AWS Public Sector Blog

AWS expands its Defending Digital Campaigns offering for the 2026 election cycle

AWS expands its Defending Digital Campaigns offering for the 2026 election cycle

For the 2026 U.S. midterm election cycle, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is continuing to work with Defending Digital Campaigns (DDC) to provide more than 20 cybersecurity-related services at low or no cost to active and registered national party committees and federal candidate campaigns for the U.S. House and Senate.

This post describes the program for the 2026 cycle, the services it covers, and how eligible campaigns and committees can enroll. Since AWS first joined DDC in 2020 and expanded the offering in 2022 and again in 2024, eligible campaigns and committees of any size and on either side of the aisle have used these services to protect the data, identities, and applications they rely on through Election Day.

DDC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, non-aligned organization that helps eligible federal political campaigns and committees access cybersecurity products, services, and information regardless of party affiliation. The Federal Election Commission has granted DDC special permission to operate this model so that all eligible campaigns and committees can receive consistent support within the bounds of campaign finance law.

Updates and highlights

The 2026 program refreshes the AWS service catalog available to eligible campaigns and committees through DDC. Here are three services to highlight this cycle:

  • AWS Security Agent – New for 2026 – Announced at AWS re:Invent 2025, AWS Security Agent is an agentic AI assistant that helps customers proactively secure their applications throughout the development lifecycle. It supports workflows that map directly to common campaign needs: on-demand penetration testing that produces validated vulnerabilities and reproducible exploit paths, design security reviews that analyze architecture and technical designs for security risks, and automated code security reviews on pull requests with inline remediation guidance. Eligible campaigns and committees enrolled in DDC can now use AWS Security Agent at no cost during the program window.
  • AWS Shield Advanced – Provides managed distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) protection for campaign websites, donor portals, and any other internet-facing application during the high-traffic windows that surround a national election. The DDC offering provides up to a 60-day program window with no long-term commitment.
  • AWS Wickr – Provides end-to-end encrypted messaging, voice and video calling, file sharing, and screen sharing for campaign teams. AWS Wickr holds a Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Provisional Authorization at Impact Level 5 in AWS GovCloud under the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Cloud Computing Security Requirements Guide (SRG), and Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) High authorization in AWS GovCloud (US). It’s in active use across the DoD, including a U.S. Air Force deployment of Wickr RAM through Air Force Cloud One and Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), and a U.S. Army rollout that, as of January 2026, was approaching 100,000 registered users. Eligible organizations should work with their AWS account team to enroll in AWS Wickr.

In addition to these three, the program covers a broader set of identity, network, data, and operational security services. The full complement of services is listed later in this post.

Why this matters for the 2026 cycle

Election campaigns and committees continue to be high-value targets for nation-state actors, financially motivated criminal groups, and opportunistic intruders. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) 2024 Internet Crime Report recorded 859,532 complaints with $16.6 billion in reported losses, a 33% increase from 2023.

Phishing and spoofing was the most-reported crime type by volume, with 193,407 complaints, and government impersonation accounted for $405 million in losses. Adding to that picture, the FBI warned in May 2025 that malicious actors are using AI-generated voice messages and text messages to impersonate senior U.S. officials and target their contacts—a tactic that translates directly to the campaign-staff threat model.

Campaigns operate on compressed timelines with lean staff, and they often lack the security headcount or budget that an enterprise has on hand year-round. Through this collaboration with DDC, campaigns of any size can access the same kinds of foundational security services larger organizations already rely on.

Campaigns operate with small staffs and tight timelines. Access to enterprise-grade security tools is something they need, not something they can usually afford. The continued collaboration between AWS and DDC puts essential security in the hands of every eligible campaign—at no cost. — Michael Kaiser, President and CEO, Defending Digital Campaigns

Services included in the 2026 offering

Eligible campaigns and committees can use these services through the program window. Each link goes to the service’s product page on aws.amazon.com.

Who is eligible and how to enroll

Eligibility is determined by DDC, in line with Federal Election Commission guidance and DDC’s own program rules. The program is available to active and registered:

  • National party committees of major political parties
  • Federal candidate campaigns for the U.S. House and Senate
  • Other federal-level committees that meet DDC’s program criteria

Eligible campaigns and committees can visit AWS Security Services for Federal Political Campaigns to enroll. To learn more about DDC, contact DDC directly to confirm eligibility and request access. Existing AWS customers can also reach out to their account team or the AWS Public Sector team to discuss next steps after DDC has confirmed eligibility.

Conclusion

Election campaigns of every size deserve access to current, well-maintained security services. The 2026 refresh of the AWS offering through DDC—including AWS Security Agent—is intended to help campaigns and committees focus on running their operations and reaching voters with one fewer thing to worry about.

Democracy works when candidates and campaigns can focus on engaging voters, not worrying about protecting themselves from cyber threats. Our continued collaboration with DDC reflects the civic responsibility of AWS, making essential security accessible to every eligible campaign, regardless of party affiliation and budget. — Kim Majerus, Vice President of Global Education and Local Government, AWS

To learn more about DDC, visit defendcampaigns.org. To learn more about how AWS supports election cybersecurity, refer to prior posts on the AWS Public Sector Blog covering the 2022 and 2024 updates.

Leo Zhadanovsky

Leo Zhadanovsky

Leo Zhadanovsky is the Chief Technologist for Elections, Education, and State & Local Government at AWS, where he leads the company’s election-security program across presidential and midterm cycles. He has presented at every AWS re:Invent since 2012 and delivered keynotes at conferences from Dublin to Stockholm. Before joining AWS, he was a director of systems engineering supporting national political campaigns and committees, where he helped build the cloud infrastructure behind one of the first cloud-native presidential campaigns in U.S. history. In his free time, he enjoys cycling around Los Angeles, traveling, and perfecting the crema on his espresso.

Lawrence Gohar

Lawrence Gohar

Lawrence Gohar is a Senior Solutions Architect for Corrections on the AWS Worldwide Public Sector Justice & Public Safety team and previously served as the technology leader of the AWS Elections team. He co-runs the AWS Defending Digital Campaigns program and the elections incident-response Tiger Team, drawing on nearly three decades of experience in IT, infrastructure engineering, DevOps, and technical leadership. Before joining AWS, he was director of IT for a national political organization, where he worked to strengthen its cybersecurity posture through a presidential election cycle. Outside of work, he enjoys traveling, restoring vintage computers, and extolling the many virtues of his native New Jersey.