Skip to main content

Security report for usbr.gov

Bureau of Reclamation · Government · 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 Bureau of Reclamation is a longstanding U.S. government agency responsible for managing water and power resources primarily in the Western United States. The website serves as a comprehensive portal for information on dams, powerplants, projects, environmental resources, and recreation opportunities managed by the agency. It targets a broad audience including the general public, government stakeholders, and professionals in water and energy sectors. The agency operates under the U.S. Department of the Interior and maintains a strong market position as a key federal water resource manager. Technically, the website employs a modern technology stack including jQuery, Modernizr, Google Analytics, and DigitalGov analytics, hosted behind Cloudflare DNS and CDN services. The site is mobile optimized, accessible, and SEO friendly with clear navigation and structured content. Performance is moderate, with room for improvement in loading speed and technical modernization. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and has domain transfer protections in place. However, it lacks DNSSEC, security headers, and explicit security policies or incident response contacts. The presence of a vulnerability disclosure policy is a positive indicator. Privacy compliance is partial, with a comprehensive privacy policy but no cookie consent mechanism despite active analytics tracking. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and well-maintained, with minor gaps in security and privacy compliance. Strategic improvements in DNS security, security headers, and privacy mechanisms would enhance the site's security posture and compliance standing.

Scanned

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

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 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

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 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 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

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

Keep watching usbr.gov

This scan found 22 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

Email alerts on material changes and an exportable JSON history of every change.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. See sample alerts.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

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
45
Email security
85
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
72

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 usbr.gov, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
14
Employees
0
Customers
0
Third parties
14
Weak passwords
0%

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 usbr.gov.

Select it in the checkout above.

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

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

The Bureau of Reclamation holds a critical role in the U.S. government's water and power infrastructure management, particularly in the Western states. Its competitive advantage lies in its federal authority, extensive infrastructure portfolio, and comprehensive data and resource sharing platforms. The business model is government-funded and service-oriented, focusing on sustainable water resource management, power generation, and public recreation. Revenue streams are primarily governmental appropriations and infrastructure investments. The agency maintains a broad partnership ecosystem including other federal agencies, regional offices, and public stakeholders. Growth indicators include ongoing infrastructure projects and digital initiatives such as interactive dashboards and open data environments. The website reflects a mature digital presence aligned with public sector standards.

Security posture

The Bureau of Reclamation's website demonstrates a moderate security maturity level. HTTPS is enforced, and domain transfer protections are active, which are foundational security measures. The absence of DNSSEC and security headers represents a gap that could expose the site to DNS spoofing and clickjacking attacks. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. The lack of explicit incident response contacts and security policies limits transparency and preparedness communication. Privacy compliance is partial, with no cookie consent mechanism despite analytics usage, which may pose regulatory risks. Overall, the security posture is adequate for a government informational site but would benefit from enhancements in DNS security, HTTP headers, and privacy controls.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to protect against DNS spoofing and improve overall DNS security.
  2. Implement and display comprehensive security policies and incident response contact information to enhance transparency and preparedness.
  3. Add security HTTP headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Content-Type-Options, and X-Frame-Options to mitigate common web vulnerabilities.
  4. Deploy a cookie consent mechanism to comply with privacy regulations and inform users about tracking technologies.
  5. Regularly audit and update third-party libraries and analytics tools to ensure no vulnerabilities are introduced.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Bureau of Reclamation
Description
Bureau of Reclamation - Managing water and power in the West
Key services
Water management, Power generation, Infrastructure projects, Environmental resources, Recreation management
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery, Modernizr, Google Analytics (gtag.js), DigitalGov Analytics, Jssor Slider
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Domain status serverTransferProhibited
  • Vulnerability disclosure policy published

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, DigitalGov Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
DigitalGov Analytics
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Official US government website for the Bureau of Reclamation.
  2. Comprehensive navigation with extensive project, dam, powerplant, and office listings.
  3. Multiple social media channels linked, indicating active public engagement.
  4. Use of modern JavaScript libraries and analytics tools.
  5. No visible security headers in HTML but HTTPS is enforced.
  6. No cookie consent mechanism detected despite use of analytics.
  7. Privacy policy and vulnerability disclosure policy are present and accessible.
  8. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly listed on the homepage; contact form available.
  9. No terms of service or explicit security policy pages found.
  10. Content is professional, relevant, and well-structured.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a combination of established JavaScript libraries including jQuery and Modernizr, along with Google Analytics and DigitalGov analytics for user tracking. The presence of a Jssor Slider indicates interactive UI components. Hosting is managed via Cloudflare DNS and CDN services, providing performance and security benefits. The site is mobile optimized and accessible, with semantic HTML and ARIA roles for navigation and content. However, the absence of a detected CMS suggests a custom or static site architecture, which may limit content management flexibility. Performance is moderate, with potential improvements in loading speed and modern frontend frameworks adoption. Technical risks include lack of DNSSEC and missing security headers, which should be addressed to reduce attack surface.
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. 73/100Medium27 findingsView report
Reviews of this site

Share your experience with usbr.gov. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review usbr.gov.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.