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Security report for fcc.gov

Federal Communications Commission · Government · United States

Partial score · DNS & email only

63/100

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

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is a key United States government agency responsible for regulating interstate and international communications. The website serves as an authoritative portal providing comprehensive information on licensing, proceedings, consumer resources, and regulatory actions. It targets a broad audience including consumers, industry stakeholders, and government officials. The FCC maintains a strong market position as the primary federal communications regulator in the US. Technically, the website is built on Drupal 10 with modern accessibility tools such as AudioEye, and integrates Google Tag Manager for analytics. The site demonstrates good mobile optimization, accessibility compliance, and a professional design. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforced and multiple security headers present, though explicit incident response contacts and cookie consent mechanisms could be improved. Overall, the site is trustworthy, professional, and content-rich, reflecting the FCC's authoritative role. The lack of WHOIS data is likely due to .gov domain registry policies and does not detract from the site's legitimacy. Strategic recommendations include enhancing privacy compliance with cookie consent, publishing a security policy, and providing clear incident response contacts.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of fcc.gov. View the latest report

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. 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. Email security

    SPF, DKIM and DMARC stop others sending email that looks like it comes from your domain, a common route to phishing and invoice fraud.

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

Keep watching fcc.gov

This scan found 13 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
75
DNS health
85
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

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

The FCC operates as an essential government entity in the telecommunications sector, providing regulatory oversight, licensing, and consumer protection services. Its business model is non-commercial, focused on governance and public service. The website supports transparency and engagement through detailed reports, proceedings, and consumer complaint centers. The FCC's extensive social media presence and comprehensive content indicate a mature digital strategy. Partnerships with service providers and integration of multiple official platforms support its operational ecosystem. Growth indicators include ongoing initiatives like the Build America Agenda and active public engagement. The FCC's market position is unique as a federal regulator, with no direct commercial competitors. Its credibility is reinforced by consistent branding, official .gov domain, and authoritative content. The website's design and navigation facilitate access for diverse stakeholders, enhancing its public service mission.

Security posture

The FCC website exhibits a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and a robust set of security headers including HSTS, CSP, X-Content-Type-Options, and others. The use of secure forms and absence of exposed sensitive data indicate good security hygiene. Accessibility tools like AudioEye are integrated to ensure compliance with accessibility standards, indirectly supporting security by reducing attack surface related to accessibility features. However, the site lacks a publicly visible dedicated security policy page and incident response contact information, which are important for transparency and vulnerability reporting. No security.txt file was detected. The presence of third-party scripts such as Google Tag Manager and AudioEye requires ongoing monitoring to mitigate supply chain risks. Overall, the site is secure but could improve transparency and incident response readiness.

Recommendations

  1. Implement a visible cookie consent banner to comply with privacy regulations such as GDPR.
  2. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security practices and compliance frameworks.
  3. Provide clear incident response contact information including security@ or abuse@ email addresses.
  4. Add a security.txt file at the root domain to facilitate responsible vulnerability disclosure.
  5. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts to minimize supply chain security risks.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Registration number
Registration Number Auctions
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Federal Communications Commission
Description
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is a United States government agency responsible for regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable.
Key services
Licensing & Databases, Proceedings & Actions, Reports & Research, Consumer Complaint Center, Public Safety Support
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Drupal 10, FontAwesome, Google Tag Manager, AudioEye accessibility tools, AddToAny sharing
Frameworks
Drupal CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
excellent
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Secure forms with CSRF tokens
  • Accessibility compliance scripts
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Marketing tools
AddToAny
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Official US government website with .gov domain
  2. Comprehensive navigation and content structure
  3. Strong accessibility compliance with AudioEye integration
  4. Multiple official social media channels linked
  5. No signs of malicious or suspicious content
  6. WHOIS data incomplete or unavailable
  7. No explicit cookie consent mechanism detected
  8. Privacy policy is comprehensive and easily accessible
  9. No visible security incident response contact info
  10. No terms of service page explicitly found
Technical notes

Notes

The FCC website is built on Drupal 10 CMS, leveraging modern web technologies including FontAwesome for icons and Google Tag Manager for analytics. Accessibility is enhanced through AudioEye integration, demonstrating commitment to WCAG compliance. The site uses responsive design techniques for mobile optimization and includes comprehensive meta tags for SEO. Performance is moderate, with some reliance on external scripts which may impact load times. The site structure is well-organized with clear navigation menus and categorized content. Technical debt appears low given the use of current CMS versions and accessibility tools. Opportunities exist to improve cookie management and incident response mechanisms. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports the FCC's mission effectively.
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. 62/100Medium21 findings · partial scanView report
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