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Security report for usaid.gov

U.S. Agency for International Development · Government · United States

Low risk. 5 critical or high findings in Security headers and GDPR outside view.

Security score

80/100

Risk levelLow

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

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) operates as a U.S. government agency focused on international development and humanitarian assistance worldwide. The website content reflects official communications, such as administrative leave notifications for personnel, underscoring its role in managing overseas and domestic operations. The agency serves government personnel, international partners, and the public interested in foreign aid programs. The business model is government-funded, with a strong emphasis on mission-critical functions and overseas program management. Technically, the website employs a simple and clean infrastructure using standard HTML5, CSS, and Google Fonts. There is no evidence of advanced frameworks or CMS platforms in the provided content. The site is moderately optimized for performance and mobile use but lacks advanced SEO and accessibility features. No analytics or tracking scripts were detected, indicating a minimalistic approach to user data collection. From a security perspective, the site appears to use HTTPS (implied by the .gov domain), but no security headers or explicit SSL configuration details were found in the provided data. The absence of privacy and cookie policies, as well as contact information, represents compliance gaps. The WHOIS data is incomplete but consistent with government domain privacy practices, supporting the legitimacy of the domain. No WAF or blocking mechanisms were detected, and the site content is fully accessible. Overall, the website demonstrates a high level of business credibility due to its official government status and consistent branding. However, technical and privacy compliance aspects could be improved to enhance security posture and user trust. Strategic recommendations include implementing security headers, publishing privacy and cookie policies, and providing clear contact and incident response information.

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

5 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 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';…

  2. 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

    • 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

    • High

      Third-party services without privacy policy

      Detected services: Google APIs

      What to do: Document all third-party data sharing in your privacy policy

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

Keep watching usaid.gov

This scan found 13 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

€25per month

  • 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
100
Security headers
60
Email security
98
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
35
Average
80

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 usaid.gov, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
598
Employees
3
Customers
344
Third parties
251
Weak passwords
19%

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

A one-off add-on to this report that lists the most recent identifier and password pairs OffSeq Breach holds for usaid.gov.

Select it in the checkout above.

Breach keeps ingesting new leaks, so these numbers can grow between scans.

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Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

USAID holds a unique market position as the primary U.S. government agency responsible for international development and humanitarian aid. Its competitive advantage lies in its government backing, global reach, and mission-critical programs. The business model is non-commercial, funded by federal appropriations, focusing on delivering aid and managing overseas missions. Target customers include government stakeholders, international partners, and affected populations. Growth indicators are tied to government budgets and geopolitical priorities. The agency maintains a partnership ecosystem with other government bodies and international organizations. Operationally, USAID emphasizes transparency and official communication, as seen in the website's administrative leave notice. The lack of commercial marketing or advertising aligns with its government status.

Security posture

The security maturity level appears basic to moderate. The site likely uses HTTPS, but no explicit security headers or advanced protections are evident in the provided data. The absence of privacy and cookie policies indicates compliance gaps with GDPR and similar regulations. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure information is available, limiting transparency. The WHOIS data's lack of detail is typical for government domains and does not raise immediate concerns. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. Overall, the security posture is adequate for a government informational site but could benefit from enhanced security headers, published policies, and incident response contacts to improve resilience and compliance.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive security headers including Content-Security-Policy, Strict-Transport-Security, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  2. Publish clear privacy and cookie policies to improve GDPR and global privacy compliance.
  3. Add explicit contact information and incident response channels for security and abuse reporting.
  4. Enhance mobile optimization and accessibility features to improve user experience and compliance.
  5. Consider adding vulnerability disclosure and security.txt files to foster transparency and security culture.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
U.S. Agency for International Development
Description
USAID is a U.S. government agency focused on international development and humanitarian assistance. It provides aid and support globally, including mission-critical functions and programs overseas.
Key services
International development programs, Humanitarian assistance, Overseas mission support, Personnel management and administrative functions
Content quality
basic
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
HTML5, CSS, Google Fonts (Source Sans Pro)
Performance
moderate
Mobile
basic
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
30/100

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website content is accessible and not blocked by WAF or security challenges.
  2. No privacy, cookie, or terms of service policies found on the homepage HTML.
  3. No contact emails, phone numbers, or social media links found in the provided HTML.
  4. Minimal technical metadata and no structured data (JSON-LD or Open Graph) present.
  5. The site uses a simple, clean design with basic CSS and Google Fonts.
  6. No forms or input fields detected in the HTML content.
  7. External link to USAID Office of Inspector General is present and uses a subdomain of usaid.gov.
  8. No analytics or tracking scripts detected in the provided HTML.
  9. WHOIS data is incomplete but consistent with typical government domain privacy practices.
  10. Security headers and SSL configuration details are not provided; assumed HTTPS due to .gov domain but not confirmed.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a minimalistic technical stack with standard HTML and CSS, leveraging Google Fonts for typography. No advanced frameworks, CMS, or analytics tools were detected, indicating a simple infrastructure likely hosted on government servers. Performance is moderate with basic mobile responsiveness. The lack of meta tags beyond basic DC metadata suggests SEO optimization is minimal. Accessibility features are basic, with no ARIA roles or landmarks detected. The absence of forms or interactive elements reduces attack surface but also limits user engagement. Technical debt appears low due to simplicity, but modernization opportunities exist in improving SEO, accessibility, and security configurations.
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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