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Security report for grants.gov

Grants.gov · Government · United States

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in Security headers and GDPR outside view.

Security score

70/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Grants.gov is the official U.S. government website that centralizes federal grant opportunities and application processes for organizations and entities. Established in 2002, it serves as a trusted portal for discovering, applying, and managing federal grants, offering extensive educational resources, system-to-system integration, and support services. The platform is positioned as the authoritative source for federal grant information, targeting organizations seeking government funding. Technically, the site leverages modern frameworks such as Nuxt.js and the US Web Design System, hosted on AWS CloudFront, ensuring fast performance, mobile optimization, and accessibility compliance. Security is robust with HTTPS enforcement, comprehensive security headers, and a published vulnerability disclosure policy, although DNSSEC is not enabled and cookie consent mechanisms are absent. Overall, the site demonstrates a mature digital infrastructure and strong business credibility as a government service.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
58/ 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 Strict-Transport-Security header

      Forces HTTPS connections

      What to do: Add "Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload"

      • CWE-319
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V3.4.1
    • 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

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

Keep watching grants.gov

This scan found 20 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.

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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
90
Security headers
15
Email security
70
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
58
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

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

Grants.gov operates within the government sector, providing essential services for federal grant management. Its competitive advantage lies in its official status and comprehensive resources, including applicant and grantor tools, training, and system-to-system APIs. The business model is service-oriented, funded by federal appropriations, with a large user base of organizations seeking grants. Partnerships with agencies and integration with other government systems enhance its ecosystem. Growth indicators include continuous feature releases and active community engagement via blogs and social media. Strategic observations highlight the importance of maintaining compliance and security to uphold trust and operational continuity.

Security posture

The website exhibits a strong security posture with enforced HTTPS, multiple security headers, and a clear vulnerability disclosure policy. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected. However, the absence of DNSSEC and a security.txt file are areas for improvement. Incident response contact details are not explicitly published, which could hinder rapid communication during security events. Compliance with privacy regulations is partial, lacking cookie consent mechanisms. Overall, the security maturity is high for a government portal, but enhancements in transparency and DNS security would further strengthen defenses.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC to protect against DNS spoofing and improve domain security.
  2. Implement a cookie consent banner to comply with GDPR and other privacy regulations.
  3. Publish explicit incident response and abuse contact information to facilitate security communications.
  4. Add a security.txt file to standardize vulnerability reporting channels.
  5. Consider publishing terms of service to clarify user rights and responsibilities.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Grants.gov
Description
Grants.gov is the official U.S. government website that provides a centralized location to find and apply for federal grant opportunities. It serves organizations and entities seeking federal funding to support government-funded programs and projects.
Key services
Federal grant opportunity search, Grant application submission, Applicant and grantor resources and training, System-to-system integration for grant applications, Grant forms repository
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, Vue.js (Nuxt.js framework), US Web Design System (USWDS), Google Tag Manager, Digital Analytics Program (DAP), YouTube embedded videos
Frameworks
Nuxt.js, USWDS
Platforms
AWS CloudFront (CDN)
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
excellent
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • ServerTransferProhibited domain status
  • Vulnerability disclosure policy published
  • No exposed sensitive data detected
  • Secure forms with no visible vulnerabilities

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Digital Analytics Program (DAP)
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Google Analytics (via Google Tag Manager), Digital Analytics Program (DAP)
Marketing tools
Digital Analytics Program
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Official US government grants portal with comprehensive resources.
  2. No signs of phishing or malware.
  3. Strong HTTPS and security headers.
  4. No cookie consent banner detected, which may be a compliance gap.
  5. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found on the homepage.
  6. Extensive use of US Web Design System for accessibility and design consistency.
  7. Embedded videos and blog links enhance user education.
  8. No suspicious or malicious external links detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The site uses a modern technology stack including Nuxt.js (Vue.js framework), US Web Design System for UI consistency and accessibility, and is hosted on AWS CloudFront CDN for performance optimization. Google Tag Manager and Digital Analytics Program scripts are used for analytics and user behavior tracking. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible, with fast load times and valid HTML/CSS. Technical debt appears low, with opportunities to enhance DNS security and privacy compliance. The use of a headless CMS (Storyblok) allows flexible content management. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a reliable and user-friendly experience.
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. 70/100Medium27 findingsView report
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