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Is archives.gov a Scam? Security Check Results - National Archives and Records Administration Reviews

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Is archives.gov Safe? Security Analysis for National Archives and Records Administration

Check if archives.gov is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.

GovernmentUnited Statesenterprise
Drupal CMSBootstrap CSS frameworkjQueryGoogle Tag ManagerGoogle Analytics+2 more
Analyzed 9/5/2025Completed 2:27:25 PM
65
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

AI Summary

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the official U.S. government agency responsible for preserving and providing access to federal records and historical documents. The website serves a broad audience including researchers, veterans, educators, and the general public, offering access to military records, educational resources, and presidential libraries. It holds a strong market position as the authoritative archival institution in the United States. Technically, the website is built on the Drupal CMS platform, utilizing modern web technologies such as Bootstrap, jQuery, and Google Tag Manager. The site demonstrates good performance, mobile optimization, and accessibility features, reflecting a mature digital infrastructure suitable for a large government entity. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and employs standard security headers, with no visible vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data. However, it lacks visible cookie consent mechanisms and published security or incident response policies, which are areas for improvement to enhance compliance and transparency. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and content-rich, with a high legitimacy score based on domain registration and business consistency. Strategic recommendations include implementing privacy consent tools, publishing security policies, and enhancing security headers to further strengthen the security posture and privacy compliance.

Detected Technologies

Drupal CMSBootstrap CSS frameworkjQueryGoogle Tag ManagerGoogle AnalyticsAddToAny sharingCrazy Egg tracking

🧠AI Business Intelligence

Technology stack, business insights, and market analysis powered by AI.

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

NARA operates as a government agency with a clear mandate to preserve U.S. federal records. Its business model is service-oriented, focusing on archival access and educational outreach rather than commercial revenue. The agency maintains partnerships with presidential libraries and archival foundations, enhancing its ecosystem. The website's extensive content and multiple service offerings indicate a large-scale operation with enterprise-level resources. The target customer segments include government employees, veterans, researchers, educators, and the general public. The presence of multiple trusted partner domains and official social media channels supports a robust partnership ecosystem and strong market presence.

Extracted Contact Information

Marketing Intelligence Data

Phone Numbers (1)

186*******

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The website exhibits a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, use of security headers, and no detected vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive information. The integration of Google Tag Manager and analytics is managed securely. However, the absence of a visible cookie consent mechanism and lack of published security or incident response policies represent compliance gaps, particularly regarding privacy regulations like GDPR. The site would benefit from publishing a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to improve transparency and incident response readiness. Overall, the security culture appears solid but could be enhanced with better privacy and incident response disclosures.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Implement a cookie consent banner to comply with privacy regulations and improve user transparency.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

National Archives and Records Administration

Description:

The National Archives and Records Administration preserves and provides access to the records of the U.S. government, including documents, photos, and historical records.

Key Services:
Research access to recordsVeterans’ military service recordsEducational resourcesPresidential librariesPublic exhibits and events
Content Quality:

excellent

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
Drupal CMSBootstrap CSS frameworkjQueryGoogle Tag ManagerGoogle AnalyticsAddToAny sharingCrazy Egg tracking
Frameworks:
Drupal
Performance:

moderate

Mobile:

good

Accessibility:

good

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
85/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of Google Tag Manager for controlled script loading
  • No visible vulnerable libraries

Analytics & Tracking

Services:
Google AnalyticsCrazy EggDigitalGov Analytics Platform
Tracking Level:moderate
Privacy Compliance:basic

Advertising & Marketing

Tracking Pixels:
Crazy EggDigitalGov Analytics Platform
Marketing Tools:
AddToAny sharing
Transparency Level:basic

Website Quality Assessment

Design Quality:excellent
User Experience:excellent
Content Relevance:excellent
Navigation Clarity:excellent
Professionalism:excellent
Trustworthiness:high

Key Observations

1

Official U.S. government archival website with comprehensive content.

🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

55/100
Score

Missing Content-Security-Policy header

HIGH

Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

Missing X-XSS-Protection header

MEDIUM

Legacy XSS protection (deprecated but still recommended)

Missing Referrer-Policy header

LOW

Controls referrer information sent with requests

Missing Permissions-Policy header

MEDIUM

Controls browser features and APIs

Sensitive data may be cached

LOW

Cache-Control header should include "no-store" for sensitive pages

👤GDPR Compliance

Privacy and data protection assessment under GDPR regulations.

GDPR Compliance

Privacy and data protection assessment

53/100
Score

No Cookie Policy found

HIGH

GDPR requires clear information about cookie usage

No Cookie Consent Banner found

HIGH

GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies

No Data Protection Officer mentioned

LOW

Large organizations may need to designate a DPO under GDPR

Privacy policy may not be GDPR compliant

MEDIUM

Privacy policy lacks explicit GDPR compliance elements

GDPR Compliance Analysis

Privacy Policy85% confidence
Cookie Policy0% confidence
Contact Information Found90% confidence
phone

🛡️NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive compliance assessment.

NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive

17/100
Score

No information security framework found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity and information security measures

No vulnerability disclosure policy

MEDIUM

NIS2 encourages coordinated vulnerability disclosure

No security policy documentation found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity governance and risk management

No incident response procedures found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented incident response and business continuity plans

No business continuity planning found

MEDIUM

NIS2 emphasizes operational resilience and business continuity

No security contact information

HIGH

NIS2 requires clear incident reporting channels

No vulnerability reporting mechanism

MEDIUM

Clear vulnerability reporting supports coordinated disclosure

No NIS2 reference found

LOW

Consider explicitly mentioning NIS2 compliance efforts

📧Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation and email security assessment.

Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation

70/100
Score

No DKIM record found

MEDIUM

DKIM adds cryptographic signatures to emails

No BIMI Record

LOW

BIMI displays brand logos in email clients

No MTA-STS Policy

MEDIUM

MTA-STS enforces TLS for email delivery

No TLS-RPT Record

LOW

TLS-RPT provides reporting for email TLS issues

SPF
Sender Policy Framework
DKIM
DomainKeys Identified Mail
DMARC
Domain-based Message Authentication
MX Records
Mail Exchange Records
BIMI
Brand Indicators
MTA-STS
Mail Transfer Agent Security
TLS-RPT
TLS Reporting
DNSSEC
DNS Security
SPF Details
Record:
v=spf1 -all
DNS Lookups:0/10
Policy:-all
DMARC Details
Policy:reject
Aggregate Reports:reports@dmarc.cyber.dhs.gov
Forensic Reports:reports@dmarc.cyber.dhs.gov

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

85/100
Score

SSL Certificate Expires Within 90 Days

MEDIUM

SSL certificate expires in 79 days

Mixed Content Detected

MEDIUM

2 resources loaded over insecure HTTP

Partial SSL/TLS Assessment

LOW

Completed 2 of 4 security checks due to time constraints

Certificate Details

Subject:archives.gov
Issuer:Entrust Certification Authority - L1K
Valid Until:11/23/2025 (79 days)
SANs:archives.gov, www.archives.gov, nara.gov +1 more

OCSP Status

OCSP Stapling Disabled

📊DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment.

DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment

55/100
Score

Unregistered MX Record

HIGH

MX record points to unregistered domain: us.etp.fireeyegov.com

DNSSEC Not Enabled

MEDIUM

DNSSEC is not configured for this domain

Potential Subdomain Takeover

HIGH

Subdomain dev.archives.gov points to unregistered service archives-gov-dev-publicelb-197081278.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com

DNS Records

A Records:52.206.136.3, 52.44.89.206
AAAA Records:2600:1f18:43e8:f302:b470:d266:4d03:3ed8, 2600:1f18:43e8:f301:9046:c05f:75e7:c481
Name Servers:
ns1.fedmettel.netDNS only
ns2.fedmettel.netDNS only
MX Records:
10: us.etp.fireeyegov.com
SOA:Serial: 16239, TTL: 300s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:495ms

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 -all

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis.

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis

100/100
Score

Good Network Security Posture

LOW

No unnecessary services detected on common risky ports

🔧Technical Analysis

Detailed technical findings and analysis from AI assessment.

Technical Analysis

Comprehensive security assessment findings

Additional Findings

The website is built on Drupal CMS with a modern front-end stack including Bootstrap and jQuery. It uses Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics for tracking, along with Crazy Egg for heatmap analytics. The site loads multiple CSS and JS resources efficiently and supports mobile responsiveness and accessibility. Hosting details are not explicitly identified but likely involve government infrastructure or contracted providers. Performance is moderate with room for optimization. The technical implementation is robust, but there is an opportunity to improve privacy compliance and security header configurations.
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