Skip to main content

Security report for cdc.gov

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · Government · United States

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

Security score

71/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) operates as the leading national public health agency in the United States, providing authoritative information on disease prevention, health topics, and outbreak monitoring. The website serves a broad general audience including healthcare professionals, policymakers, and the public, delivering comprehensive and accessible health information. The CDC's market position as a government agency is well-established, supported by a long domain history and consistent branding. Technically, the CDC website employs modern web technologies such as Bootstrap 5, jQuery, and Google Analytics, hosted on Akamai infrastructure, ensuring fast performance and excellent mobile optimization. The site demonstrates strong accessibility and SEO practices, with clear navigation and professional design. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS with a valid SSL certificate, uses sanitization libraries like DOMPurify, and secures forms appropriately. However, DNSSEC is not enabled, and some security headers are not explicitly observed, suggesting room for improvement. Privacy compliance is robust with comprehensive privacy and cookie policies, though no explicit cookie consent mechanism is present. Overall, the CDC website is highly trustworthy, secure, and professionally maintained, with no indications of malicious content or vulnerabilities. Strategic recommendations include enabling DNSSEC, adding security headers, implementing cookie consent, and publishing a security.txt file to enhance vulnerability disclosure and security 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 X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

      What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"

    • 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. 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 SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

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

Keep watching cdc.gov

This scan found 20 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

Email alerts on material changes and an exportable JSON history of every change.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. The full timeline opens with your unlock code.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

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
80
Security headers
30
Email security
85
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
71

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

Breach exposure

Leaked credentials and lookalike domains from OffSeq Breach. The counts are free; the detailed lists are paid add-ons.

Dark web exposure

Add-on

Leaked records that mention cdc.gov, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
5,200
Employees
35
Customers
4,933
Third parties
232
Weak passwords
7%

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

A one-off add-on to this report that lists the most recent identifier and password pairs OffSeq Breach holds for cdc.gov.

Select it in the checkout above.

Breach keeps ingesting new leaks, so these numbers can grow between scans.

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

CDC holds a dominant position as a U.S. government agency focused on public health and disease control. Its business model centers on providing free, authoritative health information and resources to the public and professionals. The agency benefits from strong government backing, extensive content offerings, and a broad partnership ecosystem. The website supports multiple languages and offers scientific journals, outbreak updates, and health topic resources, indicating a comprehensive service portfolio. The CDC's digital presence is mature and well-integrated with social media and government platforms, reinforcing its credibility and outreach capabilities.

Security posture

The CDC website exhibits a mature security posture with mandatory HTTPS, secure form handling, and use of sanitization libraries to prevent XSS attacks. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected. The absence of DNSSEC and some security headers represents minor gaps. The presence of a vulnerability disclosure policy via HHS and comprehensive privacy policies indicates compliance awareness. Incident response contact channels are not explicitly listed on the site but are available through HHS. Overall, the site is secure with recommendations to enhance DNS security and header policies.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC to protect against DNS spoofing and improve domain security.
  2. Implement and enforce security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options.
  3. Add a cookie consent mechanism to comply fully with GDPR and other privacy regulations.
  4. Publish a security.txt file to facilitate responsible vulnerability disclosure.
  5. Regularly audit third-party scripts and analytics tools to mitigate supply chain risks.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Description
CDC is the nation's leading science-based, data-driven, service organization that protects the public's health. CDC works 24/7 to protect America from health, safety and security threats, both foreign and in the U.S.
Key services
Public health information, Disease prevention and control, Health topics education, Outbreak monitoring and reporting, Scientific journals publication
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Bootstrap 5, jQuery, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, QRCode.js, DOMPurify
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
excellent
SEO
excellent

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure forms with autocomplete off
  • Use of DOMPurify for sanitization

Analytics and tracking

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

Advertising

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 website with .gov TLD
  2. Comprehensive public health information and resources
  3. Multiple language support including Spanish
  4. Strong branding and consistent design
  5. No signs of malicious or suspicious content
  6. Use of modern web technologies and analytics
  7. No visible security vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data
  8. Privacy and policy pages are present and comprehensive
Technical notes

Notes

The CDC website is built on a modern technology stack including Bootstrap 5 and jQuery, with performance optimized via Akamai CDN. The site is mobile responsive and accessible, with structured metadata and Open Graph tags for SEO and social sharing. Analytics are implemented via Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics, supporting moderate user tracking. The CMS appears to be a custom CDC Web Content Management System (wcms). The site loads quickly and uses best practices for form security and content sanitization. Opportunities exist to modernize security headers and enable DNSSEC for enhanced protection.
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. 76/100Low25 findingsView report
Reviews of this site

Share your experience with cdc.gov. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review cdc.gov.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.