Cloudflare Maps Its Products to Australia’s Cyber Strategy
When Australia released its 2023-2030 Cyber Security Strategy in late November, it laid out a vision that depends heavily on private-sector collaboration. Cloudflare, which has run a Sydney data center since 2012 and counts large Australian banks and companies like Canva among its customers, has now published a line-by-line account of how its existing products and programs fit under each of the strategy’s six “shields.”
The company points to its long local history — the Sydney launch was its 15th data center globally, and the network has since grown to more than 310 cities across 120 countries. Its Australian customer base already spans the banking sector, digital natives and government agencies, giving it a direct stake in the country’s security posture.
Shield 1: Strong businesses and citizens
The first shield targets the organizations and individuals that lack the resources for basic cyber hygiene — a group Cloudflare says is a natural fit for its mission to democratize security. The company cites a 2023 Australian Cyber Security Center survey finding that 62% of small and medium enterprises had been cyber attack victims, alongside its own Asia Pacific survey of nearly 4,000 security leaders showing 81% of medium and 77% of small organizations had suffered an incident in the prior year.
Cloudflare’s answer is its free tier, which includes DDoS and Web Application Firewall protection, plus its Zero Trust tools offered at no cost to organizations with up to 50 users. On the higher end, the company’s Project Galileo provides enterprise-grade protection at no charge to vulnerable groups such as human rights organizations, journalists and healthcare entities. As an Australian example, Cloudflare points to the Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef, which participates in the program.
Shield 2: Safe technology
The strategy’s call for Secure-by-Design and Secure-by-Default products reflects principles Cloudflare says are baked into its development process. The company notes its handling of the log4j vulnerability, when it deployed protections across all customers including free plan users, and its machine-learning computed WAF attack score, which can block attacks that don’t match known signatures.
On emerging technologies, Cloudflare highlights two areas: post-quantum cryptography and AI. Since late 2022, all websites and APIs served through Cloudflare — free tier included — support post-quantum hybrid key agreement by default. The company also positions its Zero Trust tools as a way for businesses to use AI securely as adoption accelerates.
Shield 3: World-class threat sharing and blocking
Cloudflare supports the government’s push for Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs), arguing that effective threat intelligence requires peer-to-peer flow between companies, not just government-to-industry channels. The company says it has helped ISACs understand vulnerabilities, citing its work on the HTTP/2 Rapid Reset flaw that enabled record-breaking DDoS attacks — sharing insights that let member organizations protect themselves early.
Shield 4: Protected critical infrastructure
Many of Cloudflare’s Australian customers are critical infrastructure operators. The company cites its March 2023 mitigation work when Anonymous Sudan and Killnet targeted Australian universities, airports and hospitals.
Cloudflare also makes a case for the small CI organizations that often get overlooked — local hospitals, water treatment facilities and energy providers, plus the supply-chain firms that keep larger systems running. Through Project Safekeeping, launched in Australia at the end of 2022, these entities can receive enterprise-level security products at no cost and with no time limit.
On the government side, Cloudflare applauds the strategy’s Zero Trust direction and notes it already works with Australian departments at both state and federal levels. The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIS) is cited as an existing customer using Cloudflare’s security suite to protect its environment and application access.
Shield 5: Sovereign capabilities
The strategy’s skills and workforce pillar aligns with Cloudflare’s diversity efforts in Australia. The company cites its internal associate programs that move people from underrepresented groups into cyber engineering roles, plus external workshops aimed at expanding the community of women working in cybersecurity.
Shield 6: Resilient region and global leadership
Cloudflare backs the strategy’s position that a free and open internet is both safer and more resilient — safer because global threat knowledge is needed to stop attacks originating anywhere, and more resilient because multiple international connection points help prevent disruptions.
The company also echoes the strategy’s call for competitive technology markets and harmonized international standards. Cloudflare argues that overlapping certifications create operational burdens without improving security, and that expensive compliance regimes can push smaller vendors out of government markets entirely.
Cloudflare closes by reaffirming its commitment to the 2030 goal, saying it expects to keep working with the Australian government and industry to secure everything from critical infrastructure and federal agencies down to SMEs and individual citizens.
