Is phila.gov Safe? Security Analysis for Philadelphia Housing Authority
https://www.pha.phila.gov/Check if phila.gov is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.
Below Government avg (70)

GDPR-aligned
Data handling
EU
Hosting region
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AI Summary
The Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) website serves as the official digital presence of the nation's fourth largest housing authority, established in 1937. It provides comprehensive information and services related to affordable housing programs, resident services, landlord partnerships, and business opportunities within Philadelphia. The site targets residents, landlords, job seekers, and community partners, offering portals for rent payment, housing applications, and client services. The website demonstrates a professional design with clear navigation and multilingual support via Google Translate, reflecting a mature digital infrastructure. Technically, it is built on WordPress with modern frameworks like Bootstrap and integrates Google Analytics and Tag Manager for tracking and performance insights. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced and use of reCAPTCHA, though explicit security headers and policies could be improved. Privacy compliance is basic, lacking visible cookie consent mechanisms and detailed privacy policies. WHOIS data is incomplete, likely due to .gov domain policies, but the domain's subdomain status under phila.gov supports legitimacy. Overall, the site is a trustworthy government resource with room for enhanced security and privacy transparency.
Detected Technologies
13 urgent findings need attention
13 high
- + 5 more findings in the full report below
Keep phila.gov under constant watch
Guard tracks your live infrastructure daily: certificate expiry, DNS & mail authentication drift, uptime changes, subdomain inventory, and unexpected tracker or content shifts. A full timeline captures every diff so you can prove remediation and spot regressions instantly.
Security drift alerts
Risk score drops, new high-severity issues, and header hardening gaps
Compliance watch
GDPR / NIS2 posture changes with governance evidence snapshots
Infrastructure surface
Unexpected open services, SSL expiry, DNS & email authentication changes
Content & tracker intelligence
Marketing tech shifts, analytics drift, and AI recommendation updates
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OffSeq Observations
No critical findings yet
78/100
SSL/TLS Security
6 findings
32/100
Network Security
1 finding
100/100
DNS Health
4 findings
60/100
🧠AI Business Intelligence
Technology stack, business insights, and market analysis powered by AI.
Business Intelligence
Market & Strategic Analysis
PHA holds a strong market position as a major government housing authority serving nearly 80,000 people in Philadelphia. Its business model focuses on providing affordable housing and economic development services, supported by government funding and partnerships. The organization leverages digital platforms to engage residents and landlords, streamline applications, and promote initiatives like PhillySEEDS and Opening Doors. The website reflects a large, established entity with a clear mission and diversified service offerings. Partnerships with related organizations and initiatives indicate a collaborative ecosystem. The absence of direct contact emails or phone numbers on the homepage suggests a controlled communication approach, typical for government entities. Growth indicators include active news updates and community programs. The site’s content and structure support transparency and accessibility for its target audience.
Extracted Contact Information
Marketing Intelligence Data
Physical Addresses (1)
Security Posture Analysis
Comprehensive Security Assessment
The website employs HTTPS with a good SSL configuration, ensuring encrypted communications. It uses Google reCAPTCHA to protect forms from automated abuse. However, explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options are not detected, representing an area for improvement. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were found in the HTML content. The lack of a published security policy or incident response contact limits transparency in security governance. Privacy compliance is minimal, with no visible cookie consent banners or GDPR-specific disclosures. The site would benefit from implementing a security.txt file and enhancing privacy notices to align with best practices. Overall, the security posture is adequate for a government site but could be strengthened to improve trust and compliance.
Strategic Recommendations
Priority Actions for Security Improvement
Implement comprehensive security headers including CSP, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to mitigate common web attacks.
✨Observations
Comprehensive website and business-context analysis.
AI-Enhanced Website Analysis
Business Insights
Philadelphia Housing Authority
Philadelphia Housing Authority was established in 1937 and is the nation’s fourth largest housing authority, housing nearly 80,000 people
good
consistent
Technical Stack
moderate
good
good
good
Security Assessment
- HTTPS enforced
- Use of Google reCAPTCHA on forms
- No exposed sensitive data in HTML
- Use of security plugins (implied by Contact Form 7 and other plugins)
Analytics & Tracking
Advertising & Marketing
Website Quality Assessment
Key Observations
Website is a government housing authority site with comprehensive service information
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🛡️Security Headers
HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.
Security Headers
HTTP security headers analysis
Missing Strict-Transport-Security header
Forces HTTPS connections
Missing X-Frame-Options header
Prevents clickjacking attacks
Missing X-Content-Type-Options header
Prevents MIME type sniffing
Missing Content-Security-Policy header
Controls resources the browser is allowed to load
Missing X-XSS-Protection header
Legacy XSS protection (deprecated but still recommended)
Missing Referrer-Policy header
Controls referrer information sent with requests
Missing Permissions-Policy header
Controls browser features and APIs
Sensitive data may be cached
Cache-Control header should include "no-store" for sensitive pages
👤GDPR Compliance
Privacy and data protection assessment under GDPR regulations.
GDPR Compliance
Privacy and data protection assessment
No Cookie Policy found
GDPR requires clear information about cookie usage
No Cookie Consent Banner found
GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies
No Data Protection Officer mentioned
Large organizations may need to designate a DPO under GDPR
Privacy policy may not be GDPR compliant
Privacy policy lacks explicit GDPR compliance elements
GDPR Compliance Analysis
🛡️NIS2 Compliance
Network & Information Security Directive compliance assessment.
NIS2 Compliance
Network & Information Security Directive
No information security framework found
NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity and information security measures
No vulnerability disclosure policy
NIS2 encourages coordinated vulnerability disclosure
No security policy documentation found
NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity governance and risk management
No incident response procedures found
NIS2 requires documented incident response and business continuity plans
No business continuity planning found
NIS2 emphasizes operational resilience and business continuity
No security contact information
NIS2 requires clear incident reporting channels
No vulnerability reporting mechanism
Clear vulnerability reporting supports coordinated disclosure
No NIS2 reference found
Consider explicitly mentioning NIS2 compliance efforts
Critical sector without clear security compliance
Detected sectors: energy, transport, digital
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📧Email Security
SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation and email security assessment.
Email Security
SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation
No BIMI Record
BIMI displays brand logos in email clients
No MTA-STS Policy
MTA-STS enforces TLS for email delivery
No TLS-RPT Record
TLS-RPT provides reporting for email TLS issues
SPF Details
DKIM Selectors Found
DMARC Details
🏆SSL/TLS Security
Certificate validity and encryption analysis.
SSL/TLS Security
Certificate validity and encryption analysis
Weak Protocols Supported
Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1
Certificate Transparency Not Implemented
Certificate is not logged in Certificate Transparency logs
SSL Certificate Expires Within 90 Days
SSL certificate expires in 82 days
Weak SSL Key Length
SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak
HSTS Not Enabled
HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) is not configured
Mixed Content Detected
2 resources loaded over insecure HTTP
Protocol Support
OCSP Status
📊DNS Health
DNS configuration and security assessment.
DNS Health
DNS configuration and security assessment
DNSSEC Not Enabled
DNSSEC is not configured for this domain
CAA Records Not Configured
Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA) records not found
Potential Subdomain Takeover
Subdomain staging.phila.gov points to unregistered service philagov-staging-85492073.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com
Domain Delete Lock Not Enabled
Domain can be deleted without additional verification
Domain Registration Details
- •Privacy/proxy registration detected
DNS Records
DNSSEC Status
DNS Performance
SPF Analysis
⚡Network Security
Port scanning and network exposure analysis.
Network Security
Port scanning and network exposure analysis
Good Network Security Posture
No unnecessary services detected on common risky ports
How does phila.gov compare?
See how phila.gov stacks up against similar websites in the same industry.
🔧Technical Analysis
Detailed technical findings and analysis from AI assessment.
Technical Analysis
Comprehensive security assessment findings
Additional Findings
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