Below we explore some of Cloudflare offerings that can help publishers in 2026.
- Four reasons to use Cloudflare in 2026
- Cloudflare features and cost
- Quick wins for a more secure site
- The Newsroom Guide to “Tech Speak”
Four reasons to use Cloudflare in 2026
1. Get Protected for Free (Project Galileo)
As an independent news organization, you don’t necessarily need to be paying for world-class security.
- What it is: A program providing Cloudflare’s business and enterprise-grade tools to journalism and human rights groups at no cost.
- Key Benefit: Unlimited DDoS protection (so a ‘spike’ in traffic from an attack won’t cost you a cent) and a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to block hackers.
- How to apply: Visit cloudflare.com/galileo.
2. Stop “Data Theft” with AI Audit
In 2026, AI bots are your biggest “readers”—but they don’t click ads or subscribe.
- One-Click Block: Use the “AI Audit” tab in your dashboard to instantly block “stealth” crawlers that try to hide their identity while scraping your stories.
- The Pay-Per-Crawl Marketplace: Cloudflare now allows you to set a price for your data. If an AI company wants to train on your archives, they have to pay through the Cloudflare marketplace before they can access the content.
3. Performance = Revenue
- The 3-Second Rule: 40% of readers abandon a site that takes more than 3 seconds to load. Cloudflare’s CDN caches your articles globally, making your site “local” to every reader, whether they are in London or Lagos.
- Images & Video: Use Cloudflare Images to automatically resize photos for mobile readers, saving you bandwidth and improving your SEO ranking.
4. Secure Your Newsroom (Zero Trust)
- Kill the VPN: Use Cloudflare Access to protect your WordPress or Ghost login. Instead of a password that can be phished, your team logs in via their email or a hardware key. It’s faster for reporters and impossible for hackers to bypass.
Cloudflare features and cost
| Feature | In Project Galileo? | For Everyone (Free Tier)? | For Paid Tiers? |
| DDoS Protection | Yes (Enterprise Level) | Yes (Basic) | Yes (Advanced) |
| AI Crawl Control | Yes | Yes (Basic “Block”) | Yes (Full Audit) |
| Pay-Per-Crawl | Yes (Beta access) | No (Usually Paid/Ent) | Yes (Paid Tiers) |
| Bot Management | Yes (Enterprise Level) | No (Basic “Fight Mode” only) | Pro/Biz Tiers |
| Zero Trust Access | Yes | Yes (up to 50 users) | Yes (Scaleable) |
| Always Online | Yes | Yes (limited crawl rate) | Yes (frequent crawling) |
Quick wins for a more secure site
This checklist is designed for newsroom admins who need to quickly secure their site and protect their content without getting lost in technical jargon.
Perform these 5 steps in the Cloudflare Dashboard to secure your site.
1. Enable “Under Attack Mode” (Your Emergency Brake)
If your site is currently crashing or slow due to a malicious traffic spike, turn this on immediately.
- Where: Overview tab (right-hand sidebar) or Security > Settings.
- What to do: Toggle Under Attack Mode to On.
- Result: Every visitor will see a brief (5-second) “checking your browser” page. This stops automated attack bots instantly but allows human readers through.
2. Activate AI Crawl Control (Stop the Scrapers)
Protect your reporting from being used for free by AI models without your permission.
- Where: Security > AI Crawl Control (or AI Audit in some versions).
- What to do: Click the “Block AI Crawlers and Scrapers” toggle.
- Result: This instantly blocks known AI bots (like GPTBot) from scraping your site. You can later “Allow” specific ones (like AI Search) if you want them to link to your stories.
3. Turn on “Always Online” (Your Backup Plan)
If your web host (where your site lives) goes down, Cloudflare can show a “frozen” version of your site to readers.
- Where: Caching > Configuration.
- What to do: Toggle Always Online to On.
- Result: Cloudflare works with the Internet Archive to serve your most popular articles even if your main server is dead.
4. Enable “Bot Fight Mode” (General Defense)
This stops the “background noise” of the internet—vulnerability scanners and low-level bad bots.
- Where: Security > Bots.
- What to do: Toggle Bot Fight Mode to On.
- Result: It challenges suspicious automated traffic. Note: If you have a Free or Pro plan, this is a simple On/Off switch. Enterprise users have more granular controls.
5. Deploy “Managed Rules” (The Digital Security Guard)
Think of this as an automated shield that knows about the latest “hacker” tricks so you don’t have to.
- Where: Security > WAF > Managed Rules.
- What to do: Locate the “Cloudflare Managed Ruleset” and set it to On (or “Log/Block” based on your preference).
- Result: It automatically blocks common attacks that try to steal passwords or break into your CMS (like WordPress).
If you haven’t already, apply for Project Galileo to get these features (and higher-tier ones) for free.
The Newsroom Guide to “Tech Speak”
Not sure what all these terms mean? We’ve got you covered.
- DDoS Attack: Short for Distributed Denial of Service. Think of this as a digital protest where thousands of fake “readers” try to walk through your front door at the same time. It jams the entrance so real readers can’t get in and your site crashes.
- CDN (Content Delivery Network): A global web of “mini-servers.” Instead of every reader in the world fetching your story from one computer in Sydney. Cloudflare gives them a copy from a server in their own city. It makes your site feel instant.
- WAF (Web Application Firewall): A digital security guard that sits in front of your website. It looks at every visitor and asks, “Are you a real person or a malicious script trying to break into the database?”
- AI Scraping / Crawling: When AI companies (like OpenAI or Google) use automated “bots” to read every word you’ve ever published so they can train their models. Cloudflare lets you “lock the door” so they can’t take your work without permission.
- Zero Trust: A security model that assumes everyone—even your own staff—needs to verify who they are before accessing the “back end” of your site. It replaces old-school, clunky passwords with more secure, “one-tap” logins.
- Caching: The process of saving a “snapshot” of your webpage. By showing readers a snapshot instead of building the page from scratch every time, you save money on server costs and keep the site running during high-traffic breaking news.
- IP (Intellectual Property): In this context, it’s your reporting, your photos, and your archives. It is the “value” of your newsroom that bots are trying to take for free.
Note: This article was drafted with the help of AI. All work has been checked by a human.
