Skip to main content

Security report for cityoffrederickmd.gov

City of Frederick, MD · Government · United States

Medium risk. 7 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

64/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The City of Frederick, MD official website serves as a comprehensive portal for municipal government services, public information, and community engagement. It targets residents, businesses, and visitors by providing access to services such as payments, public meetings, parks and recreation, police information, and permits. The website is positioned as the authoritative digital presence for the city government, offering a broad range of resources and links to related government entities and services. Technically, the website utilizes a CivicPlus CMS platform with modern JavaScript libraries including jQuery and AlpineJS. It integrates Google Tag Manager and Microsoft Application Insights for analytics and telemetry. The site is mobile responsive with basic accessibility features and moderate performance. Hosting and DNS are managed by reputable providers, though DNSSEC is not enabled. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and includes anti-forgery tokens in forms, but lacks visible security headers and DNSSEC. There is no published privacy policy, cookie consent mechanism, or security incident response information, which are gaps in compliance and transparency. The domain is a .gov domain with privacy-protected WHOIS data, consistent with government usage and legitimacy. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and functional, but would benefit from enhanced privacy compliance, security header implementation, and clearer user privacy disclosures to improve its security posture and regulatory adherence.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
35/ 100 · High
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

7 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 Strict-Transport-Security header

      Forces HTTPS connections

      What to do: Add "Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload"

      • CWE-319
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V3.4.1
    • High

      Missing X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

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

  2. GDPR outside view

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

    • High

      No Privacy Policy found

      GDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy

      What to do: Add a comprehensive privacy policy page and link to it prominently

    • 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

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

Keep watching cityoffrederickmd.gov

This scan found 26 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
62
Security headers
40
Email security
70
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
35
Average
64

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 City of Frederick operates as a municipal government entity providing essential public services and information to its community. Its digital presence supports transparency, civic engagement, and service delivery. The website's integration with government job portals, mapping services, and state government links indicates a well-connected ecosystem. The business model is non-commercial, focused on public service rather than revenue generation. The site’s market position is as the primary official source for city-related information and services, with a medium-sized audience comprising local residents and businesses. The use of privacy protection in WHOIS is justified for government security. The site’s partnerships with state and county government domains enhance its credibility and service reach.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate security maturity level with HTTPS enforced and anti-forgery tokens implemented, reducing risks of data interception and CSRF attacks. However, the absence of DNSSEC, security headers (such as CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options), and published security policies limits its defense-in-depth. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure information is available, which could hinder timely response to security events. The use of reputable DNS and hosting providers is a positive factor. Overall, the security posture is adequate for a government informational site but requires improvements to meet best practices and compliance standards.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC to secure DNS queries and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement standard security headers including Content Security Policy, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options.
  3. Publish a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie consent mechanism to comply with GDPR and other privacy regulations.
  4. Provide clear security policy and incident response contact information to improve transparency and readiness.
  5. Regularly audit and update third-party libraries to avoid vulnerabilities and improve performance.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
City of Frederick, MD
Description
Official website of the City of Frederick, Maryland providing government services, public information, community events, and resources for residents and businesses.
Key services
Resident Services, Business Services, Government Information, Departments Directory, Online Payments, Public Meetings, Employment Opportunities, Maps and Apps, Parks and Recreation, Police Department
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery 2.2.4, jQuery UI 1.14.1, AlpineJS 3.14.1, Google Tag Manager, Microsoft Application Insights, CivicPlus CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • ServerTransferProhibited domain status
  • Anti-forgery token implemented in forms
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (via Google Tag Manager), Microsoft Application Insights
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Microsoft Application Insights
Marketing tools
Microsoft Application Insights
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Official municipal government website with comprehensive public services information
  2. No privacy or cookie policy found on homepage or footer
  3. Contact information is present but no contact forms detected
  4. Uses modern JavaScript libraries and analytics tools
  5. No visible security policy or incident response information
  6. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt found
  7. Good mobile responsiveness and accessibility basics
  8. No suspicious or malicious content detected
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on the CivicPlus CMS platform, leveraging jQuery, jQuery UI, and AlpineJS for frontend interactivity. It uses Google Fonts and Google Tag Manager for typography and analytics, respectively, alongside Microsoft Application Insights for telemetry. The site is mobile responsive with a structured navigation menu and accessible search functionality. Performance is moderate, with some deferred script loading and use of CDN-hosted resources. The domain is registered with get.gov and uses DNS Made Easy for DNS management. The site lacks DNSSEC and security headers, which are technical risks. Overall, the infrastructure is stable but could benefit from modernization and enhanced security configurations.
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

Reviews of this site

Share your experience with cityoffrederickmd.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 cityoffrederickmd.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.