Cloudflare, Inc., the security, performance and reliability company helping to build a better Internet, today announced an expansion of its relationship with Microsoft to help customers easily implement, automate and improve their organization’s zero trust security.
Telecommuting anywhere is becoming increasingly common, and critical applications have been moved to the cloud, no longer residing in an office protected by a security fence. This fundamental shift in work habits has therefore prompted companies to rethink their existing tools and abandon the traditional moat approach to security and instead turn to the zero-trust method. As CIOs grapple with this paradigm shift, Cloudflare has developed a new integration set with Microsoft to help organizations cope. Now, in minutes, without complex code changes, joint customers can seamlessly deploy zero trust security tools and industry-first features, including Cloudflare’s Remote Browser Isolation technology.
“When I talk to CIOs, I hear time and time again that security is their primary concern, closely followed by adapting to the new hybrid world,” said Matthew Prince, CEO and co-founder of Cloudflare. “We want to make it easier than ever for IT leaders to implement zero trust security across the enterprise and secure users wherever they go. I am thrilled that we are deepening our integration with Microsoft so that we can help our mutual customers easily implement Zero Trust security in some of the most widely used applications in the workplace.”
Through these new integrations, Cloudflare now offers a comprehensive identity-centric approach to protecting applications, users, devices, and networks against attacks. The integrations align Microsoft Identity solutions with Cloudflare’s network security tools to create a high-quality Zero Trust offering.
“A cloud-native zero trust security model is an absolute necessity today as organizations continue to embrace a cloud-centric strategy,” said Joy Chik, president, Identity and Network Access, Microsoft. “Cloudflare has developed robust product integrations with Microsoft to help security and IT professionals proactively mitigate attacks, dynamically control policies and risks, and increase automation in line with zero-trust best practices.”
Cloudflare and Microsoft Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) customers can now:
- Implement zero trust security without changing a single line of source code: Shared customers can now establish specific rules in Azure AD or Cloudflare Access, such as which users can access certain applications based on various factors such as user risk level, device platform, location, etc., and enforce them in both products without changing a single line of source code.
- Automatically isolate high-risk users with industry-leading browser isolation technology: By integrating Cloudflare Remote Browser Isolation with Azure AD, high-risk users, such as temporary employees, are proactively isolated in a remote browsing session for added security.
- Save hundreds of hours of manual time for IT teams: Cloudflare Access leverages the Cross-Domain Identity Management (SCIM) system to integrate directly with Azure AD. Groups are automatically synced across Cloudflare and Azure Active Directory platforms and groups, saving IT staff hundreds of hours of manual work.
- Keeping sensitive government data off the public internet: By connecting Azure Government Cloud to Cloudflare’s global network through the Secure Hybrid Access (SHA) program, government customers (GCC) will be able to secure sensitive traffic by not traveling over the public Internet. In addition, government customers can set and enforce granular rules that determine who can access what data, simply by leveraging the common solution from the dashboard and without any code changes.
Cloudflare has been working with Microsoft since 2018 to provide mutual customers with an enhanced Internet experience by securing web applications and protecting employees’ identities and devices. Cloudflare’s deep integrations with Microsoft 365 and Azure have helped many of the largest Fortune 500 companies on their journey to zero trust, enabling customers to easily meet their security and performance needs. Most recently, Microsoft awarded Cloudflare the “Security Software Innovator of the Year” award.
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