Athenian Project Goes Global: Cloudflare Expands Free Election Security

When Cloudflare launched the Athenian Project in 2017, the goal was straightforward: provide free Enterprise-level protection to US state and local election websites. Three and a half years later, that effort has secured over 292 sites across 30 states. But the threat landscape has never been confined to the United States. Election infrastructure — from voter registration portals to results pages — faces persistent attacks ranging from DDoS and malware to phishing campaigns designed to undermine trust in democratic processes. Recent years have seen internet shutdowns during elections in Togo, Niger, Uganda, and elsewhere, alongside sophisticated attacks on election commissions in Ukraine, Indonesia, North Macedonia, Georgia, and Estonia.

The question Cloudflare kept hearing was simple: why not extend these protections to election entities worldwide? The answer required navigating a complex web of regulatory environments, local election administration, and the delicate trust-building necessary to work with foreign electoral bodies.

Bridging the Gap with Local Expertise

Cloudflare’s existing relationships under Project Galileo offered a path forward. Through that program, Cloudflare partners with more than 40 civil society organizations to protect human rights groups, independent media, and democracy-focused organizations across 111 countries. Many of those partners work directly on election-related issues — capacity building, strengthening democratic institutions, and equipping local groups with digital security tools — and have personnel on the ground who understand regional political landscapes.

Through these discussions, Cloudflare has developed collaborations with several key organizations to bring its Enterprise services to election management bodies (EMBs), civil society organizations (CSOs), and political groups outside the United States.

Partnership with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems

The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) has worked in more than 145 countries since its founding in 1987, providing technical assistance and research to support democratic elections and human rights. Its Center for Technology & Democracy delivers cybersecurity and ICT assistance to EMBs and CSOs, using methods like Holistic Exposure and Adaptation Testing (HEAT) to help organizations undergo digital transformation while managing associated risks.

IFES’ established trust with election bodies made them a natural partner. As Stephen Boyce, Senior Global Election Technology & Cybersecurity Advisor at IFES, noted, Cloudflare has helped EMBs and CSOs prevent website defacement and remain accessible during peak traffic spikes, building stakeholder confidence while developing local capacity with cybersecurity best practices. Under the new partnership, Cloudflare will provide its highest-tier services to IFES-linked EMBs, along with joint training and direct assistance so election officials have the knowledge to conduct secure, fair elections. Cloudflare previously worked with IFES to support elections in Georgia and intends to extend similar protections to other EMBs.

Supporting Political Groups through NDI, IRI, and D4D

Cloudflare is also partnering with the National Democratic Institute (NDI), the International Republican Institute (IRI), and the Design 4 Democracy Coalition (D4D) to expand support beyond EMBs. Through this initiative, Cloudflare will provide free services to vulnerable election-focused groups identified by NDI and IRI, and will work with those organizations to understand global threats facing democratic institutions.

Amy Studdart, Senior Advisor for Digital Democracy at IRI, emphasized that the partnership helps protect civil society and independent media from cyber attacks and traffic surges at critical moments, allowing political competition to play out in policy rather than through information warfare. Chris Doten, Chief Innovation Officer at NDI, highlighted that safe, reliable internet access is fundamental to modern democratic elections, and that Cloudflare’s protections have been invaluable for at-risk campaigns and civic organizations.

As part of the initiative, when Cloudflare tests new products useful for election groups, it will work with NDI, IRI, and D4D to encourage adoption — providing documentation, webinars, and specialized support. Piloting products with this audience also gives Cloudflare insight into the needs and pain points of these organizations.

Expanded Support for US State Parties

Domestic efforts are also expanding. Cloudflare’s partnership with Defending Digital Campaigns (DDC), a nonprofit that provides cybersecurity tools to eligible federal campaigns, is being extended to cover state parties. DDC was granted special permission by the Federal Election Commission to offer free or reduced-cost cybersecurity services to eligible political organizations, given the heightened threat of foreign attacks on party and candidate committees.

Since the partnership began in January 2020, Cloudflare has protected Presidential, Senate, and House campaigns with DDoS protection, web application firewall, SSL encryption, and bot protection, and has provided Cloudflare Access and Gateway to more than 75 campaigns during the 2020 US election. Michael Kaiser, President and CEO of DDC, noted that protecting websites from attacks or defacement is a core recommendation for any campaign or party organization, and that the partnership is critical to bringing that protection to eligible entities.

Eligible state parties can find more information at cloudflare.com/campaigns/usa.

Building on the Foundation

With these partnerships, Cloudflare is positioning itself to expand its election security support further in the future. The organization hopes to eventually participate directly in assessments and training around critical elections, drawing on the expertise of its partners to guide those efforts as the threat landscape continues to evolve globally.