Open Enrollment Is Where Digital Strategy Gets Tested. Are You Ready?
Akamai Technologies, Thursday, October 8th, 2026
Akamai outlines how health payers can prepare their infrastructure and security for the traffic and attack surge of open enrollment.
Akamai notes that open enrollment packs peak member traffic and heavier attacker activity into the same few weeks, straining payer websites and security teams.
It cites 24.3 million consumers selecting Marketplace coverage in the 2025 open enrollment, a 13% rise, and earlier Akamai research showing API attack traffic spiking at the start of Q4.
With payers scaling from hundreds to hundreds of thousands of concurrent users, the post recommends edge-to-core readiness - traffic management, DDoS and bot defense, API security, microsegmentation and application security posture management - well before enrollment opens.