Cybersecurity Measures Curb Attacks Amid US Election Day Traffic Surge
The 2024 US Election, held on November 5, was marked by significant cybersecurity and network traffic efforts as voters selected national and local representatives, culminating in Republican candidate Donald Trump securing the presidency. Cloudflare, a cybersecurity provider, observed notable spikes in internet traffic and thwarted several cyberattacks aimed at election-related websites. Despite the heightened cyber activity, there were no major disruptions to U.S. election infrastructure, with Cloudflare successfully protecting local and state government sites, campaign sites, and other election-related portals.
Cloudflare’s pre-election preparations involved collaboration with government agencies, election officials, and nonprofits to ensure a secure election environment. Over six billion HTTP Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks targeting election sites were blocked in the days leading up to the election. Additionally, DNS traffic to Trump’s and Harris’s websites surged by 59% and 4%, respectively, just before Election Day, reflecting heightened voter engagement with political information.
Surges in Internet Traffic and News Interest on US Election Day
On Election Day, Cloudflare reported a significant uptick in internet traffic across the United States, which rose as much as 15% nationwide after the first polling stations closed. States in the Midwest reported the highest traffic growth compared to the previous week, while news and polling websites experienced marked traffic jumps. For instance, traffic to polling sites surged by 756% around poll closures, and news sites saw a 325% increase by late evening as citizens tracked the election results in real-time.
State-specific spikes were especially pronounced in Maine, South Dakota, and Montana, with traffic peaking around 9:00 p.m. ET as polling stations began closing. The growing interest in election coverage drove substantial traffic to major news outlets and political websites, with overall U.S. internet traffic reaching its highest daily level of 2024. The country’s traffic activity, especially during late evening, highlighted citizens’ interest in understanding the unfolding election outcome.
Election Cybersecurity Projects Safeguard Democracy
Cloudflare played a crucial role in shielding critical election sites through its Project Galileo, Athenian Project, and Cloudflare for Campaigns initiatives. Project Galileo, established in 2014, safeguards journalism and nonprofit sites, while the Athenian Project, launched in 2017, provides free services to state and local election websites. Additionally, Cloudflare for Campaigns, introduced in 2020, collaborates with political organizations to secure campaigns and state parties from digital threats.
Throughout 2024, Cloudflare’s partnerships with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative focused on strengthening cybersecurity awareness among election officials, conducting over 50 security briefings nationwide. Despite multiple DDoS attacks in the lead-up to the election—targeting both Republican and Democratic websites—Cloudflare’s defenses maintained system availability, allowing voters uninterrupted access to critical election information.
