Cloudflare

Cloudflare has transformed from a content delivery network into a comprehensive cloud security platform serving millions of internet properties globally. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in San Francisco, Cloudflare operates one of the world's largest networks spanning 320+ cities in 120+ countries. The company's unique position as a reverse proxy for a significant portion of internet traffic provides massive visibility into global threats and attack patterns.

Cloudflare's security services include DDoS protection (handling some of the largest attacks ever recorded), Web Application Firewall, bot management, API security, and email security. Their Zero Trust platform (Cloudflare One) combines secure web gateway, ZTNA, browser isolation, and CASB capabilities. Cloudflare's network architecture ensures security services run at the edge, close to end users, providing protection without performance penalty. The platform includes advanced features like rate limiting, certificate management, and load balancing.

The company differentiates through its massive scale and edge-based architecture. Cloudflare processes over 55 million HTTP requests per second, blocking millions of attacks daily. Their threat intelligence benefits from this global visibility. Cloudflare has maintained strong net promoter scores and customer growth. However, concerns exist about single points of failure - outages at Cloudflare can impact large portions of the internet. The company has also faced controversy around content moderation policies.

For organizations seeking global DDoS protection, web application security, and zero trust capabilities at internet scale, Cloudflare delivers proven technology. Their performance-oriented architecture suits businesses where security cannot compromise speed. Best fit for companies with internet-facing assets requiring protection against volumetric attacks and organizations implementing zero trust for distributed workforces.