Cloudflare co-founder and CEO Matthew Prince Credit – Courtesy Cloudflare
Cyber attacks were not in the headlines during the 2024 U.S. presidential election, thanks in part to cybersecurity firm Cloudflare, which it says blocked over 6 billion election-related threats the week of Nov. 5 alone. One of the world’s largest network infrastructure and security firms, Cloudflare shores up about a fifth of the internet. It helps the owners of websites and apps keep service fast, as well as safe from the near-constant barrage of bad actors who exploit weaknesses to steal information or simply overwhelm online properties for financial or political gain. “We’re able to sit in that stream of traffic, see all of the different requests that come to it, and be able to stop that,” says Matthew Prince, cofounder and CEO. “We’re sort of like the bodyguard of the internet.” In 2024, it counted Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden as clients, in addition to candidates or authorities in six countries that also held elections. Cloudflare currently gifts its highest subscription tier to more than half of U.S. states as well as local governments for free through its ongoing Athenian Project.
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