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Security report for defense.gov

U.S. Department of Defense · Government · United States

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

Security score

70/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The U.S. Department of Defense website serves as the official digital presence of America's largest government agency responsible for national security and military forces. It provides comprehensive news, multimedia content, and resources targeted at the general public, military personnel, and government stakeholders. The site maintains a strong market position as a trusted source of defense-related information and services. Technically, the website employs a mature infrastructure using ASP.NET Web Forms with DNN CMS, leveraging modern JavaScript libraries such as jQuery and Vue.js, and integrates multimedia and social media effectively. The site is mobile optimized, accessible, and SEO-friendly, reflecting a high level of digital maturity. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS, uses secure coding practices, and avoids exposing sensitive data. While explicit security headers are not fully documented in the HTML, the overall SSL configuration is excellent. Privacy compliance is moderate, with a comprehensive privacy policy but lacking a cookie consent mechanism. WHOIS data is restricted, typical for government domains, but the domain is highly legitimate. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and secure, with minor areas for improvement in privacy compliance and security header implementation.

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 defense.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

€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
70
Security headers
30
Email security
85
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
70

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 defense.gov, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
231
Employees
0
Customers
167
Third parties
64
Weak passwords
24%

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 defense.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 Department of Defense operates as a critical government entity with a broad ecosystem including the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, Coast Guard, and National Guard. Its business model is service-oriented, focusing on defense readiness, public communication, and resource provision. The website reflects a well-established brand with consistent messaging and strong trust indicators such as official .gov domain and verified social media accounts. The presence of extensive multimedia and news content indicates active engagement with its audience and stakeholders. Strategically, the DoD maintains partnerships with various military branches and government agencies, as evidenced by linked domains. The site supports transparency and public awareness through press releases, multimedia, and spotlight features. Growth indicators include frequent news updates and multimedia content showcasing ongoing missions and initiatives.

Security posture

The security posture of the website is robust, with mandatory HTTPS enforcement and no visible vulnerabilities in the provided HTML content. The use of secure libraries and absence of exposed sensitive data are positive indicators. However, the lack of explicit security headers such as X-Frame-Options and X-Content-Type-Options in the HTML source suggests room for enhancement. Privacy policies are comprehensive but cookie consent mechanisms are missing, which could pose compliance risks. Incident response contacts are not prominently displayed, which could be improved for better security readiness. No signs of malware, phishing, or other malicious activity were detected. The restricted WHOIS data is consistent with government domain practices and does not raise suspicion. Overall, the site demonstrates a mature security culture with minor gaps to address.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and explicitly declare security headers like X-Frame-Options and X-Content-Type-Options to enhance protection against clickjacking and MIME sniffing.
  2. Add a visible cookie consent banner or mechanism to comply with privacy regulations and improve user transparency.
  3. Enhance visibility of incident response and security contact information to facilitate timely reporting and response.
  4. Regularly audit third-party scripts and libraries for vulnerabilities and update them promptly.
  5. Maintain and update privacy and security policies regularly, ensuring they are easily accessible from all pages.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
U.S. Department of Defense
Description
The Department of Defense is America's largest government agency. Our mission is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security.
Key services
Military forces provision, News and press releases, Multimedia content, Public resources and contact information
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery, jQuery UI, Vue.js, Bootstrap, Font Awesome, Google Tag Manager, YouTube IFrame API
Frameworks
ASP.NET Web Forms
Platforms
Windows Server (implied by ASP.NET)
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of secure cookies (implied)
  • No vulnerable libraries detected in scripts

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, DigitalGov Web Vitals
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
DigitalGov Web Vitals
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 website with comprehensive defense-related content.
  2. Uses HTTPS and modern web technologies with good security practices.
  3. WHOIS data is restricted or unavailable, typical for government domains.
  4. No signs of malicious or suspicious activity detected.
  5. Social media presence is strong and consistent with official government accounts.
  6. No cookie consent mechanism detected, which may be a compliance gap.
  7. No explicit privacy or terms links in footer but privacy/security info available under Legal & Administrative section.
  8. Website is well-structured with clear navigation and multimedia integration.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a mature ASP.NET Web Forms platform using the DNN CMS, integrating modern JavaScript frameworks such as Vue.js and jQuery UI for dynamic content and user interaction. It uses Bootstrap for responsive design and Font Awesome for iconography. Multimedia content is managed with specialized plugins and integrates YouTube APIs for video playback. Performance appears moderate with asynchronous loading of scripts and use of CDN-hosted libraries. Accessibility features such as skip links and ARIA labels are present, indicating attention to inclusive design. SEO is supported by comprehensive meta tags, Open Graph, and Twitter Card metadata. The site could benefit from further performance optimization and enhanced security header implementation to reduce technical debt and improve resilience.
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. 68/100Medium24 findingsView report
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