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Security report for osc.gov

U.S. Office of Special Counsel · Government · United States

Low risk. 3 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and SSL/TLS.

Security score

77/100

Risk levelLow

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

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is a federal government agency dedicated to protecting federal employees and ensuring integrity within the federal workforce. The website provides comprehensive information about OSC's mission, services, and recent enforcement actions, targeting federal employees, veterans, whistleblowers, and the general public. The agency operates under a government model, offering regulatory enforcement, complaint investigation, and outreach services. The site is positioned as an authoritative source with official .gov branding and links to government social media channels. Technically, the website is built on Microsoft SharePoint 2019, leveraging standard government analytics tools such as Azure Application Insights and DigitalGov Universal Analytics. The site uses embedded YouTube videos and standard web technologies like jQuery and FontAwesome. Performance and mobile optimization are moderate, with basic accessibility features implemented. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and uses domain transfer protections but lacks DNSSEC and explicit security headers. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. Privacy compliance is partial, with a comprehensive privacy policy present but no cookie consent mechanism or terms of service page. Contact information is available primarily via a contact page and sign-in portal. Overall, the website is trustworthy, professional, and secure for its purpose, with recommendations to enhance DNS security, implement security headers, and improve privacy compliance to further strengthen its posture.

Scanned

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

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

3 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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

  2. 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.

    • High

      Weak Protocols Supported

      Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

      What to do: Disable TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, and all SSL versions

      • CWE-327
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V12.1.1

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Keep watching osc.gov

This scan found 19 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
72
Security headers
65
Email security
85
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
58
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

OSC holds a unique position as a U.S. federal government agency with statutory authority to enforce personnel practices and whistleblower protections. Its competitive advantage lies in its official mandate and government backing. The business model is service-oriented, focusing on regulatory enforcement and public outreach. Revenue streams are government-funded. The target customers are federal employees and veterans. Growth indicators include active news updates and outreach programs. The partnership ecosystem includes government analytics and social media platforms. Operationally, the agency maintains a consistent brand and content quality aligned with government standards.

Security posture

The security maturity of the OSC website is solid, with mandatory HTTPS and domain transfer protections in place. However, the absence of DNSSEC and security headers like Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options represents areas for improvement. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure information is publicly available, which could enhance transparency. The site does not expose sensitive data or use vulnerable libraries. Privacy compliance is partial, lacking cookie consent mechanisms. Overall, the security posture is good but could benefit from enhanced DNS security and explicit security policies.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the osc.gov domain to improve DNS integrity and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement standard security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to mitigate common web attacks.
  3. Add a cookie consent banner or mechanism to comply with privacy regulations and improve user transparency.
  4. Publish explicit security and incident response policies, including a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file.
  5. Enhance mobile optimization and accessibility features to improve user experience and compliance with accessibility standards.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
U.S. Office of Special Counsel
Description
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel is a federal government agency focused on protecting federal employees and the integrity of the federal workforce by enforcing prohibited personnel practices, whistleblower protections, Hatch Act compliance, and other related services.
Key services
Prohibited Personnel Practices enforcement, Disclosure of Wrongdoing investigations, Hatch Act enforcement, USERRA compliance, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Outreach and training
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Microsoft SharePoint 2019, jQuery 3.7.1, FontAwesome, YouTube embedded videos, Universal-Federated-Analytics (digitalgov.gov), Google Tag Manager, AppInsights (Azure Application Insights)
Frameworks
SharePoint Framework, Microsoft ASP.NET WebForms
Platforms
Microsoft SharePoint Server
Performance
moderate
Mobile
basic
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Domain status serverTransferProhibited
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of official .gov domain
  • No visible vulnerable libraries detected

Analytics and tracking

Services
Azure Application Insights, DigitalGov Universal Analytics, Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Azure Application Insights, DigitalGov Universal Analytics
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Official U.S. government website with .gov domain
  2. Content is comprehensive about agency services and news
  3. No signs of phishing or malware
  4. No explicit privacy or cookie consent banners found
  5. Uses Microsoft SharePoint platform
  6. Includes embedded official YouTube videos and social media links
  7. No exposed sensitive data or credentials in HTML
  8. No visible security.txt or vulnerability disclosure page
  9. No direct contact emails or phone numbers visible on homepage; contact via contact page and sign-in page
  10. No terms of service page detected
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a mature Microsoft SharePoint 2019 platform, utilizing standard web technologies including jQuery and FontAwesome. It integrates with government analytics services and embeds official YouTube content. The site structure is well-organized with clear navigation and consistent branding. Performance is moderate, with room for improvement in mobile responsiveness and accessibility. The technical stack is stable but could be modernized with enhanced security configurations and improved SEO practices.
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. 77/100 −1Low27 findingsView report
  2. 78/100Low24 findingsView report
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