge suspicious traffic
  • Rate limit API endpoints
  • Allow specific AS numbers

Reference

  • Field values: Available match variables
  • Common patterns: URL, IP, country matching
  • Priority: Rule evaluation order

Bot Management

Protect your domain from bad bot traffic.

Bot Detection

  • Machine learning analysis
  • Heuristic detection
  • Behavioral analysis
  • JavaScript fingerprinting
  • Bot scores (1-100)

Verified Bots

  • Allow legitimate crawlers
  • Googlebot, Bingbot, Slackbot
  • Monitoring services
  • Search engine bots

Fight Bot Footprint

  • Challenge non-browser clients
  • Device fingerprinting
  • JavaScript challenges
  • CAPTCHA challenges

Options

  • Detect: Identify and log bots
  • Challenge: Show CAPTCHA
  • Block: Deny bot traffic
  • Allow: Permit verified bots

Bot Management Analytics

  • Request breakdown by bot score
  • Top bot traffic sources
  • Attack pattern detection
  • Legitimate bot identification

API Shield

Identify and address API vulnerabilities.

API Discovery

Automatically discover and catalog API endpoints:

  • Traffic analysis
  • Endpoint inventory
  • Method identification
  • Schema inference

API Protection

  • mTLS authentication
  • JWT validation
  • Schema validation
  • Rate limiting per endpoint

Security Events

  • Log API security events
  • Track attack patterns
  • View blocked requests
  • Alert on anomalies

API Shield Analytics

  • API traffic overview
  • Endpoint usage
  • Error rates
  • Attack prevention stats

Turnstile

Smart CAPTCHA alternative that is invisible to most visitors.

How It Works

  • Non-intrusive challenge
  • Browser fingerprinting
  • Behavioral analysis
  • Background validation

Integration

  • Frontend: JavaScript widget
  • Workers: Token validation
  • Forms: Contact form protection
  • Login: Brute force protection

Dashboard

  • Challenge analytics
  • Visitor pass rates
  • Site traffic overview
  • Configure widget appearance

API

  • Token verification: Validate Turnstile tokens
  • Site keys: Manage site credentials
  • Analytics: Challenge statistics

Modes

  • Managed: Cloudflare decides challenge
  • Non-interactive: Always pass/always block
  • Interactive: Always show challenge

Cloudflare One

Zero Trust network access and secure connectivity.

Access

  • Identity-based access control
  • Single sign-on (SSO)
  • Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
  • Policy-based routing

Gateway

  • Secure web gateway
  • DNS filtering
  • Threat intelligence
  • Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

Browser Isolation

  • Remote browser rendering
  • Malware isolation
  • Phishing protection
  • Sensitive data control

Network Policies

  • L4 access rules
  • HTTP policies
  • DNS policies
  • Browser policies

Identity Providers

  • Azure AD
  • Google Workspace
  • Okta
  • OneLogin
  • Custom SAML

Integrations

  • SSH commands
  • RDP connections
  • VNC access
  • Database access
  • Internal applications

CASB (Cloud Access Security Broker)

  • SaaS application monitoring
  • Data discovery
  • Threat detection
  • Compliance checking

Secure Web Gateway

  • Block malware
  • Filter content
  • Prevent data loss
  • Log all traffic

SIEM Integration

  • Logpush to SIEM
  • Cloudflare Logs
  • Real-time alerts
  • Attack correlation

Client-Side Security

Provide client-side protection for website visitors.

Automatic HTTPS Rewriting

  • Fix mixed content
  • Upgrade insecure requests
  • Maintain encryption

HTML Rewriting

  • Update links dynamically
  • Fix resources
  • Preserve functionality

Encrypted Clienthello

  • TLS Encrypted Clienthello (ECH)
  • Enhanced privacy
  • SNI encryption

DNS Records

  • CNAME flattening
  • Split Horizon DNS
  • Geographical routing

Secrets Store

Encrypt and store sensitive information as secrets.

Overview

Secure storage for:

  • API keys
  • Database credentials
  • Encryption keys
  • Certificate private keys

Usage

  • Workers bindings
  • Access from Workers
  • Environment variables
  • Rotate without redeploy

API

  • Create secrets
  • Update secrets
  • Delete secrets
  • List secrets

Compliance

  • SOC 2 Type II
  • ISO 27001
  • Encryption at rest
  • Audit logging

Security Center

Enhance your security posture with security products and one-click solutions.

Security Overview

  • Attack surface monitoring
  • Vulnerability detection
  • Configuration insights
  • Threat intelligence

Brand Protection

  • Domain monitoring
  • Spoofing detection
  • Certificate monitoring

Attack Investigation

  • DDoS attack analysis
  • WAF event correlation
  • Bot traffic review

Posture Insights

  • Security headers
  • SSL/TLS configuration
  • Cookie security
  • Content security policy

SSL/TLS

Encrypt web traffic to prevent data theft and tampering.

Encryption Modes

  • Off: No encryption
  • Flexible: Client to Cloudflare
  • Full: End-to-end encryption
  • Full (strict): Certificate required

Certificates

  • Universal SSL: Free automatic
  • Advanced: Custom certificates
  • BYOC: Bring your own certificate

TLS Versions

  • TLS 1.0 (deprecated)
  • TLS 1.1 (deprecated)
  • TLS 1.2
  • TLS 1.3

Settings

  • Minimum TLS version
  • Cipher suites
  • TLS handshake
  • Certificate transparency

HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS)

  • Force HTTPS
  • Preload list
  • Subdomains
  • Max-age

Mixed Content

  • Automatic fixing
  • Upgrade insecure requests
  • Report-only mode

DMARC Management

Protect your email domain and stop brand impersonation.

What is DMARC

  • Domain-based Message Authentication
  • SPF and DKIM alignment
  • Policy enforcement

Setup

  • Publish DNS records
  • Configure alignment
  • Set policy (none, quarantine, reject)

Reporting

  • Aggregate reports
  • Forensic reports
  • Filter by date

Insights

  • Authentication rates
  • Failed messages
  • Domain abuse

Cloudflare Challenges

Verify visitors are not bots with lightweight challenges.

Challenge Types

  • CAPTCHA: Interactive verification
  • JS Challenge: JavaScript execution test
  • Browser Check: Quick browser test
  • Managed Challenge: AI-selected challenge

Challenge Actions

  • Allow: Whitelist IP/country
  • Block: Deny access
  • Challenge: Show verification
  • JS Challenge: Execute test
  • Managed Challenge: Intelligent challenge

Passage

  • Challenge display duration
  • Error timeout
  • bypass hours

Visitor Details

  • Challenge solved/unsolved
  • Challenge presented
  • CAPTCHA iteration

Best Practices

DDoS Protection

  1. Enable always-on DDoS protection
  2. Configure appropriate sensitivity
  3. Set up alerting
  4. Review attack logs

WAF

  1. Start with managed rules
  2. Add custom rules for specific threats
  3. Enable rate limiting
  4. Monitor WAF events

Bot Management

  1. Enable bot detection
  2. Review bot scores
  3. Challenge medium-score traffic
  4. Block high-score traffic

API Security

  1. Enable API Shield
  2. Configure mTLS
  3. Add schema validation
  4. Set per-endpoint rate limits

Zero Trust

  1. Enable Cloudflare Access
  2. Configure identity provider
  3. Create access policies
  4. Deploy Browser Isolation

Architecture

Edge Security Network

  • 300+ cities globally
  • 100 Tbps capacity
  • Sub-5ms latency
  • Automatic mitigation

Security Stack

Internet Traffic
       |
       v
[Cloudflare Edge]
       |
       +-- DDoS Protection (Layer 3/4/7)
       |
       +-- WAF (Application Layer)
       |
       +-- Bot Management
       |
       +-- API Shield
       |
       +-- Turnstile
       |
       v
[Origin Server]

Challenge Flow

Request --> Risk Assessment --> [Bot Score]
                              |
                              v
                     [Score < 30] --> Allow
                              |
                              v
                     [Score < 70] --> Challenge --> [Pass] --> Allow
                              |                           |
                              |                     [Fail]
                              v                           v
                     [Score >= 70] --> Block          Block