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Security report for vcf.gov

September 11th Victim Compensation Fund · Government · United States

Low risk. 3 critical or high findings in Security headers and GDPR outside view.

Security score

76/100

Risk levelLow

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

The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) is a federally funded government program administered by the U.S. Department of Justice, designed to provide compensation to individuals physically harmed or deceased due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The website serves as the official portal for information, registration, claims filing, and outreach to the affected community. It targets a broad audience including residents, first responders, volunteers, and others impacted by the events and aftermath of 9/11. The program operates as a no-fault alternative to litigation, emphasizing accessibility and support for claimants. Technically, the website is built on Drupal 11 and leverages modern web technologies including USWDS for design consistency, YouTube APIs for video content, and multiple analytics platforms for performance and user behavior tracking. The site is mobile-optimized, accessible, and structured for clear navigation. Security is robust with HTTPS enforced and privacy of personally identifiable information emphasized, though some security headers could be improved and a cookie consent mechanism added. From a security perspective, the site demonstrates good practices including fraud reporting channels and data protection notices. The lack of exposed vulnerabilities and the official .gov domain enhance trustworthiness. WHOIS data is limited but consistent with a government-operated domain. Overall, the site presents a low risk profile with strong credibility and compliance with federal standards. Strategically, the VCF website effectively balances informative content, user experience, and security to serve a sensitive and important constituency. Continued enhancements in privacy compliance and security transparency would further strengthen its posture.

Scanned

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

3 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

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

Keep watching vcf.gov

This scan found 19 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
90
Security headers
60
Email security
70
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
76

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 vcf.gov, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
237
Employees
0
Customers
237
Third parties
0
Weak passwords
8%

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 vcf.gov.

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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 VCF operates as a government essential entity within the justice sector, providing compensation services to a defined community affected by a historic event. Its market position is unique and authoritative, backed by federal funding and oversight. The business model is service-oriented, focusing on claims processing and community outreach rather than commercial revenue. The website supports multiple languages and provides comprehensive resources, indicating a commitment to accessibility and inclusiveness. Partnerships appear limited to government-related domains, reinforcing its official status. Growth indicators are tied to ongoing claims and legislative mandates rather than market competition. The program's ecosystem is tightly controlled, with a focus on transparency and trust. Operationally, the VCF benefits from a modern digital infrastructure but could improve in areas such as cookie consent and explicit security policies. The analytics usage is moderate, balancing data collection with privacy considerations. The presence of fraud reporting mechanisms indicates a proactive stance on security and compliance.

Security posture

The website maintains a strong security posture with HTTPS enforced and no visible sensitive data leaks. Security best practices include access controls for personally identifiable information and clear fraud reporting contacts. However, the absence of explicit security headers like Content-Security-Policy and a security.txt file suggests room for improvement. The site does not display cookie consent banners, which may be a compliance gap under certain privacy regulations. No vulnerabilities or malware indicators were detected in the content. Incident response contact is clearly provided via a DOJ Inspector General email. Overall, the security maturity is good but could be enhanced with additional transparency and technical controls.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish a dedicated security policy page detailing security controls and incident response procedures.
  2. Add standard security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to enhance browser security.
  3. Introduce a visible cookie consent mechanism to comply with privacy regulations and improve user trust.
  4. Publish a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting of security issues.
  5. Regularly review and update privacy and security notices to reflect current compliance requirements and best practices.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
September 11th Victim Compensation Fund
Description
The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) is a federally funded program established to compensate individuals physically harmed or deceased due to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks or related debris removal efforts. It provides a no-fault alternative to lawsuits and is administered by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Special Master.
Key services
Claim registration, Claim compensation, Information and guidance on eligibility and filing, Outreach and educational resources
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Drupal 11, YouTube iframe API, Siteimprove Analytics, Digital Analytics Program (DAP), Google Tag Manager
Frameworks
US Web Design System (USWDS)
Platforms
YouTube
Performance
moderate
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
excellent
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Security notices about fraud and data protection
  • Access controls mentioned for PII

Analytics and tracking

Services
Siteimprove Analytics, Digital Analytics Program (DAP), Google Analytics (via GTM)
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Siteimprove Analytics, Digital Analytics Program (DAP)
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Official U.S. government website with .gov domain
  2. Comprehensive content about 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund
  3. Clear navigation with multi-language support
  4. Secure HTTPS connection with modern web technologies
  5. No signs of malicious or suspicious content
  6. Contact information and fraud reporting clearly provided
  7. No visible cookie consent mechanism
  8. No explicit privacy or security policy pages on site but linked to DOJ policies
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on Drupal 11, a modern and widely supported CMS, ensuring a solid foundation for content management and security. It uses the US Web Design System (USWDS) for consistent government branding and accessibility compliance. Integration with YouTube APIs and multiple analytics platforms indicates a mature digital marketing and user engagement strategy. Performance is moderate with room for optimization, but mobile responsiveness and accessibility are excellent. The site uses HTTPS exclusively, ensuring encrypted communications. No hosting provider details were explicitly found, but the domain and content suggest hosting within government infrastructure. Overall, the technical implementation supports the business goals effectively with opportunities for incremental improvements in security headers and 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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