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Security report for nhtsa.gov

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration · Government · United States

Partial score · DNS & email only

62/100

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

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is a U.S. federal government agency dedicated to improving road safety by providing vehicle safety ratings, managing recalls, conducting research, and educating the public. It operates under the U.S. Department of Transportation and serves a broad audience including vehicle owners, manufacturers, law enforcement, and policymakers. The website reflects its authoritative position with comprehensive safety information and resources. Technically, the site is built on Drupal 10, leveraging modern analytics and advertising technologies, and is optimized for performance, accessibility, and mobile use. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforcement and security best practices, though explicit incident response contacts and cookie consent mechanisms could be improved. Overall, the domain is highly legitimate as a .gov domain, despite limited WHOIS data due to government privacy policies.

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

3 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

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

Keep watching nhtsa.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

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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
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
62

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

NHTSA holds a critical role in the transportation safety sector as a government regulator and information provider. Its market position is unique and authoritative, with no direct commercial competitors. The agency's business model focuses on public safety and regulatory enforcement rather than revenue generation. The website supports this mission by offering recall searches, safety ratings, and educational content. Partnerships with other government sites and safety organizations enhance its ecosystem. The presence of multiple social media channels and modern digital tools indicates a mature digital presence aimed at broad public engagement and transparency.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, use of security headers, and integration of vulnerability disclosure policies via the parent Department of Transportation. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. The use of reputable third-party analytics and advertising services is balanced with privacy considerations. However, the absence of a visible cookie consent mechanism and explicit incident response contact details are areas for improvement. Overall, the site aligns well with government security standards and best practices.

Recommendations

  1. Implement a visible cookie consent banner to enhance GDPR and privacy compliance.
  2. Publish explicit incident response and security contact information on the website.
  3. Ensure Content-Security-Policy headers are explicitly set and maintained.
  4. Regularly audit third-party scripts and advertising networks for security risks.
  5. Enhance transparency around data retention policies and user privacy.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Description
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is a U.S. government agency focused on saving lives, preventing injuries, and reducing economic costs due to road traffic crashes through education, research, safety standards, and enforcement.
Key services
Vehicle safety ratings, Recall information and management, Safety education and awareness, Safety research and data dissemination, Safety complaint reporting
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Drupal 10, Google Tag Manager, Google Custom Search Engine, Amazon Advertising, LivePerson chat, New Relic monitoring, Kortx analytics
Frameworks
Drupal CMS
Platforms
Web
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
excellent
SEO
excellent

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of security policies and vulnerability disclosure
  • Secure forms with CAPTCHA and validation
  • Use of reputable third-party analytics and advertising

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (via GTM), New Relic, Kortx
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Amazon Advertising
Tracking pixels
LivePerson, Kortx, New Relic
Marketing tools
Google Custom Search Engine
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Official U.S. government website with .gov domain
  2. Comprehensive safety and recall information
  3. Multiple language support (English and Spanish)
  4. Robust navigation with clear categories
  5. Use of modern web technologies and analytics
  6. No signs of malicious or suspicious content
  7. Contact information and social media links clearly provided
  8. No WAF or blocking detected, full content accessible
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on Drupal 10 CMS, indicating a modern and supported content management system. It uses Google Tag Manager, Google Custom Search, Amazon Advertising, LivePerson chat, and New Relic monitoring, reflecting a sophisticated technology stack. The site is well-optimized for mobile and accessibility standards, with fast performance and good SEO practices. No hosting provider details were explicitly found, but the infrastructure appears robust and professionally managed. Opportunities exist to further modernize security headers and enhance privacy mechanisms.
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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