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Security report for vacyberskills.com

VA Cyber Skills Academies (VCSA) · Education · United States

Low risk. 2 critical or high findings in Security headers and SSL/TLS.

Security score

77/100

Risk levelLow

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

VA Cyber Skills Academies (VCSA) is a state-sponsored educational initiative providing free, hands-on cybersecurity training to Northern Virginia residents, particularly those financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The program offers two main academies: a reskilling academy for individuals with no IT experience and an upskilling academy for early-career IT/cybersecurity professionals. The training includes industry-recognized certifications such as GIAC and is supported by partnerships with reputable organizations like the SANS Institute and Cyberjutsu. The website is professionally designed, mobile-optimized, and uses HubSpot CMS with integrated analytics and marketing tools. However, the domain WHOIS data is unavailable, which raises questions about domain registration legitimacy despite the credible content and partnerships. Privacy and cookie policies are present with consent mechanisms, but explicit security policies and incident response information are lacking.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
83/ 100 · Low
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

2 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. 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 SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

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Keep watching vacyberskills.com

This scan found 18 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.

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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
65
Security headers
45
Email security
85
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
83
Average
77

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 vacyberskills.com, from OffSeq Breach.

No leaked records found

Breach holds no records for vacyberskills.com 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

VCSA operates as a government-backed workforce development program targeting the cybersecurity skills gap in Northern Virginia. Its business model focuses on free training funded by the state, aiming to quickly prepare candidates for cybersecurity careers through accelerated curricula and employer partnerships. The program's market position is niche and regional, leveraging strong partnerships with industry leaders and educational institutions. The absence of direct contact emails and phone numbers suggests a controlled communication channel primarily via web forms. The partnership ecosystem is robust, including government entities, cybersecurity firms, and educational bodies, enhancing credibility and reach.

Security posture

The website enforces HTTPS and uses secure analytics tools like Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel. However, it lacks visible security headers and does not provide explicit security or incident response policies, which are important for transparency and trust. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. The absence of a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file indicates room for improvement in security maturity. Overall, the security posture is good but could be enhanced by adding formal security documentation and headers.

Recommendations

  1. Implement standard security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, Strict-Transport-Security, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to improve security posture.
  2. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response page to increase transparency and user trust.
  3. Add a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting of security issues.
  4. Provide direct company contact emails and phone numbers for better accessibility and trust.
  5. Regularly review and update privacy and cookie policies to ensure full GDPR and other privacy regulation compliance.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
VA Cyber Skills Academies (VCSA)
Description
The VA Cyber Skills Academies provide world-class, hands-on training to candidates who want to start or expand their career in the cybersecurity field. Sponsored by the state of Virginia, the program was developed to aid residents impacted by COVID-19 and help meet the demand for skilled cybersecurity professionals.
Key services
Cybersecurity reskilling academy (no IT experience needed), Cybersecurity upskilling academy (for early-career professionals), Hands-on technical training, Soft skills development, Industry certifications (GIAC), Career and networking support
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
HubSpot CMS, Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, jQuery
Platforms
HubSpot
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of secure analytics and tracking scripts

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, HubSpot Analytics, Facebook Pixel
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel
Marketing tools
HubSpot marketing tools
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a government-sponsored cybersecurity training program for Northern Virginia residents.
  2. Content is well-structured, professional, and informative.
  3. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found; contact is via form.
  4. No WHOIS data available, which is unusual for a government-affiliated program.
  5. Uses HubSpot CMS and marketing tools with standard tracking scripts.
  6. No security.txt or explicit security policy pages found.
  7. Privacy, cookie, and terms policies are present and linked in footer.
  8. No signs of adult or questionable content.
  9. No WAF or blocking detected; site fully accessible.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on the HubSpot CMS platform, utilizing modern JavaScript libraries including jQuery and HubSpot's own marketing and analytics scripts. It integrates Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel for user tracking and marketing purposes. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and good SEO practices including meta tags and Open Graph data. Performance is moderate, with no major issues detected. Accessibility features are basic but present. The lack of explicit hosting provider information limits deeper infrastructure analysis. Overall, the technical implementation supports a professional and functional user experience.
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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