The offer comes after the NSA discovered Russian intelligence agencies infiltrating Iranian hacking networks to attack other countries
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-N.D., discusses the possibility of an Iranian cyberattack in response to the killing of top Iranian general Soleimani.
Website security company Cloudflare announced Wednesday it is offering free security services to U.S. political campaigns.
Eligible campaigns will have free access to security tools like firewall protection, denial-of-service (DDoS) attack mitigation and internal data management and security controls, Cloudflare said in a press release.
"Given the increase and sophistication of foreign election interference efforts, there is a clear need to help campaigns improve the security of not only their websites and other public-facing assets, but also their internal data security systems and teams," Couldflare founder and CEO Matthew Prince said in a statement.
"This is our way of providing best practices and no-brainer solutions to not only large campaigns, but also smaller, but equally important campaigns that may have limited resources," he added.
The offer comes after the National Security Agency (NSA) and its British equivalent in October discovered that Russian intelligence agencies were infiltrating Iranian hacking networks and attacking more than 35 countries under the guise of Iran, highlighting Russia's growing technological capabilities in influencing foreign matters.
"Identifying those responsible for attacks can be very difficult, but the weight of evidence points towards the Turla group being behind this campaign," the U.K.'s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) Director of Operations said in an Oct. 21 statement. "We want to send a clear message that even when cyber actors seek to mask their identity, our capabilities will ultimately identify them."
The offer also comes after many experts have speculated the possibility of a cyberattack from Iran against the U.S. after President Trump ordered a missile strike to kill the Iranian Revolutionary Guard general Qasem Soleimani on Jan. 3 -- just months ahead of the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
Cloudflare's offer, in coordination with campaign website nonprofit Defending Digital Campaigns (DCC), to eligible political campaigns would protect employees and volunteers from potential scammers and hackers trying to get access to confidential information.
"Political campaigns, like any organization, need a comprehensive approach to cybersecurity," DDC President and CEO Michael Kaiser said in a statement.
"Securing a candidate's website, their critical public-facing presence, and hardening access to key internal applications can vastly improve cybersecurity. Defending Digital Campaigns, with a mission to make campaigns more cyber secure, is proud to partner with Cloudflare to protect both external and internal technology assets across the campaign ecosystem," he added.