Skip to main content

Security report for forms.gov

General Services Administration (GSA) Technology Transformation Services · Government · United States

Low risk. 3 critical or high findings in Security headers and GDPR outside view.

Security score

77/100

Risk levelLow

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

Search.gov is an official U.S. government search platform managed by the General Services Administration's Technology Transformation Services. It provides search capabilities across federal government websites and related services. The site currently displays a temporary unavailability message for the search function, directing users to USA.gov for government-wide search. The platform is positioned as a trusted government service with a focus on accessibility and compliance. Technically, the website employs modern web technologies including the US Web Design System, Amazon Cloudfront CDN, and New Relic monitoring for performance and error tracking. The site is secured with HTTPS and uses official .gov domain branding, ensuring trust and security for users. However, some improvements could be made in cookie consent mechanisms and explicit security headers. From a security perspective, the site demonstrates good practices with HTTPS enforcement and official government domain usage. No vulnerabilities or malicious content were detected. Privacy policies and terms of service are clearly linked, supporting compliance. WHOIS data is unavailable as expected for .gov domains, but this does not detract from the site's legitimacy. Overall, Search.gov is a credible and secure government resource with room for minor enhancements in privacy and security transparency. It serves a critical role in providing unified search access to government information and services.

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. 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 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

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

Keep watching forms.gov

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

€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

Email alerts on material changes and an exportable JSON history of every change.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. The full timeline opens with your unlock code.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

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
95
Security headers
65
Email security
70
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
77

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

Search.gov operates as a government service platform under the GSA, targeting federal agencies and the general public seeking government information. Its business model is service-oriented, providing search infrastructure and support rather than commercial offerings. The platform benefits from strong government backing, ensuring high trust and reliability. Partnerships with USA.gov, Digital.gov, Cloud.gov, and Login.gov enhance its ecosystem. The site’s content and service availability indicate a mature, enterprise-level operation focused on public service rather than revenue generation.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture typical of official government sites. HTTPS is enforced, and the domain is a trusted .gov address. The presence of New Relic monitoring indicates active performance and error tracking. However, the absence of explicit security headers like Content Security Policy and HSTS is a minor gap. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure information is publicly available, which could be improved. Privacy compliance is supported by linked policies, though cookie consent mechanisms are lacking. Overall, the site is secure with minor areas for enhancement.

Recommendations

  1. Implement a visible cookie consent banner to comply with privacy regulations and enhance user trust.
  2. Add explicit security headers such as Content Security Policy (CSP), HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS), and X-Frame-Options to strengthen security posture.
  3. Publish a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to improve transparency and incident response readiness.
  4. Enhance WHOIS transparency if possible within government domain policies to improve trust signals.
  5. Regularly review and update privacy and security policies to maintain compliance with evolving regulations.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
General Services Administration (GSA) Technology Transformation Services
Description
Search.gov is an official U.S. government search service provided by the GSA Technology Transformation Services. It offers search capabilities across government websites and related services.
Key services
Government website search, Search infrastructure for federal agencies, Support and policy information for search services
Content quality
basic
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
New Relic Browser monitoring, Google Fonts (Maven Pro), US Web Design System (USWDS), JavaScript ES6+, Cloudfront CDN
Frameworks
US Web Design System
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Official .gov domain
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of security and compliance pages linked

Analytics and tracking

Services
New Relic Browser
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
New Relic
Transparency
poor

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website content is currently a placeholder indicating search service is temporarily unavailable.
  2. No forms or data collection fields present on the page.
  3. Contact information is clearly provided in footer with official emails and phone numbers.
  4. Website uses HTTPS and official .gov domain.
  5. No signs of malicious or suspicious content.
  6. New Relic monitoring scripts are present for performance and error tracking.
  7. No cookie consent banner or explicit cookie policy found on this page.
  8. Privacy policy and terms of service are linked and accessible.
  9. No social media links detected on this page.
  10. No WHOIS registrar or registrant info available, typical for .gov domains.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern technology stack including the US Web Design System for consistent government styling, Amazon Cloudfront CDN for content delivery, and New Relic for monitoring. The site is mobile optimized and accessible, though SEO optimization is basic. Performance is moderate, with room for improvement in loading speed and resource optimization. No CMS was detected, suggesting a custom or government-managed platform. The technical implementation supports a stable and secure user experience but could benefit from enhanced security headers and cookie management.
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

Reviews of this site

Share your experience with forms.gov. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review forms.gov.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.