KUALA LUMPUR – IT service management company Cloudflare is actively collaborating with the US government and other tech giants like Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft to enhance the capabilities of internet censorship evasion tools in countries with heavy internet restrictions.
According to stock market monitor Investing.com, the company is working with researchers to “better document instances of internet shutdowns and censorship”.
“These recent developments underscore Cloudflare’s commitment to promoting internet freedom and bolstering its market position,” said the article.
However, by contrast, the White House on September 3, said it wants federal agencies to boost internet routing security on networks due to concerns raised by US officials about China’s ability to divert internet traffic.
Reuters reported that the White House Office of the National Cyber Director said federal agencies should implement routing security on their networks and seeks to require US government-contracted service providers to deploy current commercially viable internet routing security technologies.
“Traffic can be inadvertently or purposely diverted, which may expose personal information; enable theft, extortion, and state-level espionage; disrupt security-critical transactions; and disrupt critical infrastructure operations,” the report said.
By contrast, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had instructed internet service providers (ISPs) to redirect domain name system (DNS) traffic toward third-party DNS servers back to their own servers to ensure malicious websites are inaccessible by Malaysians.
These include scams, gambling and certain pornographic sites.
While third-party DNS servers like Cloudflare and Google DNS offer faster speeds, they might not have the same level of protection for harmful content particularly in the local context compared to local ISP’s DNS servers.
Developments in the US come after Cloudflare Inc CEO and Chair of the Board Matthew Prince sold a notable amount of the company’s stock worth over US$12 million.
In July, Cloudflare reported that its DNS resolver service, 1.1.1.1, was unreachable or degraded due to a combination of Border Gateway Protocol hijacking and a route leak.
The incident affected 300 networks in 70 countries. – September 8, 2024