Cloudflare’s Impact programs have reached a significant milestone, providing over $100 million in donated cybersecurity services to thousands of organizations worldwide, as detailed by Cloudflare. These initiatives focus on protecting entities serving the public interest, including journalism outlets, civil society groups, state and local governments, election management bodies, and public schools from a range of cyber threats.
Protecting Public Interest Organizations from Cyberattacks
The genesis of Cloudflare’s Impact programs stemmed from the realization that many free users were engaged in critical work, such as reporting on corruption or international conflicts, while simultaneously facing some of the most intense cyberattacks on the network. This led to the launch of Project Galileo in 2014, specifically designed to offer advanced security services to vulnerable, high-profile organizations like journalists, human rights defenders, and civil society groups. Today, Project Galileo supports over 3,500 domains across more than 120 countries, actively defending against various attack vectors.
In 2025 alone, Cloudflare reported blocking more than 38.5 billion cyberattacks targeting Project Galileo participants, equating to approximately 105.4 million attacks daily. These attacks encompassed DDoS incidents, attempts to exploit website vulnerabilities, and email phishing campaigns. The disproportionate targeting of civil society organizations is a critical concern; Project Galileo participants experienced attempts to exploit security vulnerabilities in websites at a rate seven times higher than average Cloudflare users, underscoring the vital role of these protective programs.
Cloudflare Impact Programs for Critical Infrastructure Protection
Beyond Project Galileo, Cloudflare has expanded its Impact efforts to safeguard other essential services and infrastructure:
- The Athenian Project (2017): Dedicated to supporting state and local governments in operating democratic elections. This program now protects over 440 websites in 33 U.S. states and has expanded internationally to secure election management bodies in eight other countries, including Canada and Moldova.
- Cloudflare for Campaigns (2020): In partnership with Defending Digital Campaigns, this initiative provides free cybersecurity services for candidates running for public office, currently covering more than 530 websites across the United States.
- Critical Infrastructure Expansion: Additional programs extend protection to public schools, COVID-19 response efforts, the government of Ukraine, public health clinics, and community networks, ensuring their online resilience against sophisticated threats.
Looking forward, Cloudflare’s Impact programs are also evolving to address emerging challenges, particularly in the era of AI. This includes initiatives like protecting local news organizations from AI crawlers. Cloudflare now offers free access to its Bot Management and AI Crawl Control tools for Project Galileo participants, including over 750 journalists and independent news organizations. These tools enable these groups to understand and control how AI crawlers access their content, safeguarding their reporting from unauthorized scraping and manipulation.
Actionable Recommendations for Public Interest Organizations
Organizations operating in the public interest, particularly those in civil society, journalism, or critical infrastructure, are highly attractive targets for various threat actors. Given the observed intensity and frequency of attacks against these sectors, proactive cybersecurity measures are paramount. Organizations that meet the eligibility criteria for Cloudflare’s Impact programs, such as Project Galileo, the Athenian Project, or Cloudflare for Campaigns, are strongly encouraged to apply for these free or significantly subsidized services. Leveraging these specialized protections can significantly enhance an organization’s defense posture against DDoS attacks, website vulnerability exploits, phishing attempts, and unauthorized data scraping by AI systems.
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