Security Overview

Cortex is built with enterprise-grade security from the ground up. Our multi-layered approach ensures your AI applications can safely access web data without compromising on security or compliance.

Security Architecture

Cortex employs a zero-trust security model where every component is secured independently:

┌─────────────────┐    ┌──────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────┐
│   API Gateway   │───▶│  Authentication  │───▶│ Input Validator │
│                 │    │     Layer        │    │                 │
└─────────────────┘    └──────────────────┘    └─────────────────┘
          │                       │                       │
          ▼                       ▼                       ▼
┌─────────────────┐    ┌──────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────┐
│ Sandboxed       │    │   Content        │    │   Response      │
│ Web Crawler     │───▶│   Filtering      │───▶│  Sanitization   │
└─────────────────┘    └──────────────────┘    └─────────────────┘
          │                       │                       │
          ▼                       ▼                       ▼
┌─────────────────┐    ┌──────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────┐
│  Audit Logging  │    │   Encrypted      │    │  Rate Limiting  │
│                 │    │    Storage       │    │   & Monitoring  │
└─────────────────┘    └──────────────────┘    └─────────────────┘

Core Security Features

Threat Protection

• Prompt Injection Detection: Advanced ML-based detection of malicious prompts
• Content Sanitization: Multi-layer filtering of potentially harmful web content
• DDoS Protection: Intelligent rate limiting and traffic analysis
• Malware Scanning: Real-time scanning of all crawled content

Data Protection

• Encryption: AES-256 at rest, TLS 1.3 in transit
• Data Isolation: Tenant-specific data segregation
• Secure Deletion: Cryptographic erasure of sensitive data
• Privacy Controls: GDPR and CCPA compliant data handling

Access Control

• API Key Management: Granular permissions and scoping
• IP Allowlisting: Network-level access restrictions
• Rate Limiting: Per-key and per-IP usage controls
• Session Management: Secure token lifecycle management

Compliance Standards

Current Certifications

Standard	Status	Description
GDPR	✅ Compliant	EU General Data Protection Regulation
CCPA	✅ Compliant	California Consumer Privacy Act
SOC 2 Type II	🔄 In Progress	Security, availability, and confidentiality
ISO 27001	📋 Planned Q1 2026	Information security management

Security Frameworks

• OWASP Top 10: All critical vulnerabilities addressed
• NIST Cybersecurity Framework: Comprehensive implementation
• Cloud Security Alliance: Best practices compliance
• Zero Trust Architecture: NIST 800-207 alignment

Incident Response

24/7 Security Operations

• Continuous monitoring of all systems
• Automated threat detection and response
• Escalation procedures for critical incidents
• Post-incident analysis and improvements

Emergency Contacts

• Security Team: security@usecortex.co
• Emergency Hotline: Available to Enterprise customers
• Bug Bounty: security-bounty@usecortex.co

Security by Plan

Feature	Free	Starter	Pro	Enterprise
Basic Encryption	✅	✅	✅	✅
Rate Limiting	✅	✅	✅	✅
Audit Logs	7 days	30 days	90 days	Custom
Advanced Filtering	❌	✅	✅	✅
IP Allowlisting	❌	❌	✅	✅
VPC Deployment	❌	❌	❌	✅
SSO Integration	❌	❌	❌	✅
Dedicated Support	❌	❌	❌	✅

Best Practices

API Security

# ✅ Good: Use environment variables
import os
api_key = os.getenv('CORTEX_API_KEY')

# ❌ Bad: Hard-coded keys
api_key = 'ctx_1234567890abcdef'

Input Validation

# ✅ Good: Validate inputs
def search_query(query):
    if len(query) > 500:
        raise ValueError("Query too long")
    if contains_suspicious_patterns(query):
        raise SecurityError("Potential injection detected")
    return cortex.search(query)

Error Handling

# ✅ Good: Secure error handling
try:
    result = cortex.search(query)
except cortex.SecurityError:
    # Log security event without exposing details
    logger.warning("Security filter triggered")
    return {"error": "Request blocked for security reasons"}

Security Resources

Documentation

• Authentication Guide
• Audit Logs
• Security Best Practices

Tools & SDKs

• Security-first SDK implementations
• Built-in input validation helpers
• Automated security scanning tools

Community

• Security discussions on Discord
• Bug bounty program participation
• Regular security webinars

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