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Security report for accc.gov.au

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission · Government · Australia

Low risk. 3 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

76/100

Risk levelLow

0–100, higher is better. How it is calculated

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is Australia's national competition regulator and consumer law champion. The ACCC promotes competition, fair trading, and regulates national infrastructure to ensure markets work effectively for all Australians. The website serves as a comprehensive portal for consumers, businesses, and industry stakeholders, offering information on consumer rights, business compliance, public registers, inquiries, and consultations. The ACCC holds a strong market position as a government regulatory agency with a large operational scope across multiple sectors including energy, transport, and banking. Technically, the website is built on Drupal 10, leveraging modern web technologies such as Google Tag Manager and Monsido heatmaps for analytics and user experience optimization. The site is mobile-optimized, accessible, and SEO-friendly, reflecting a mature digital infrastructure. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced and a vulnerability disclosure policy in place, though there is room for improvement in implementing additional HTTP security headers and publishing explicit security policies. Overall, the ACCC website demonstrates high professionalism, trustworthiness, and compliance with privacy regulations including GDPR. The domain is a legitimate Australian government domain managed by the official .au domain administrator, reinforcing its authenticity. No security or content safety concerns were identified, making it a reliable source of regulatory information. Strategic recommendations include enhancing security headers, publishing detailed incident response contacts, and continuing to maintain transparency and user trust through comprehensive policies and clear communication.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
68/ 100 · Medium
Checks completed
7of 7

NIS2 Art. 21(2)

  1. (a) Risk analysis and security policies: Not visible from outside
  2. (b) Incident handling: One indicator
  3. (c) Business continuity, backups and crisis management: Not visible from outside
  4. (d) Supply chain security: Not visible from outside
  5. (e) Secure acquisition, development and maintenance, including vulnerability handling: Partly checked
  6. (f) Assessing the effectiveness of security measures: Not visible from outside
  7. (g) Cyber hygiene and security training: Not visible from outside
  8. (h) Cryptography and encryption: Partly checked
  9. (i) HR security, access control and asset management: One indicator
  10. (j) Multi-factor authentication and secured communications: Not visible from outside

This scan rated NIS2 with an earlier keyword method that is no longer shown; rescan for the per-article view. Risk management, continuity, supply chain, training, MFA, management oversight (Art. 20) and incident reporting (Art. 23) need internal evidence, and Guard cannot tell whether NIS2 applies to this organisation.

GDPR is indicative only, based on publicly visible signals: Articles 7, 12, 13 and 32 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive. Not a certification or legal assessment.

Priority findings

3 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Security headers

    Security headers are instructions your web server sends to every visitor’s browser. Missing ones leave visitors more exposed to attacks such as clickjacking and injected scripts.

    • High

      Missing Content-Security-Policy header

      Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

      What to do: Implement a Content-Security-Policy appropriate for your application

      • ASVS V3.4.3
      • OWASP Secure Headers: OWASP Secure Headers Project recommends Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'; form-action 'self'; base-uri 'self'; object-src 'none';…

  2. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • High

      No Cookie Consent Banner found

      GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies

      What to do: Implement a cookie consent banner that appears on first visit

  3. SSL/TLS

    TLS encrypts the connection and proves the site is really yours. Weak or expiring certificates trigger browser warnings and put traffic at risk.

    • High

      Weak Protocols Supported

      Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

      What to do: Disable TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, and all SSL versions

      • CWE-327
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V12.1.1

Need hands-on remediation? Email guard@offseq.com

Keep watching accc.gov.au

This scan found 19 issues across 6 checks. Monitoring re-runs those checks daily, emails you when something material changes and records each fix, so you can show progress.

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  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
  • SPF, DKIM and DMARC
  • Security headers
  • GDPR and NIS2 posture
  • Exposed services
  • Third-party trackers
  • Security score drift

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Results by check

Each check with its score, findings and the evidence it collected.

How this score is calculated

The security score runs 0–100, higher is better. It is the plain average of the security checks that completed in this scan, each counted equally. A check that could not run is left out: it counts neither as a pass nor as a fail.

Counted in this score

SSL/TLS
62
Security headers
55
Email security
95
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
68
Average
76

Not counted

  • NIS2 outside view: Re-weights evidence from the TLS, email, DNS, network and hygiene checks, so counting it would count that evidence twice. Shown on its own.
  • OffSeq Observations: An AI reading of the site, useful context but not reproducible evidence. Shown on its own.

Findings that cap the score at 49

Each of these is serious on its own, so while any is present the site cannot rate better than high risk, however good the other checks are.

  • The certificate is not trusted by browsers
  • The website is not served over HTTPS
  • A database, remote desktop, file-sharing or Telnet service is reachable from the internet
  • The page loads a script from a compromised source
  • The domain registration has expired
  • SPF authorises every server to send mail as the domain

Partial scans

When the site blocks Guard or most checks cannot run, the score covers only the checks that ran (usually DNS and email), is capped at 75 and is shown as partial, without a risk level.

Risk levels

  • Critical0–25
  • High26–49
  • Medium50–75
  • Low76–100

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

The ACCC operates as a government regulatory body with a mandate to oversee competition, consumer protection, and product safety in Australia. Its business model is non-commercial, focusing on regulatory enforcement, public education, and market oversight. The ACCC's target customers include consumers, businesses, industry groups, media, and vulnerable populations such as older Australians and people with disabilities. The agency maintains partnerships with related government sites like Scamwatch and Product Safety Australia, enhancing its ecosystem. Growth indicators include ongoing inquiries and consultations on emerging market issues such as digital platforms and environmental claims. The ACCC's operations are characterized by transparency, public engagement, and adherence to legal frameworks.

Security posture

The ACCC website exhibits a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and no visible exposure of sensitive data. The presence of a vulnerability disclosure policy indicates a proactive approach to security. However, the absence of explicit HTTP security headers such as Content Security Policy (CSP), HSTS, and X-Frame-Options suggests opportunities for strengthening defenses against common web attacks. No vulnerabilities or suspicious patterns were detected in the site content or WHOIS data. Incident response contact information is not explicitly published, which could be improved to enhance readiness. Overall, the site aligns well with best practices for government digital services but can benefit from incremental security enhancements.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive HTTP security headers including CSP, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options to mitigate common web vulnerabilities.
  2. Publish explicit incident response and security policy documentation to improve transparency and readiness.
  3. Enhance cookie consent mechanisms to include explicit user consent options for compliance with evolving privacy regulations.
  4. Regularly audit third-party scripts and tracking tools to minimize privacy risks and ensure compliance.
  5. Maintain and promote the vulnerability disclosure program to encourage responsible reporting and timely remediation.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
Description
The ACCC is Australia's competition regulator and national consumer law champion. They promote competition and fair trading and regulate national infrastructure to make markets work for everyone.
Key services
Competition regulation, Consumer protection, Fair trading promotion, Product safety regulation, Public registers, Inquiries and consultations
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Drupal 10, Google Tag Manager, Monsido heatmaps, jQuery UI Autocomplete
Frameworks
Drupal
Performance
moderate
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
excellent
SEO
excellent

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of vulnerability disclosure policy

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Google Analytics via Google Tag Manager
Marketing tools
Monsido heatmaps
Transparency
good

Site quality

Design
excellent
User experience
excellent
Content relevance
excellent
Navigation
excellent
Professionalism
excellent
Trustworthiness
high

Key observations

  1. Website is official Australian government regulator site.
  2. Content is comprehensive, well-structured, and professionally presented.
  3. No signs of phishing, malware, or suspicious content.
  4. Social media presence is consistent and verified.
  5. No exposed sensitive data or security misconfigurations detected.
  6. WHOIS data is limited but consistent with government domain policies.
  7. No WAF or blocking detected; site fully accessible.
  8. Good privacy and cookie policies with GDPR compliance.
  9. Vulnerability disclosure policy present, enhancing security transparency.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is powered by Drupal 10, a modern and widely supported content management system suitable for government websites. It uses Google Tag Manager for analytics and Monsido for heatmap tracking, indicating a focus on user experience and data-driven improvements. The site is mobile responsive and accessible, with well-structured HTML and meta tags supporting SEO. Performance is moderate, likely due to the comprehensive content and third-party integrations. There is no indication of legacy or vulnerable libraries. Hosting details are not explicitly identified but the domain and infrastructure suggest official government hosting. Opportunities exist to optimize performance further and enhance security headers for a more robust technical posture.
Standards and sources

Reference chips under each finding point to the standard, regulation or specification the finding relates to. They are taken from the official datasets below and mapped conservatively: a finding with no defensible link shows none. NIS2 and GDPR references mark where a finding is relevant evidence, not a compliance verdict. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690 binds digital infrastructure and digital service providers; for other entities it is the most detailed public reading of the Article 21 measures. WCAG, EN 301 549, European Accessibility Act and Web Accessibility Directive references name the requirement an automated accessibility rule relates to; they are not a conformance verdict.

Retrieved 2026-10-25

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