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00:00THE COMPANY WARNS THESE ATTACKS ARE GETTING MORE SOPHISTICATED EVERY DAY. I AM JOINED BY CLOUDFLARE ' S CEO MATTHEW PRINCE. TALK ABOUT THIS ATTACK AND HOW YOU STOPPED IT. MATTHEW: EVERY DAY AT CLOUDFLARE WE ARE STOPPING ATTACKS. WHAT WAS UNIQUE ABOUT THIS ONE IN JUNE WAS IT TOOK TO A DIFFERENT LEVEL THE SIZE AND SCALE OF THE TAX AND INSTEAD OF COMPROMISING A BUNCH OF HOUSEHOLD CAMERAS AND IOT DEVICES, ESSENTIALLY COPPER MINES IN CLOUT INSTANCES. THAT IS A WORRYING NEW TREND. CLOUD INSTANCES HAVE A LOT MORE BANDWIDTH AND CAN DO MORE DAMAGE. WE HAVE SEEN AN UPTICK IN THESE ATTACKS, AN UPTICK IN SIZE AND SCALE, BUT WHAT I ' M PROUD OF OUR TEAM IS WE CAN STOP JUST ABOUT ANYTHING THROWN AT US AND WE CONTINUE TO DO THAT EVERY DAY. EMILY: IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU ARE SAYING THE ATTACKS WILL ONLY GET BIGGER. HOW DANGEROUS IS THE THREAT LANDSCAPE YOU SEE AHEAD? WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE ONGOING RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR? MATTHEW: WE AS AN INDUSTRY EXPECTED ATTACKS WOULD TAKE UP AFTER THE RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE. WHILE WE DID SEE SOME ATTACKS SPECIFICALLY TARGETING UKRAINIAN INFRASTRUCTURE, THE NUMBER OF ATTACKS WAS MUCH LESS THAN WE WOULD SEE IN THE USUAL TIME. EMILY: WHY IS THAT? MATTHEW: A LOT OF THE ATTACKS CAME FROM CRIMINAL GANGS THAT OFTEN TIMES SHARED INDIVIDUALS THAT WERE IN BOTH RUSSIA AND UKRAINE. THOSE GANGS WERE THROWN IN DISARRAY. IN THE LAST FEW WEEKS WE HAVE SEEN THOSE ATTACKS START TO RISE UP AGAIN. IT LOOKS LIKE GOVERNMENT SPONSORED ATTACKS. THE OTHER DAY, LITHUANIA CAME UNDER A SIGNIFICANT ATTACK. THEY TURNED TO CLOUDFLARE TO STAY ONLINE. WE HELPED PROTECT THEM AND GAVE THEIR GOVERNMENT INFRASTRUCTURE BACK ONLINE. WHILE THERE WAS A LULL IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE INVASION, WE ARE STARTING TO SEE THE ATTACKS TICK UP AND MAKE SURE EVERYONE OF OUR CUSTOMERS IS FULLY PROTECTED AND WE STAND READY TO PROTECT ANY CREDIBLE AND FOR STRUCTURE -- ANY CRITICAL INFO STRUCTURE AROUND THE WORLD. EMILY: WHY DO YOU THINK ATTACKS ARE JUST STARTING TO PICK UP? IS IT A NEW LEVEL OF ORGANIZATION AFTER THE INITIAL INVASION? MATTHEW: I CAN ' T ANSWER THAT QUESTION. I DON ' T KNOW WHAT ' S GOING ON IN THE MINDS OF THE RUSSIANS AND WHAT THERIR STRATEGY IS. INITIALLY THERE WAS A LOT OF FOCUS ON WHAT THE UKRAINIAN INFRASTRUCTURE WOULD HAVE HAPPENED. EVEN WHEN THERE WAS THE INVASION OF CRIMEA, OR GEORGIA, WE SAW MANY MORE CYBERATTACKS IN THOSE TIMES. WE SAW A LOT OF PROBING AHEAD OF THE EVENT, WHICH GAVE US REAL CONCERN THAT AN INVASION WAS COMING EVEN BEFORE IT HAPPENED. NOW THERE IS STARTING TO BE WHAT LOOKS LIKE SOME RETALIATION AGAINST COUNTRIES THAT ARE STANDING WITH UKRAINE. LITHUANIA IS ONE OF THE COUNTRIES. THEY WERE GOING TO ENFORCE SOME OF THE RUSSIAN SANCTIONS. I THINK THAT IS A RETALIATION. ACROSS EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES, THOSE PEOPLE PROVIDING CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE NEED TO BE READY FOR WHATEVER MAY COME AT THEM. EMILY: LET ' S TALK ABOUT HOW STRONG THOSE SHIELDS ARE AND IF BUSINESSES ARE BEING PREPARED. BUSINESSES ARE BEING TOLD TO ADOPT THIS ZERO TRACK APPROACH, AUTHENTICATE VISUALS -- AUTHENTICATE INDIVIDUALS IN AND OUTSIDE THE ORGANIZATION AT ALL TIMES. ARE TARGETS READY? MATTHEW: IT DEPENDS ON THE INDUSTRY AND SECTOR. THE GOOD NEWS IS IF YOU ADOPT THE WAY A COMPANY LIKE CLOUDFLARE AND GOOGLE HAS, THIS ZERO TRUST APPROACH, THAT CAN PROTECTIVE. THE BEST ANALOGY I HAVE HAD IS IT IS A BIT LIKE HOW WE USED TO BUILD BOATS VERSUS NOW. YOU USED TO BUILD THE HULL OF THE BOAT AS STRONG AS YOU COULD, BUT IF THERE WAS A LEAK ANYWHERE IT WOULD EVENTUALLY SINK. A ZERO TRUST APPROACH IS LIKE BULKHEADS IN A BOAT. IF THERE IS A LEAK, THE WHOLE BOAT DOES NOT SINK. WHAT HAS BEEN INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT IS MAKING SURE THOSE ORGANIZATIONS THAT NEED THE PROTECTION ARE THERE TO HAVE IT. THAT IS WHY WE WORKED WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS TO LAUNCH THE CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE DEFENSE PROJECT WHERE WE OFFER OUR SERVICES AT NO COST TO HOSPITALS, WATER TREATMENT FACILITIES, THE ENERGY SECTOR, BECAUSE THIS IS A HEIGHTENED TYPE OF SECURITY. EMILY: CLOUDFLARE SITS AT AN INTERESTING INTERSECTION OF DATA AND PRIVACY, WHICH HAS TAKEN ON NEW SIGNIFICANCE IN THE EVENT OF THE OVERTURNING OF ROE V. WADE. I ' M CURIOUS HOW YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT THIS AND HAVE YOU SEEN AN UPTICK IN WEBSITES REPORTING TO BE A LEGITIMATE HEALTH CARE WEBSITE BUT IS ACTUALLY RUN BY AN ANTIABORTION GROUP? WHAT APPROACH ARE YOU TAKING HERE? MATTHEW: I DON ' T KNOW IF WE ' VE SEEN ANY EXAMPLES OF THAT. WE DON ' T TEND TO BE IN THE JUDGE IN CONTEST IN THIS. WE HAVE NOW RUN FOR SEVERAL YEARS SOMETHING CALLED PROJECT GALILEO. AS WE SAW THE LEAKED OPINION FROM THE SUPREME COURT COME OUT, THERE WAS AN INCREASED NUMBER OF ATTACKS TARGETING ABORTION PROVIDERS RUN THE COUNTRY. WE STEPPED UP TO MAKE SURE THOSE PROVIDERS WERE PROTECTED. WE HAVE SEEN AN UPTICK IN THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE PROVIDING ABORTION SERVICES THAT ARE UNDER ATTACK AND NEED OUR PRODUCTION. WE STAND READY TO PROTECT ANYONE PROVIDING THOSE SERVICES AROUND THE WORLD. IF YOU NEED THAT HELP, GO TO CLOUDFLARE.COM/GALILEO AND WE PROVIDE THOSE SERVICES NO COST TO THOSE ORGANIZATIONS. EMILY: HAVE YOU SEEN ANY CHANGE IN TRAFFIC OVER THE LAST WEEK? THIS JUST HAPPENED ON FRIDAY. WHAT IS THE ONGOING PLAN IN A POST-ROE WORLD? MATTHEW: ONE, THERE HAS BEEN A SIGNIFICANT UPTICK IN ILLEGITIMATE TRAFFIC. PEOPLE WHO ARE AGAINST ABORTION ARE SEEING THIS AS A VINDICATION OF THEIR ABILITY TO LAUNCH ATTACKS AND NOT FEEL GUILTY FOR IT. OBVIOUSLY THAT IS ILLEGAL IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCE AND WE STAND READY TO PROTECT ANY OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS. ON THE OTHER SIDE WE ARE SEEING MORE PEOPLE TRYING TO GET CLARIFICATION AND UNDERSTANDING WHAT THIS MEANS TO THEM. THE LEGITIMATE TRAFFIC IS GOING THROUGH THE ROOF. THAT IS WHERE CLOUDFLARE CAN PROTECT NOT JUST AGAINST ILLEGITIMATE ATTACKS, BUT MAKE SURE THESE ORGANIZATIONS HAVE

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Cloudflare CEO on Rise of Hactivism, Digital Privacy

Cloudfare CEO Matthew Prince joins Emily Chang to discuss the cybersecurity landscape and rise in ransomware and other cyber attacks. He also shares how Cloudflare managed to detect and mitigate the largest HTTPS DDoS attack ever a week ago. (Source: Bloomberg)

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