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March 2024
Researcher: Alveera Marium Huraira
Editor: Alice Pham
About 10% of international web traffic relies on Cloudflare’s encryption. Each time you visit a website protected by Cloudflare, your data is secured by its defense system of lava lamps.
The company’s headquarters in San Francisco showcases a mesmerizing wall of 100 vivid lava lamps with arbitrary bubbles swirling inside. Amidst this display, a video camera monitors the wall 24/7. This footage is transmitted to a computer that turns the chaotic movements into unpredictable code, making it impossible for both humans and AI to decipher. This setup is an example of the limitations AI has. Since computer-generated code often adheres to (relatively) logical patterns, the organic chaos of the lava lamps’ movements are able to elude even the most sophisticated algorithms.
The best part? You can experience this wonderful display firsthand! You might wonder, “Won’t the footage be disrupted if the camera can’t view the lamps?” Astonishingly, Cloudflare invites visitors on purpose because external disturbances like human activity, static, and changes in lighting from the nearby windows enhance the complexity of the already haphazard code. By merely standing in front of the array of colors, visitors contribute to the havoc, making it harder for potential cyber hackers.
Beyond the headquarters in San Francisco, Cloudflare has other offices in London and Singapore, each with its method of using real-world inputs to generate randomness. In London, a double-pendulum system - a pendulum connected to another - offers its chaotic motions as a source of randomness. Singapore, however, measures a harmless pellet of uranium as it undergoes decay due to radioactivity providing another source for unpredictable data.
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