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Security report for darpa.mil

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency · Government · United States

Low risk. 3 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and SSL/TLS.

Security score

79/100

Risk levelLow

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

DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is a U.S. Department of Defense agency focused on pioneering advanced research and technology development to create technological surprise for national security. The website reflects a mature, well-established government entity with a clear mission, extensive collaboration with academia, industry, and government partners, and a portfolio of cutting-edge research programs and challenges. The site targets a broad audience including researchers, contractors, small businesses, and investors interested in defense technology innovation. Technically, the website is built on Drupal CMS with ReactJS components, uses Google Tag Manager and reCAPTCHA for security and analytics, and follows modern web design and accessibility standards. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforced and no visible vulnerabilities, though some security headers could be explicitly added. Privacy compliance is moderate with a clear privacy policy but no visible cookie consent mechanism. Overall, the site is professional, trustworthy, and well-maintained.

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

3 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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

  2. 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 Protocols Supported

      Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

      What to do: Disable TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, and all SSL versions

      • CWE-327
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V12.1.1

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

Keep watching darpa.mil

This scan found 18 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
72
Security headers
80
Email security
85
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
79

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

DARPA holds a leading position in the defense research sector, operating as a government agency with a large-scale, enterprise-level presence. Its business model revolves around funding and managing high-risk, high-reward R&D projects that often lead to breakthrough technologies. The agency engages a diverse ecosystem of partners including startups, academia, government bodies, and industry contractors. The website content and structure emphasize collaboration, innovation, and transition of technologies to practical use. The presence of multiple technical offices and programs indicates a broad and evolving research portfolio. DARPA's market position is unique as a government entity driving foundational technology development for national security.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced, use of Google reCAPTCHA to protect forms, and no exposed sensitive data. While explicit security headers like X-Frame-Options and X-Content-Type-Options are not visible in the HTML, it is likely they are configured at the server level. No vulnerable or outdated libraries were detected. The absence of a public incident response or vulnerability disclosure page is a minor gap. Overall, the site aligns well with government security standards but could improve transparency on security policies and cookie consent.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and visibly document security headers such as X-Frame-Options and X-Content-Type-Options to enhance protection against clickjacking and MIME sniffing.
  2. Add a cookie consent banner or mechanism to comply with privacy regulations and improve user transparency.
  3. Publish an incident response policy or security contact information to facilitate vulnerability reporting and improve trust.
  4. Consider adding a security.txt file or vulnerability disclosure policy to encourage responsible reporting of security issues.
  5. Regularly audit third-party scripts and tracking tools to ensure minimal privacy impact and compliance with evolving regulations.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
Description
Since 1958, DARPA has held to an enduring mission: To create technological surprise for U.S. national security.
Key services
Research programs, Challenges, Technology transition, Collaboration with academia, industry, government
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Drupal CMS, ReactJS, Google reCAPTCHA, Google Tag Manager, jQuery
Frameworks
Drupal 10.5.2, USWDS (U.S. Web Design System)
Performance
moderate
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of Google reCAPTCHA for forms
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • No vulnerable libraries detected

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (via Google Tag Manager)
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

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. Department of Defense research agency website
  2. Comprehensive content about programs, challenges, and collaboration
  3. Strong branding and consistent design
  4. No signs of phishing or malicious activity
  5. No exposed sensitive information
  6. Use of modern web technologies and accessibility standards
  7. Limited direct contact info but includes contact form
  8. No explicit cookie consent mechanism found
  9. No visible terms of service or security policy pages
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on Drupal 10.5.2 with ReactJS components, leveraging the U.S. Web Design System (USWDS) for consistent government styling. It uses Google Tag Manager and Google reCAPTCHA for analytics and security. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and accessibility features. Performance is moderate, likely due to rich media content and dynamic components. The technical stack is modern and well-maintained, with no visible deprecated or vulnerable libraries. Hosting appears to be government-managed or contracted, ensuring compliance with federal standards. Opportunities exist to enhance security headers and privacy mechanisms to further strengthen the technical posture.
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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