Cloudflare Introduces Application Confidence Score to Address Unauthorized IT and AI Applications Usage

Cloudflare, a leading internet performance and security company, has announced the launch of the Cloudflare Application Confidence Score. This new metric is designed to help Security, IT, legal, and GRC teams assess the safety, security, and data protection of AI applications and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platforms quickly and efficiently.

The Cloudflare Application Confidence Score is not based on subjective measures such as vibes, black-box learning algorithms, or artificial intelligence engines. Instead, it is computed against an objective rubric that covers general SaaS maturity and AI-specific risks. This rubric will be publicly maintained and kept up-to-date, ensuring transparency and accountability.

The proliferation of SaaS and Generative AI applications in businesses has made it challenging for IT and Security administrators to keep up with them all. The increased use of these applications can lead to increased risks, as sensitive data may be exposed due to unapproved apps or lax security practices. Gen AI applications, in particular, may produce outputs that are biased, unsafe, or incorrect, leading to compliance violations or bad business decisions. They may also retain user data for long periods, share data with third parties, or suffer data breaches, leaving sensitive data exposed.

To address these concerns, Cloudflare is working to separate out different risks associated with AI applications and Shadow AI. The company aims to provide organizations with smarter controls to appropriately assess each third-party application without the need for auditing and crafting individual policies for every single one.

In addition to the Application Confidence Score, Cloudflare also introduces a Gen-AI Confidence Score, focused on Gen AI-specific risks. The current expert working group collaborating with Cloudflare to improve the evaluation methodology of the Cloudflare Application Confidence Score is the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) Security SIG.

The Cloudflare Application Confidence Score will be available as part of Cloudflare One SASE platform's new AI Security Posture Management (AI-SPM) features. Detailed information about the new Cloudflare Application Confidence Score can be found in a blog post.

It is important to note that blanket bans of Generative AI don't work as they stifle innovation and push employee usage underground. The Cloudflare Application Confidence Score aims to provide a more practical and effective solution to this problem by helping organizations make informed decisions about the AI and SaaS applications they use.

In a world where the use of AI and SaaS applications is becoming increasingly prevalent, the Cloudflare Application Confidence Score is a welcome development. By providing a transparent, accountable, and extensible metric, Cloudflare is helping to ensure that these technologies are used safely and securely, protecting both businesses and their customers.

Cloudflare Introduces Application Confidence Score to Address Unauthorized IT and AI Applications Usage