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Security report for copyright.gov

U.S. Copyright Office · Government · United States

Medium risk. 4 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 U.S. Copyright Office website serves as the official portal for copyright registration, recordation, licensing, and research services provided by the U.S. government. It targets creators, legal professionals, researchers, and the general public seeking authoritative copyright information and services. The site is well-positioned as the primary federal authority on copyright matters, offering comprehensive resources and tools to support copyright law compliance and education. Technically, the website employs a modern and stable technology stack including Bootstrap, jQuery, Popper.js, and Adobe's tag management and analytics tools. It is hosted behind Cloudflare DNS and uses HTTPS with strong SSL configuration, ensuring secure and reliable access. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible, with good SEO practices and clear navigation. From a security perspective, the site demonstrates strong fundamentals such as HTTPS enforcement and no visible vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data. However, it lacks DNSSEC and explicit security headers, and does not provide a public security policy or incident response contact. Privacy compliance is partial, with a clear privacy policy but no cookie consent mechanism despite tracking scripts. Overall, the website is highly trustworthy and professional, reflecting its status as a government entity. The risk profile is low, with recommendations focusing on enhancing security headers, DNS security, and privacy compliance to further strengthen user trust and regulatory adherence.

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

4 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. 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 copyright.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

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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
75
Security headers
55
Email security
70
DNS health
70
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 copyright.gov, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
5,244
Employees
0
Customers
5,201
Third parties
43
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 copyright.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

The U.S. Copyright Office operates as a government agency under the Library of Congress, providing essential copyright services including registration, recordation, licensing, and public records access. Its market position is unique and authoritative within the U.S. government sector. The business model is service-oriented, funded by government appropriations and fees for services. The target customers include creators, legal professionals, researchers, and the public. The agency maintains partnerships with related government domains and services such as the Copyright Claims Board and public records systems. Growth indicators include modernization efforts and digital toolkits. The website reflects a mature digital presence with consistent branding and comprehensive content supporting its mission.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and no visible critical vulnerabilities. The use of Cloudflare DNS and modern libraries reduces exposure to common threats. However, the absence of DNSSEC and security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and Strict-Transport-Security represents areas for improvement. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure information is publicly available, which could hinder rapid response to security events. Privacy compliance is partial, with no cookie consent mechanism despite tracking technologies. Overall, the security maturity is good but could be enhanced by adopting additional best practices and transparency measures.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement and publish security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Content-Type-Options, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  3. Publish a security policy and provide clear incident response contact information to improve transparency and trust.
  4. Add a cookie consent mechanism to comply with privacy regulations and inform users about tracking.
  5. Regularly review and update third-party libraries and tracking tools to ensure no vulnerabilities are introduced.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
U.S. Copyright Office
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
U.S. Copyright Office
Description
The U.S. Copyright Office provides copyright registration, recordation, and public records services, along with legal and policy information related to copyright law in the United States.
Key services
Copyright registration, Recordation of copyright documents, Public records search, Legal and policy information dissemination, Licensing services, Research services
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Bootstrap 4.4.1, jQuery 3.5.1, Popper.js 1.16.0, Font Awesome 4.7.0, Adobe DTM (Dynamic Tag Manager), USA.gov search integration, Cloudflare DNS
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of secure external libraries with integrity attributes
  • No visible vulnerable libraries

Analytics and tracking

Services
Adobe Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Adobe DTM
Marketing tools
Adobe DTM, USA.gov search
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 domain
  2. Comprehensive copyright-related services and information
  3. Professional and consistent branding and design
  4. No signs of malicious or suspicious content
  5. No visible privacy or cookie consent banners despite tracking scripts
  6. Use of modern web technologies and frameworks
  7. No exposed sensitive data or security vulnerabilities detected
  8. WHOIS data privacy protection is justified and domain age supports legitimacy
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a stable and modern technology stack centered on Bootstrap 4.4.1, jQuery 3.5.1, and Popper.js for responsive design and interactivity. It integrates Adobe Dynamic Tag Manager and Adobe Analytics for tracking and marketing insights. Hosting is supported by Cloudflare DNS, enhancing availability and security. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible, with good SEO metadata and structured navigation. Performance is moderate, likely due to external dependencies and tracking scripts. There is no detected CMS, suggesting a custom or government-managed platform. Technical risks include lack of DNSSEC and missing security headers, which should be addressed to reduce attack surface.
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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