At Simply Voting, availability is essential. Elections must remain accessible to voters, even in the face of deliberate attempts to disrupt them. One of the most common ways attackers try to interfere with online services is through Denial of Service (DoS) or Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, which attempt to overwhelm systems with excessive traffic.
As these attacks have grown larger and more automated across the internet, we recently upgraded our DDoS protection to further strengthen the reliability of our platform.
What Is a DDoS Attack?
A DDoS attack floods a website or service with large volumes of traffic in an attempt to make it unavailable to legitimate users. These attacks can come from many sources at once and can scale very quickly.
For online elections, even brief disruptions are unacceptable. That is why DDoS protection must work automatically and at internet scale.
Our Previous Protection
In the past, Simply Voting used a DDoS protection system that could respond to attacks by redirecting traffic to specialized filtering systems when needed. This approach was effective and helped protect elections during periods of elevated risk.
However, it also relied on switching traffic paths during an attack, which adds complexity at exactly the moment when simplicity matters most.
Our New, Always-On Protection
We have now moved to a newer DDoS protection service provided by our hosting partner, Hut 8 High Performance Computing. It is built on carrier-grade DDoS protection technology from NETSCOUT Arbor. Arbor’s systems are widely used by internet service providers and large enterprises to protect critical online services against large-scale attacks.
Instead of reacting to an attack after it has already begun to affect our systems, traffic is continuously monitored and filtered before it ever reaches our servers. Malicious traffic is blocked automatically, while legitimate voters continue to access the platform normally.
This approach provides several important benefits:
- Always-on protection
The system is active at all times and does not require manual action during an attack. - Early blocking of attack traffic
Harmful traffic is stopped before it can interfere with our infrastructure. - No reliance on traffic redirection
Protection does not depend on switching services or changing configurations during an incident. - Full coverage
All of our internet-facing systems are protected, not just specific endpoints.
Why This Matters for Elections
Elections have predictable timelines and high visibility, which can make them attractive targets for disruption. Our updated approach reduces the risk of outages during critical voting periods and simplifies how attacks are handled behind the scenes.
Most importantly, it helps ensure that voters can access the system when it matters most.
Part of a Broader Security Approach
DDoS protection is one part of Simply Voting’s broader security and reliability strategy. We combine network-level protections with monitoring, access controls, and operational safeguards designed to protect both availability and election integrity.
We continually review and improve these measures as technology and threats evolve.
For more information about how we protect our platform, please visit our Security & Reliability page.
