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Security report for scdot.org

South Carolina Department of Transportation · Transportation · United States

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

72/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) operates as a government agency responsible for managing and maintaining the state's transportation infrastructure, including highways and roadways. The website serves as a comprehensive resource for residents, travelers, and businesses in South Carolina, providing information on transportation planning, road projects, travel advisories, and business opportunities related to transportation. The site positions itself as an authoritative source for transportation-related information within the state. Technically, the website is built on Adobe Experience Manager (AEM), leveraging technologies such as jQuery, Bootstrap, JW Player, Google Tag Manager, and Google reCAPTCHA. The site is mobile-optimized with a moderate performance profile and includes accessibility features, though some improvements could be made. The presence of multiple analytics and tracking tools indicates a moderate level of user data collection. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and uses reCAPTCHA to protect forms from bots. However, it lacks visible security headers and explicit cookie consent mechanisms, which are important for enhancing security and privacy compliance. The WHOIS data is unavailable due to privacy protection, which is common for government entities but limits external verification of domain legitimacy. No critical vulnerabilities or suspicious indicators were found. Overall, the website demonstrates a solid business and technical foundation with good security practices but could improve in privacy compliance and security header implementation. The domain appears legitimate and trustworthy based on content and branding. Strategic recommendations include enhancing security headers, implementing cookie consent, and publishing security policies to strengthen trust and compliance.

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

4 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

  3. 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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  • 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
82
Security headers
55
Email security
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
72

Not counted

  • DNS health: 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

SCDOT holds a strong market position as the official state transportation authority, serving a large audience including residents, businesses, and government stakeholders. Its business model is focused on public service and infrastructure management rather than commercial revenue generation. The agency benefits from a clear partnership ecosystem with related state initiatives such as movingsouthcarolinaforward.com and internal apps. The website content and structure support transparency and public engagement, which are critical for government agencies. Growth indicators include ongoing projects and public presentations. The lack of commercial advertising and affiliate programs aligns with its government status.

Security posture

The security maturity of the SCDOT website is moderate to good. HTTPS is enforced, and bot protection via Google reCAPTCHA is implemented. However, the absence of key security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options represents a gap that could expose the site to certain web-based attacks. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure information is published, which limits transparency and readiness perception. Privacy compliance is partial, with a privacy policy present but no cookie consent mechanism detected. Overall, the site is secure for general public use but could benefit from enhanced security controls and compliance measures.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to mitigate common web vulnerabilities.
  2. Add a visible cookie consent banner to comply with GDPR and other privacy regulations, improving user trust and legal compliance.
  3. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response contact information to enhance transparency and readiness.
  4. Consider establishing a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting of security issues.
  5. Regularly audit third-party scripts and tracking tools to minimize privacy risks and improve performance.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
South Carolina Department of Transportation
Description
South Carolina Department of Transportation website providing information to the public about highways and roadways throughout the state.
Key services
Transportation planning, Road and bridge maintenance, Public information dissemination, Travel and business resources
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery 2.2.4, Bootstrap 3.3.7, JW Player, Google Tag Manager, Google reCAPTCHA, Adobe Helix RUM
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of Google reCAPTCHA for bot protection
  • Google Tag Manager for controlled script loading

Analytics and tracking

Services
Siteimprove Analytics, Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Siteimprove Analytics
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenges.
  2. Content is professionally presented and relevant to South Carolina transportation.
  3. No email addresses found in HTML content; contact is via phone numbers only.
  4. No explicit privacy cookie consent banner detected despite presence of privacy policy.
  5. Use of multiple third-party analytics and tracking scripts.
  6. No visible security headers in HTML source; potential area for improvement.
  7. WHOIS data is unavailable due to malformed request; domain appears privacy protected.
  8. Social media presence on Facebook, Twitter (X), YouTube, LinkedIn.
  9. No forms with personal data collection detected on homepage; search form present.
  10. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt found.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a mature CMS platform (Adobe Experience Manager) with a technology stack including jQuery, Bootstrap, and JW Player. It uses Google Tag Manager and Siteimprove Analytics for tracking and performance monitoring. The site is mobile responsive and has a clear navigation structure. Performance is moderate, with potential for optimization by reducing third-party script load. The absence of visible security headers and cookie consent mechanisms indicates some technical debt in security and privacy compliance. The site does not expose sensitive data and uses HTTPS correctly, which is a strong foundation. Opportunities exist to modernize security practices and enhance user privacy controls.
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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