Insights reveal record-breaking time-to-exploit of new zero-day vulnerability, largest DDoS attack in the history of the Internet, and increasing supply chain threats

Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET), the leading connectivity cloud company, today published its State of Application Security 2024 Report. Findings from this year's report reveal that security teams are struggling to keep pace with the risks posed by organizations’ dependency on modern applications—the technology that underpins all of today’s most used sites. The report underscores that the volume of threats stemming from issues in the software supply chain, increasing number of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks and malicious bots, often exceed the resources of dedicated application security teams.

Today’s digital world runs on web applications and APIs. They allow ecommerce sites to accept payments, healthcare systems to securely share patient data, and power activities we do on our phones. However, the more we rely on these applications, the more the attack surface expands. This is further magnified by the demand for developers to quickly deliver new features—e.g., capabilities driven by generative AI. But if unprotected, exploited applications can lead to the disruption of businesses, financial losses, and the collapse of critical infrastructure.

“Web Applications are rarely built with security in mind. Yet, we use them daily for all sorts of critical functions, making them a rich target for hackers,” said Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO at Cloudflare. “Cloudflare's network blocks an average of 209 billion cyber threats for our customers every single day. The layer of security around today’s applications has become one of the most essential pieces to making sure the Internet stays secure.”

Key findings from Cloudflare’s State of Application Security 2024 Report include:

• DDoS attacks continue to increase in number and volume: DDoS remains the most leveraged threat vector to target web applications and APIs, comprising 37.1% of all application traffic mitigated by Cloudflare. Top targeted industries were Gaming and Gambling, IT and Internet, Cryptocurrency, Computer Software and Marketing and Advertising.
• First to patch vs. first to exploit—the race between defenders and attackers accelerates: Cloudflare observed faster exploitations than ever of new zero-day vulnerabilities, with one occurring just 22 minutes after its proof-of-concept (PoC) was published.
• Bad bots—if left unchecked—can cause massive disruption: One-third (31.2%) of all traffic stems from bots, the majority (93%) of which are unverified and potentially malicious. Top targeted industries were Manufacturing and Consumer Goods, Cryptocurrency, Security and Investigations, and US Federal Government.
• Organizations are using outdated approaches to secure APIs: Traditional web application firewall (WAF) rules that use a negative security model—the assumption that most web traffic is benign—are most commonly leveraged to protect against API traffic. Far fewer organizations use the more widely accepted API security best practice of a positive security model—strict definitions on traffic that is allowed, rejecting the rest.
• Third-party software dependencies pose growing risk: Organizations use an average of 47.1 pieces of code from third-party providers and make an average of 49.6 outbound connections to third-party resources to help enhance website efficiency and performance—e.g., leveraging Google Analytics or Ads. But as web development has largely shifted to allow these types of third-party code and activity to load in a user's browser, organizations are increasingly exposed to supply chain risk and liability and compliance concerns.

Report Methodology: This report is based on aggregated traffic patterns (observed from April 1, 2023 - March 31, 2024) across the Cloudflare global network. This data and threat intelligence from Cloudflare’s network has been complemented by third-party sources, as cited throughout the report. Cloudflare mitigated 6.8% of all web application and API traffic during the data collection period. Mitigated traffic is defined as any traffic that is blocked or is served a challenge by Cloudflare. The specific threat type and relevant mitigation technique depend on many factors, such as the application’s potential security gaps, the nature of the victim’s business and the attacker’s goals.

To learn more, please check out the resources below:

• Cloudflare State of Application Security 2024 Report
• Cloudflare Application Services

About Cloudflare

Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET) is the leading connectivity cloud company on a mission to help build a better Internet. 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.

Follow us: Blog | X | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram

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 Cloudflare’s products and technology, Cloudflare’s technological development, future operations, growth, initiatives, or strategies, future market risks and trends, and comments made by Cloudflare’s CEO. 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 Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on May 2, 2024, as well as other filings that Cloudflare may make from time to time with the SEC.

The forward-looking statements made in this press release relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. Cloudflare undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made in this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect new information or the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law. Cloudflare may not actually achieve the plans, intentions, or expectations disclosed in Cloudflare’s forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on Cloudflare’s forward-looking statements.

© 2024 Cloudflare, Inc. All rights reserved. Cloudflare, the Cloudflare logo, and other Cloudflare marks are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Cloudflare, Inc. in the U.S. and other jurisdictions. All other marks and names referenced herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240625803487/en/