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Security report for stateincentives.org

The Council for Community and Economic Research · Government · United States

Medium risk. 9 critical or high findings in Email security, Security headers and 2 other checks.

Security score

59/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The website www.stateincentives.org is operated by The Council for Community and Economic Research and serves as a comprehensive database for state business incentive programs across the United States. It targets businesses, economic researchers, and policymakers seeking detailed information on tax credits, grants, loans, and other incentive programs offered by all 50 states and territories. The platform provides interactive visualizations and up-to-date program data, positioning itself as a niche authoritative resource in the government and non-profit sector. Technically, the site employs a traditional web stack with jQuery 1.11.0 and integrates Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager for user tracking and analytics. The site is moderately optimized for performance and mobile use, with basic accessibility and SEO features. The content is well-structured with clear navigation and professional design, although some modern enhancements could improve user experience further. From a security perspective, the site uses HTTPS but lacks visible security headers and advanced security policies. No forms with input fields are present on the homepage, reducing immediate attack surface. The absence of explicit cookie consent and privacy policy on the homepage suggests room for improvement in privacy compliance. WHOIS data is unavailable due to a malformed query, limiting domain trust analysis, but the site’s branding and contact information support its legitimacy. Overall, the website presents a solid informational resource with good business credibility but could benefit from enhanced security practices, privacy compliance, and updated technical infrastructure to strengthen trust and user confidence.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
35/ 100 · High
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

9 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Email security

    SPF, DKIM and DMARC stop others sending email that looks like it comes from your domain, a common route to phishing and invoice fraud.

    • Critical

      No email authentication configured

      Domain is vulnerable to email spoofing

      What to do: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC immediately

  2. 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 Strict-Transport-Security header

      Forces HTTPS connections

      What to do: Add "Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload"

      • CWE-319
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V3.4.1
    • High

      Missing X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

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

    • High

      Missing Content-Security-Policy header

      Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

      What to do: Implement a Content-Security-Policy appropriate for your application

      • ASVS V3.4.3
      • OWASP Secure Headers: OWASP Secure Headers Project recommends Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'; form-action 'self'; base-uri 'self'; object-src 'none';…

  3. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • High

      No Privacy Policy found

      GDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy

      What to do: Add a comprehensive privacy policy page and link to it prominently

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

Keep watching stateincentives.org

This scan found 26 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
67
Security headers
15
Email security
60
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
35
Average
59

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

Breach exposure

Leaked credentials and lookalike domains from OffSeq Breach. The counts are free; the detailed lists are paid add-ons.

Dark web exposure

Add-on

Leaked records that mention stateincentives.org, from OffSeq Breach.

No leaked records found

Breach holds no records for stateincentives.org right now. New leaks arrive continuously, so monitoring on Breach alerts you if that changes.

Monitor on Breach (opens in a new tab)

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

The Council for Community and Economic Research operates this platform as a specialized information service providing detailed data on state business incentives. Its competitive advantage lies in aggregating and visualizing comprehensive incentive program data for all U.S. states and territories, serving a targeted audience of businesses and economic stakeholders. The business model appears to be informational and possibly subscription or access-based, although explicit monetization details are not visible. The organization maintains a professional presence with clear contact channels and consistent branding. Growth indicators include recent updates to incentive programs and active data maintenance. The partnership with www.c2er.org suggests a broader ecosystem of economic research and community engagement.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate security maturity level. It enforces HTTPS, which is mandatory for secure communications. However, the lack of security headers such as Content Security Policy (CSP), X-Frame-Options, and HSTS reduces its defense-in-depth posture. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the provided content. The absence of forms on the homepage limits immediate input-based vulnerabilities. Privacy compliance is basic, with no visible cookie consent mechanism and limited privacy policy presence. Incident response and vulnerability disclosure information are not provided, indicating potential gaps in security governance. Overall, the site is functional and reasonably secure but would benefit from implementing modern security best practices and compliance measures.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive security headers including CSP, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options to enhance protection against common web attacks.
  2. Add a clear and accessible cookie consent banner and detailed cookie policy to improve privacy compliance and user trust.
  3. Publish explicit privacy and security policies, including data protection officer contact if applicable, to meet regulatory requirements.
  4. Regularly update JavaScript libraries and dependencies to mitigate vulnerabilities associated with outdated components.
  5. Enhance mobile responsiveness and accessibility features to improve user experience across devices and for users with disabilities.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
The Council for Community and Economic Research
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
The Council for Community and Economic Research
Description
A resource providing information about state business incentive programs across all 50 U.S. states and territories.
Key services
Database of state business incentive programs, Program statistics and charts, State-specific incentive information
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery 1.11.0, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Google jsapi
Performance
moderate
Mobile
basic
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
70/100
Good practices seen
  • Use of HTTPS (implied by URL)
  • No visible exposed sensitive data

Analytics and tracking

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

Advertising

Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website provides comprehensive state business incentive data.
  2. No WHOIS data available, limiting domain trust analysis.
  3. No privacy or cookie policy explicitly found on homepage; privacy info likely on /about/access/ page.
  4. No visible security headers or advanced security policies.
  5. Uses Google Analytics and Tag Manager for tracking.
  6. No forms with input fields detected on homepage.
  7. Contact info clearly provided in footer.
  8. No social media links detected.
  9. No advertising or affiliate programs detected.
  10. SVG map interactive with state data visualization.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a legacy version of jQuery (1.11.0), which may pose security and compatibility risks. Integration with Google Analytics and Tag Manager indicates standard analytics usage but requires privacy considerations. The site uses SVG for interactive maps, which is a modern and efficient approach for data visualization. No CMS or hosting provider information is evident, suggesting a custom or static site deployment. Performance is moderate with room for optimization, especially for mobile devices. Accessibility and SEO are basic, with potential for improvement through semantic HTML and ARIA attributes. The technical debt includes outdated libraries and missing security headers, which should be addressed to reduce risk and improve maintainability.
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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