Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

In complex cloud environments where the speed of development is accelerated, managing infrastructure and resource configurations can be an overwhelming task—particularly when certifications and compliance frameworks like PCI, HIPAA, and SOC 2 present a lengthy list of requirements. DevOps and engineering teams need to ship code updates at a rapid pace, making it easy for them to accidentally overlook misconfigurations.

In 2023, cybersecurity continues to be in most cases a need-to-have for those who don’t want to take chances on getting caught in a cyberattack and its consequences. Attacks have gotten more sophisticated, while conflicts (online and offline, and at the same time) continue, including in Ukraine. Governments have heightened their cyber warnings and put together strategies, including around critical infrastructure (including health and education).

Cloudflare has a unique vantage point on the Internet. From this position, we are able to see, explore, and identify trends that would otherwise go unnoticed. In this report we are doing just that and sharing our insights into Internet-wide application security trends. This report is the third edition of our Application Security Report. The first one was published in March 2022, with the second published earlier this year in March, and this is the first to be published on a quarterly basis.

The IT future is a cloudy one. Organizations are increasingly relying on cloud servers, as today’s IT environments use a combination of public and private clouds alongside on-premise infrastructure. Gartner® estimates that by 2026, 75% of organizations will adopt a digital transformation model predicated on the cloud as the fundamental underlying platform.

Cloud computing has become ubiquitous in modern business, enabling organizations to store and access data and applications from anywhere. However, as the use of cloud services continues growing, so do the challenges that come with it. According to the 2023 Flexera State of the Cloud Report, security, spending, and expertise are among the top concerns for organizations leveraging cloud services.