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Security report for archives.gov

National Archives and Records Administration · Government · United States

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

69/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the official U.S. government agency responsible for preserving and providing access to federal records and historical documents. The website serves a broad audience including researchers, veterans, educators, and the general public, offering services such as military records requests, educational resources, and access to presidential libraries. The site is positioned as the authoritative archival institution for the United States government. Technically, the website is built on Drupal CMS with Bootstrap for responsive design, integrating modern analytics tools like Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and Crazy Egg for user behavior insights. The site demonstrates good mobile optimization, accessibility, and SEO practices, with structured data enhancing search engine understanding. Performance is moderate, with room for optimization. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and uses secure forms, but lacks visible security headers and published security policies or incident response contacts. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. Privacy compliance is strong with a comprehensive privacy policy, though cookie consent mechanisms are absent. The WHOIS data is unavailable, typical for .gov domains, but the domain's .gov status strongly supports legitimacy. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and well-maintained, with minor recommendations to enhance security headers, cookie consent, and transparency around security policies to further strengthen its posture.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 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

5 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 Policy found

      GDPR requires clear information about cookie usage

      What to do: Add a dedicated cookie policy explaining cookie usage and purposes

    • 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. DNS health

    DNS sends visitors and email to the right servers. Misconfigured records can cause outages or let someone redirect your traffic.

    • High

      Unregistered MX Record

      MX record points to unregistered domain: us.etp.fireeyegov.com

      What to do: Remove or fix MX record pointing to unregistered domain

      • RFC 5321 §5.1
      • NIS2 21(2)(i)
      • IR 2024/2690 12.4: Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690, Annex point 12.4: Asset inventory
      • NIST CM-8: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CM-8: System Component Inventory
    • High

      Potential Subdomain Takeover

      Subdomain dev.archives.gov points to unregistered service archives-gov-dev-publicelb-197081278.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com

      What to do: Remove or fix CNAME record to prevent subdomain takeover

      • WSTG-CONF-10
      • NIS2 21(2)(i)
      • IR 2024/2690 12.4: Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690, Annex point 12.4: Asset inventory
      • NIST CM-8: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CM-8: System Component Inventory

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

Keep watching archives.gov

This scan found 21 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.

Daily monitoring

Recommended

€25per month

  • 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
85
Security headers
55
Email security
70
DNS health
50
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
69

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

NARA operates as a large government entity with a clear mission to preserve U.S. historical records. Its market position is unique as the sole official archival institution for federal records. The business model is service-oriented, funded by government budgets, focusing on public access and educational outreach. The website supports multiple user segments including veterans, educators, and researchers, indicating a broad target audience. Partnerships with presidential libraries and archival foundations enhance its ecosystem. The site’s extensive content and digital presence reflect a mature digital strategy aligned with government transparency and public service objectives.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with mandatory HTTPS and secure form handling. However, the absence of key security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and Strict-Transport-Security represents an area for improvement. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure information is published, which could hinder rapid response to security events. Privacy practices are robust with a comprehensive privacy policy, but lack of cookie consent mechanisms may pose compliance risks under GDPR. Overall, the site is secure but could benefit from enhanced security transparency and technical controls.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive HTTP security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  2. Add a cookie consent banner or mechanism to comply fully with GDPR and other privacy regulations.
  3. Publish a clear security policy and incident response contact information to improve transparency and trust.
  4. Consider creating and publishing a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting.
  5. Optimize site performance and loading times to improve user experience and SEO.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
National Archives and Records Administration
Description
The National Archives and Records Administration preserves and provides access to the records of the U.S. government, including documents, photos, and historical records.
Key services
Research access to historical records, Veterans’ military service records, Educational resources, Presidential libraries, Public exhibits and events
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Crazy Egg, jQuery, Bootstrap, Drupal CMS, AddToAny sharing
Frameworks
Bootstrap, Drupal
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure forms with POST method

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Crazy Egg
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Crazy Egg
Marketing tools
AddToAny
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Official U.S. government archival website with comprehensive content.
  2. No signs of blocking or WAF interference.
  3. Strong use of structured data and metadata for SEO and transparency.
  4. Good mobile and accessibility features.
  5. No exposed sensitive data or security vulnerabilities detected in HTML.
  6. WHOIS data is unavailable or privacy protected, typical for .gov domains.
  7. No explicit privacy or cookie consent banner found, but privacy policy is comprehensive.
  8. Multiple trusted external links to government and archival partner sites.
  9. Use of common analytics and tracking tools with moderate user tracking.
Technical notes

Notes

The site uses Drupal CMS with Bootstrap framework, leveraging modern JavaScript libraries and analytics tools. The technology stack is standard for government websites, ensuring maintainability and scalability. The site includes structured data (JSON-LD) for SEO and metadata for social sharing (Open Graph, Twitter Cards). Performance is moderate, with potential improvements in resource loading and caching. Accessibility features are implemented, supporting a wide range of users. No outdated or vulnerable libraries were detected in the provided HTML content.
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

Earlier scans of this domain

  1. 70/100 −1Medium28 findingsView report
  2. 71/100Medium23 findingsView report
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