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Security report for cyber.gov.au

Australian Cyber Security Centre · Government · Australia

Partial score · DNS & email only

63/100

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

The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) operates the cyber.gov.au website as the primary national cybersecurity authority for Australia. It provides comprehensive cybersecurity advice, incident reporting, educational resources, and partner services to Australian citizens, businesses, and government agencies. The website reflects a strong government presence with consistent branding and a focus on public awareness and protection. Technically, the site is built on Drupal 10 using the GovCMS platform, optimized for mobile and accessibility, and integrates modern technologies such as Google Tag Manager and reCAPTCHA v3. The site demonstrates good performance and SEO practices, with a secure HTTPS configuration and robust security headers. Security posture is strong, with no detected vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data. The site enforces HTTPS, uses CAPTCHA for forms, and anonymizes IPs in analytics. Privacy compliance is well addressed with clear privacy and cookie policies, including consent mechanisms and GDPR considerations. However, the absence of a security.txt file and explicit Data Protection Officer contact details are areas for improvement. Overall, the website presents a low risk profile with high trustworthiness due to its government affiliation and professional implementation. The lack of WHOIS data limits full domain registration verification but the .gov.au domain strongly supports legitimacy.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 100 · Medium
Checks completed
6of 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. 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.

    • Critical

      Unable to retrieve SSL certificate

      Could not establish secure connection to retrieve certificate information

      What to do: Check if the server is accessible and SSL/TLS is properly configured

  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

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

Keep watching cyber.gov.au

This scan found 10 issues across 5 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
0
Email security
85
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
63

Not counted

  • Security headers: did not complete in this scan.
  • 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 cyber.gov.au, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
12
Employees
0
Customers
11
Third parties
1
Weak passwords
17%

1 subdomain affected

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 cyber.gov.au.

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 ACSC holds a critical position in Australia's cybersecurity ecosystem as a government entity under the Australian Signals Directorate. Its business model focuses on public service, cybersecurity awareness, incident response facilitation, and partnership engagement. The website supports multiple user segments including individuals, small businesses, and government partners. Revenue is not applicable as it is a government service. The site’s partnership ecosystem includes a dedicated partner portal, enhancing collaboration. Growth indicators include continuous content updates, alerts, and advisories. Strategic observations highlight the importance of maintaining trust and security culture given the sensitive nature of cybersecurity information.

Security posture

The ACSC website exhibits a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, comprehensive security headers, and use of anti-bot measures like reCAPTCHA v3. No vulnerabilities or sensitive data leaks were detected in the HTML content. Privacy policies and cookie consent mechanisms align with GDPR and Australian privacy laws. Incident response is facilitated via a dedicated reporting portal. Compliance with recognized frameworks such as ISO 27001 is indicated. Gaps include the absence of a security.txt file and explicit Data Protection Officer contact information. Overall, the site is well-prepared for cybersecurity threats and demonstrates a strong security culture.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a security.txt file to facilitate vulnerability disclosure and improve transparency.
  2. Provide explicit contact details for the Data Protection Officer to enhance privacy compliance.
  3. Regularly audit third-party scripts and libraries to mitigate supply chain risks.
  4. Enhance user education on privacy and data protection through visible notices and resources.
  5. Develop a long-term strategy for continuous security posture improvement and incident readiness.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Australian Cyber Security Centre
Description
The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) provides advice and information about cyber security to the Australian public, businesses, and government agencies.
Key services
Cybersecurity advice and alerts, Incident reporting and response, Educational resources and training, Partner portal access
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Drupal 10, GovCMS, Google Tag Manager, Google reCAPTCHA v3, Google Translate widget
Frameworks
Drupal CMS
Platforms
GovCMS (Australian Government CMS platform)
Performance
moderate
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of reCAPTCHA v3 for forms
  • Google Tag Manager with anonymize IP
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure cookie consent mechanism

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Google Analytics via Google Tag Manager
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a well-maintained Australian government cybersecurity portal.
  2. Content is comprehensive and targeted at a broad audience including public and businesses.
  3. Strong use of government branding and secure technologies.
  4. No signs of suspicious or malicious content.
  5. WHOIS data is unavailable, but domain is a .gov.au domain which is restricted to government entities.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern Drupal 10 CMS platform tailored for government use (GovCMS), ensuring compliance with Australian government standards. Integration with Google services such as Tag Manager and reCAPTCHA v3 supports analytics and security. The site is mobile-optimized with good accessibility features and SEO practices. Hosting appears to be government-managed, providing reliable infrastructure. Performance is moderate, with potential for optimization in script loading and caching. Technical risks are minimal but should be monitored through regular security assessments and updates.
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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