Content delivery network provider Cloudflare Inc. today announced that the Cloudflare One suite of zero-trust security tools is available at no cost to at-risk public interest groups, nonprofits, election-related sites and political campaign sites.

Groups that qualify for the offer include public interest groups that are part of Cloudflare’s Project Galileo and local and state election sites that are part of Cloudflare’s Athenian Project. The organizations gain access to Cloudflare’s comprehensive and deeply-integrated zero-trust tools that have previously only been available to large enterprises with deep pockets.

The zero-trust model in cybersecurity ensures all traffic in and out of businesses is verified and authorized and requires strict identity verification for every person and device. It replaces previous security practices where a device or person on a network was assumed to be trusted and had access to anything within that network, creating the problem that when attackers gain access, they have free rein over everything inside.

Cloudflare is offering its zero-trust suite to nonprofits and public interest groups that lack the budget and security expertise needed to thwart sophisticated attacks. Advanced security architecture was previously out of reach but necessary to protect their employees and members.

With access to Cloudflare One, the groups can automatically protect themselves from phishing attacks, ensuring malicious emails are blocked before making it to employees’ inboxes. If a malicious link arrives through other channels and is clicked, Cloudflare’s Browser Isolation and DNS filtering stops the query before the malicious destination can load.

Groups gain access to remote working tools that connect all employees, applications, partners and volunteers wherever they are located while controlling who can access which application or service. Administrators can control which partners and volunteers can reach specific applications and resources while logging every attempt.

Cloudflare One also provides an encrypted, secured on-ramp to the entire internet and keeps sensitive data from leaving the organization. The service blocks connections to malicious destinations, scans for malware and stops malicious downloads before a user can open them.

“Cloudflare is the only security provider ensuring that zero trust is accessible to those most in need – the vulnerable groups in our society, journalists and nonprofits, as well as the sites that ensure we have trusted, free and fair elections in the United States,” Matthew Prince, co-founder and chief executive officer of Cloudflare, said in a statement. “These organizations face constant threats and need to be safe online to achieve their missions – and now they’ll have access to the same security architecture that Fortune 1000 companies are using.”

Image: Cloudflare