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Security report for nc.gov

State of North Carolina · Government · United States

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

Security score

74/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The website www.nc.gov serves as the official online portal for the State of North Carolina, providing comprehensive information about government services, updates, and resources for residents, businesses, and visitors. It is positioned as a key digital gateway for accessing state government resources and public information. The site features a modern, accessible design built on Drupal 10, incorporating responsive layouts and multiple accessibility tools to ensure usability across devices and user needs. The technical infrastructure includes integration with Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and Monsido for analytics and accessibility enhancements, hosted on Digital Commons, a state IT service provider. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforced and anonymized IP tracking in analytics, though explicit security headers and a cookie consent mechanism could be improved. The WHOIS data is incomplete, lacking registrar and registrant details, which is unusual but may be due to government domain registration policies. Overall, the site demonstrates a high level of professionalism, trustworthiness, and compliance with privacy standards, making it a reliable resource for its audience.

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 X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

      What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"

  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 nc.gov

This scan found 14 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

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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
100
Security headers
55
Email security
50
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
74

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

The State of North Carolina operates this website as an essential government service platform, targeting a broad audience including residents, businesses, and visitors. The site supports public service delivery by providing directories, job listings, COVID-19 information, and alerts. Its market position is that of an authoritative government entity with no commercial business model. The website's content and structure reflect a focus on transparency, accessibility, and public engagement. The use of advanced analytics and accessibility tools indicates a commitment to digital maturity and user experience. Partnerships with state IT services and health departments are evident through linked domains. The absence of commercial advertising and affiliate programs aligns with its government mandate. Strategic observations suggest ongoing investment in digital services to enhance citizen engagement and service delivery.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with mandatory HTTPS encryption and anonymized IP tracking in analytics, reducing privacy risks. The presence of fraud alerts and clear privacy policies indicates awareness of security and privacy concerns. However, the lack of explicit security headers such as X-Frame-Options and X-Content-Type-Options, absence of a visible cookie consent mechanism, and no published vulnerability disclosure or incident response contacts represent areas for improvement. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. The use of third-party scripts is controlled but should be regularly audited to mitigate supply chain risks. Overall, the site is secure for its purpose but could enhance transparency and compliance by publishing security policies and improving header configurations.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and visibly display a cookie consent banner to comply with privacy regulations and improve user trust.
  2. Publish a formal vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting of security issues.
  3. Add explicit security headers such as X-Frame-Options and X-Content-Type-Options to strengthen protection against common web attacks.
  4. Provide clear incident response contact information to improve transparency and readiness for security incidents.
  5. Regularly review and audit third-party scripts and analytics tools to ensure they do not introduce vulnerabilities or privacy risks.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
State of North Carolina
Description
North Carolina's Official Website, featuring information about government services, updates, and guides to exploring and enjoying our state.
Key services
Government services information, State organizations directory, Job listings, COVID-19 information, Public alerts and press releases
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Drupal 10, Bootstrap 5.1.3, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Monsido (accessibility and analytics), jQuery, GTranslate
Frameworks
Drupal
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Anonymize IP in Google Analytics
  • Fraud alert prominently displayed
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Monsido
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Monsido
Marketing tools
Monsido
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Official state government website for North Carolina
  2. Comprehensive content covering government services and public information
  3. Modern, accessible, and mobile-optimized design
  4. Use of multiple analytics and accessibility tools
  5. No signs of malicious or adult content
  6. WHOIS data incomplete or restricted, typical for government domains
  7. No visible cookie consent banner despite privacy policy presence
  8. No explicit security.txt or vulnerability disclosure policy found
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on Drupal 10 CMS with Bootstrap 5.1.3 for responsive design, ensuring modern and mobile-optimized user experience. It integrates multiple analytics and accessibility tools including Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and Monsido, reflecting a focus on data-driven improvements and inclusivity. Hosting is provided by Digital Commons, a state IT service, indicating reliable infrastructure. Performance is moderate with no major issues detected, and SEO is supported by comprehensive meta tags and Open Graph data. The site uses standard web technologies such as jQuery and modern JavaScript libraries. Technical debt appears low, but opportunities exist to enhance security headers and privacy mechanisms. Overall, the technical implementation supports a professional and accessible government website with room for incremental improvements.
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

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