Cloudflare’s Operational Response to the Coronavirus Crisis
As COVID-19 forces widespread remote work, Cloudflare has outlined its operational strategy to maintain network performance, support customers, and adapt its product offerings to the evolving situation. CEO Matthew Prince communicated these measures directly to customers in a letter on March 12, emphasizing continued service reliability despite the global disruption.
Network Health and Traffic Monitoring
Cloudflare has observed measurable shifts in global internet usage as more people work from home. According to the company, peak traffic in affected regions has increased roughly 10% on average, with Italy—under nationwide quarantine—seeing a 30% rise in peak traffic. In addition, peak usage times have moved earlier in the day in these areas. Despite these changes, Cloudflare states that its network remains well provisioned and that it expects no impact on performance, reliability, or security.
Security and Staffing
While many employees have been encouraged to work remotely, Cloudflare’s network operations center (NOC), security operations center (SOC), and customer support teams remain fully functional, with the ability to operate entirely remotely if required. The company reports an increase in phishing campaigns that use the Coronavirus as a lure, but no significant uptick in overall attack traffic or novel threats. Ongoing SOC monitoring continues for emerging security issues.
Adapting Cloudflare for Teams Offerings
Recognizing the strain on corporate infrastructure as employees log in from home, Cloudflare has expanded its support for remote access tools. Cloudflare for Teams, which includes secure remote work capabilities, was first offered free to small businesses for at least six months. Given the worsening emergency, that offer now extends to all organizations, regardless of size.
For existing customers on Cloudflare for Teams, usage caps have been waived during the crisis, allowing unlimited seat scaling without extra charges. Organizations not yet using the product can access free trials of Access and Gateway without usage limits for at least the next six months. Cloudflare team members have also volunteered to host no-cost onboarding sessions to help businesses get up to speed quickly.
Operational Details
Additional information is available through Cloudflare’s developer documentation, and sign-ups for onboarding sessions can be arranged directly with the teams team.
As the pandemic accelerates the shift to distributed work, Cloudflare’s priority remains maintaining a stable, secure internet backbone while lowering barriers to the tools needed to keep businesses running.
