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Security report for dot.gov

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

Partial score · DNS & email only

49/100

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

The U.S. Department of Transportation website serves as the official digital presence of the federal agency responsible for transportation policy, safety, and infrastructure in the United States. It provides comprehensive resources, news, and information targeting American citizens, businesses, and government stakeholders. The site is well-branded, professionally designed, and consistent with government standards, reflecting its authoritative position in the transportation sector. Technically, the website is built on Drupal 10 CMS and integrates modern analytics tools such as Google Analytics and the Digital Analytics Program. It employs HTTPS for secure communications and includes accessibility and mobile optimization features, ensuring broad usability. The presence of a vulnerability disclosure policy indicates a proactive security posture, although some security headers are not explicitly visible in the HTML. From a security perspective, the site demonstrates strong fundamentals with encrypted connections and anonymized analytics data. However, the absence of explicit security headers and cookie consent mechanisms suggests areas for improvement. The WHOIS data is incomplete, typical for .gov domains, but the domain's .gov status and content legitimacy strongly affirm its authenticity. Overall, the website is a trustworthy, authoritative source for transportation-related information and services, with a solid technical foundation and good security practices. Strategic enhancements in security headers and privacy consent could further strengthen its posture.

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

4 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. DNS health

    DNS sends visitors and email to the right servers. Misconfigured records can cause outages or let someone redirect your traffic.

    • Critical

      Domain Expired

      Domain expired 11 days ago

      What to do: Renew domain registration immediately

  3. 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 dot.gov

This scan found 14 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.

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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
0
Email security
70
DNS health
30
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
51
After the cap
49

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 · found on this site
  • 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 U.S. Department of Transportation operates as a critical federal government entity overseeing transportation systems nationwide. Its market position is unique as a government agency with regulatory and funding authority. The business model focuses on public service, policy implementation, safety oversight, and infrastructure development. Revenue streams are government appropriations rather than commercial sales. The target audience includes American citizens, transportation industry stakeholders, and policymakers. The agency maintains a broad partnership ecosystem with various operating administrations and external government bodies. Growth indicators are tied to federal budgets and legislative priorities. The website supports transparency and public engagement through newsrooms, social media, and resource portals.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with mandatory HTTPS, anonymized IP tracking in analytics, and a published vulnerability disclosure policy. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. However, the lack of visible security headers such as Content-Security-Policy or X-Frame-Options represents a moderate gap. The absence of a cookie consent mechanism may impact privacy compliance. Incident response contact details are not explicitly provided, which could hinder rapid vulnerability reporting. Overall, the site aligns well with federal security expectations but could benefit from enhanced header policies and explicit incident response information.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  2. Deploy a cookie consent banner to comply with privacy regulations and enhance user transparency.
  3. Publish clear incident response contact information or security@ email addresses for vulnerability reporting.
  4. Consider adding a security.txt file to facilitate automated security disclosures.
  5. Regularly audit third-party scripts and analytics tools to ensure no vulnerable libraries are included.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
U.S. Department of Transportation
Description
To improve the quality of life for all American people and communities, from rural to urban, and to increase the productivity and competitiveness of American workers and businesses.
Key services
Transportation policy and regulation, Safety oversight, Grant programs, Consumer protection, Research and technology, Public information and resources
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Drupal 10, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, FontAwesome, USA.gov search, Qualtrics feedback
Frameworks
Drupal CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Anonymize IP in Google Analytics
  • Vulnerability disclosure policy published
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure forms using HTTPS

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Digital Analytics Program (DAP)
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Digital Analytics Program (DAP)
Marketing tools
Qualtrics Website Feedback
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Official U.S. Department of Transportation website with .gov domain
  2. Comprehensive and professional content with clear navigation
  3. Multiple social media channels linked and active
  4. Secure HTTPS with modern analytics and tracking tools
  5. WHOIS data incomplete but consistent with government domain privacy
  6. No signs of malicious or adult content
  7. No visible security headers in HTML but HTTPS enforced
  8. No cookie consent banner detected
  9. Vulnerability disclosure policy present
  10. Contact information including phone and physical address clearly displayed
Technical notes

Notes

The website is powered by Drupal 10 CMS, leveraging modern web technologies including Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and FontAwesome for icons. It uses USA.gov search integration and Qualtrics for user feedback. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and accessibility features. Performance is moderate, with asynchronous loading of analytics scripts and lazy loading of images. The technical infrastructure appears robust and well-maintained, though hosting provider details are not explicitly identified. There is an opportunity to improve security headers and cookie consent mechanisms to align with best practices.
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. 61/100Medium17 findings · partial scanView report
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