Financial services organizations utilizing Cloudflare Gateway now have exclusive access to Custom Indicator Feeds, which exchange danger indications and make it possible to take immediate action to strengthen defenses against ransomware, phishing, and other threats.

The bank heists that we see in films have evolved. According to Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare, "cyberattacks on financial institutions have an outsized impact on how our country functions due to the increase in online consumer banking that occurred after the pandemic and the current geopolitical situation." "Through our Custom Indicator Feed, the private sector will have easy access to and use of threat intelligence that was previously only available to the government.Here's to a new chapter in Cloudflare's tight collaboration with the federal government to fortify the security of our vital institutions.

As vital organizations that support the nation's economy and serve as repositories of savings for both individuals and businesses, banks and financial services firms are frequently the target of cyberattacks. In Q12024, Cloudflare recorded 41 billion HTTP DDoS attack requests directed towards the Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) sector. This is a 57% increase in comparison to Q12023. Up until now, firms have had to manually share threat intelligence data with each other through email or industry Slack groups. As a result, there isn't a simple method for organizations to act on the information they receive.

Customized Threat Information for Financial Organizations

Through this collaboration between PNNL and the Department of Treasury, U.S. financial services institutions will have exclusive access to Cloudflare's advanced threat intelligence. The feed compiles cutting-edge information from federal government and Treasury exclusive sources, enhanced by threat intelligence from Cloudflare's own unique view into Internet traffic. Financial institutions can use Cloudflare Gateway to automate DNS filtering policies and integrate approved threat intelligence feeds directly into their Cloudflare dashboard. This keeps their staff safe from phishing scams and malicious links that target financial services companies.

Because Cloudflare is utilized by approximately 20% of all websites, its network reaches over 320 cities, and its public DNS resolver, 1.1.1.1, is widely used worldwide. As a result, Cloudflare consistently detects security concerns and attacks by actors earlier than competitors. Federal agencies like Treasury are using Cloudflare, the CISA-selected vendor for Protective DNS, to assist safeguard their infrastructure.

Todd Conklin, the chief artificial intelligence officer at Treasury and deputy assistant secretary for cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection, stated, "Treasury sees Cloudflare and PNNL as critical partners in our strategy to develop a more modern proactive defense posture."The financial sector's overall defenses will be strengthened by ensuring that vital cyber threat data is automated and immediately sent to businesses. This will notably benefit our smallest financial institutions.

Public-Private Collaborations to Safeguard the Internet

This collaboration is a component of the White House's 2023 National Cybersecurity Strategy, which intends to work closely with business partners to protect vital infrastructure and destroy threat actors. Additionally, Cloudflare has committed to promoting multi-factor authentication, eliminating whole categories of vulnerabilities, and other safe by design concepts by joining the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) safe By Design pledge.