Cloudflare WAF: now you see the full content of every attack

Security specialists (SecOps) often face the problem of "blind spots" when analyzing incidents. When a Web Application Firewall (WAF) is triggered, you see metadata: IP address, headers, time. But often this is not enough to understand exactly what the attacker was trying to transmit in the request body.

Cloudflare solves this problem by launching the WAF Content Payload Logging feature. This update provides security teams with mission-critical data for precise protection tuning and forensic incident analysis.

Why metadata is no longer enough

Previously, log analysis resembled trying to reconstruct the contents of a letter based on the information on the envelope. You know where it came from and where it is going, but you don't know what is inside. The Payload Logging feature changes the game, allowing you to capture and log the full content of the request body that triggered a WAF rule.

To see the full payload of an attack means to eliminate guesswork from the incident response process.

Key business benefits

The new functionality is available for Enterprise customers and solves three main tasks:

1. Precise diagnosis and reduction of false positives

• Analysis of the full request body allows you to instantly determine if the block was justified.
• Rapid adjustment of WAF rules based on real data, not hypotheses.

2. Deep threat analysis

• The ability to see specific SQL injections, XSS scripts, or malicious JSON structures that hackers tried to inject.
• Understanding the attacker's logic to build proactive protection.

3. Data security and privacy

• Payload data is encrypted with a public key provided by the customer.
• Only you have access to decrypt the log content, ensuring confidentiality even when transferring logs to SIEM systems.

Comparison of diagnostic capabilities

Standard logging (Before)

• Visibility: Only headers, URL, IP, and Rule ID.
• Analysis: Requires guesswork or circumstantial evidence.
• Response: High risk of accidentally blocking legitimate traffic when tightening rules.

WAF Payload Logging (Now)

• Visibility: Full capture of the request body (JSON, XML, form-data).
• Analysis: Direct observation of malicious code.
• Response: Surgically precise tuning of WAF Custom Rules.

Why Softprom?

As an official Cloudflare distributor, Softprom helps companies not just acquire licenses, but also properly integrate advanced security features into their existing infrastructure. We will help configure logging, SIEM integration, and encryption key management.