The Cloudflare Blog: Making Application Security simple with a new unified dashboard experience

Source URL: https://blog.cloudflare.com/new-application-security-experience/
Source: The Cloudflare Blog
Title: Making Application Security simple with a new unified dashboard experience

Feedly Summary: We’re introducing a new Application Security experience in the Cloudflare dashboard, with a reworked UI organized by use cases, making it easier for customers to navigate and secure their accounts.

AI Summary and Description: Yes

Summary: The text discusses a significant overhaul in Cloudflare’s Application Security product offerings, emphasizing the unification of disparate security tools into a cohesive platform. This initiative aims to simplify the user experience, streamline security workflows, and enhance the effectiveness of application security by minimizing the complexity of managing multiple security dashboards.

Detailed Description:
The text outlines Cloudflare’s strategy to enhance its Application Security features by breaking down artificial barriers between various security product categories. This approach addresses the challenges faced by users who manage security for modern applications, which commonly integrate multiple technologies. Key points include:

– **Unified Security Platform**: Cloudflare is integrating its Application Security tools into a single platform that enables users to navigate security settings more efficiently. This change is based on user feedback and aims to eliminate confusion caused by managing separate security categories (e.g., WAF, API Security, Bot Management).

– **Simplification of Workflows**: The new unified dashboard aims to streamline the security configuration process by allowing practitioners to manage all security signals from one interface. This means security practitioners can more effectively configure policies, detect threats quickly, and maintain consistent security across their applications.

– **Enhanced Threat Detection**: By continuously analyzing incoming traffic for various signals (e.g., bot score, attack score), users can gain meaningful insights about their applications’ security posture. Always-on detection capabilities allow for better preemptive measures against vulnerabilities.

– **User Journey Improvements**: The redesign includes an overview page displaying security suggestions, highlighting risks and misconfigurations. This way, security professionals have a starting point for maintaining a robust security posture daily.

– **Web Assets Management**: The introduction of a ‘web assets’ concept allows users to manage and monitor all relevant entities for security measures, facilitating targeted threat detection.

– **Custom Security Rules**: Users can create custom mitigation rules easily by combining various detection signals, resulting in a tailored response to specific threats.

– **Iterative Design Process**: The final dashboard design was reached through feedback and numerous iterations, focusing on simplifying navigation and ensuring the UI effectively supports user tasks.

Implications for Security Professionals:

– **Operational Efficiency**: Security teams can expect increased efficiency in managing application security and responding to threats with a consolidated toolset.

– **Improved Posture Management**: Continuous analysis and unified controls enable better visibility and understanding of security threats, thereby enhancing an organization’s overall security posture.

– **Flexibility and Control**: The new interface accommodates both novice and advanced users, enabling customization according to specific security needs, which is crucial as threats become increasingly sophisticated.

In summary, Cloudflare’s integration of its Application Security tools into a unified system represents a significant step forward in facilitating a more effective security posture for organizations managing modern applications.