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Is ca.gov a Scam? Security Check Results - State of California

ca.gov Security Report Summary

ca.gov received a security score of 66 out of 100 in Guard's comprehensive security analysis, classified as "Moderate Risk". This report covers State of California's website security posture. State of California operates in the Government industry in United States.

The website www.ca.gov serves as the official portal for the State of California, providing residents and visitors with access to a wide range of government services and information. It is positioned as an authoritative source for state government resources, featuring key services such as Real ID/license processing, birth certificates, tax refund checking, and business licensing. The site targets a broad audience including California residents, businesses, and visitors seeking official government information. From a technical perspective, the site employs modern web technologies including Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics for tracking, custom CSS and JavaScript for styling and interactivity, and is optimized for mobile devices with excellent accessibility features. The website demonstrates fast performance and strong SEO practices, contributing to a positive user experience. Security-wise, the site enforces HTTPS and uses secure forms for feedback submission. However, explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options are not detected, and there is no visible cookie consent mechanism. The WHOIS data is incomplete, likely due to .gov domain registry policies, but the official domain and consistent branding strongly support legitimacy. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were found. Overall, the website presents a high level of professionalism, trustworthiness, and compliance with privacy standards, though improvements in security header implementation and cookie consent transparency are recommended to enhance the security posture and privacy compliance further.

The security scan identified 30 findings across security headers, SSL/TLS, DNS health, email security, GDPR compliance, and NIS2 compliance analysis modules.

Technologies detected: Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Custom CSS and JS, Web fonts (Google Fonts), HTML5, JavaScript modules.

About this security scan

Guard performs automated security assessments of websites by analyzing SSL/TLS certificates, HTTP security headers, DNS configuration, email authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), GDPR compliance indicators, NIS2 directive compliance, network exposure, and AI-powered business intelligence. Each report provides domain-specific findings, risk scores, and actionable recommendations.

ca.gov favicon

Is ca.gov Safe? Security Analysis for State of California

https://ca.gov

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

GovernmentUnited Statesenterprise
Google Tag ManagerGoogle AnalyticsCustom CSS and JSWeb fonts (Google Fonts)HTML5+1 more
Analyzed 10/30/2025Completed 5:21:13 PM5mo ago
66
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

Below Government avg (70)

10,000+

Domains scanned

500+

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AI Summary

The website www.ca.gov serves as the official portal for the State of California, providing residents and visitors with access to a wide range of government services and information. It is positioned as an authoritative source for state government resources, featuring key services such as Real ID/license processing, birth certificates, tax refund checking, and business licensing. The site targets a broad audience including California residents, businesses, and visitors seeking official government information. From a technical perspective, the site employs modern web technologies including Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics for tracking, custom CSS and JavaScript for styling and interactivity, and is optimized for mobile devices with excellent accessibility features. The website demonstrates fast performance and strong SEO practices, contributing to a positive user experience. Security-wise, the site enforces HTTPS and uses secure forms for feedback submission. However, explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options are not detected, and there is no visible cookie consent mechanism. The WHOIS data is incomplete, likely due to .gov domain registry policies, but the official domain and consistent branding strongly support legitimacy. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were found. Overall, the website presents a high level of professionalism, trustworthiness, and compliance with privacy standards, though improvements in security header implementation and cookie consent transparency are recommended to enhance the security posture and privacy compliance further.

Detected Technologies

Google Tag ManagerGoogle AnalyticsCustom CSS and JSWeb fonts (Google Fonts)HTML5JavaScript modules

9 urgent findings need attention

9 high

  • + 1 more findings in the full report below
Continuous monitoring

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Guard tracks your live infrastructure daily: certificate expiry, DNS & mail authentication drift, uptime changes, subdomain inventory, and unexpected tracker or content shifts. A full timeline captures every diff so you can prove remediation and spot regressions instantly.

Security drift alerts

Risk score drops, new high-severity issues, and header hardening gaps

Compliance watch

GDPR / NIS2 posture changes with governance evidence snapshots

Infrastructure surface

Unexpected open services, SSL expiry, DNS & email authentication changes

Content & tracker intelligence

Marketing tech shifts, analytics drift, and AI recommendation updates

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Security Headers

5 findings

55/100

GDPR Compliance

3 findings

58/100

NIS2 Compliance

9 findings

2/100

Email Security

4 findings

75/100

🧠AI Business Intelligence

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

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

The State of California operates this website as an essential government service portal, positioning itself as the primary digital gateway for state residents and stakeholders. The business model is non-commercial, focused on public service delivery and information dissemination. The site supports a large enterprise-scale operation with extensive service offerings across multiple government departments. The presence of external partner domains related to state services and campaigns indicates a broad partnership ecosystem. The website's growth and modernization efforts are evident in its technical infrastructure and user-centric design. Strategic observations include the need for enhanced transparency in privacy and security policies to maintain public trust and comply with evolving regulations.

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The website exhibits a mature security posture with mandatory HTTPS enforcement and secure data collection forms. The absence of key security headers and a formal vulnerability disclosure policy represent gaps that could be addressed to strengthen defenses against common web threats. The lack of explicit incident response contact information and data protection officer details suggests room for improvement in compliance and transparency. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive information were detected, indicating a low risk of immediate security incidents. The use of Google Analytics and Tag Manager is balanced with privacy compliance, though cookie consent mechanisms should be implemented to align with GDPR and other regulations.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Implement comprehensive security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security to mitigate common web attacks.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

State of California

Description:

CA.gov is the official website for the State of California providing access to government services, resources, and information.

Key Services:
Real ID/licenseBirth certificatesTax refund checkingTraffic ticketsBusiness licenseSeller’s permit
Content Quality:

excellent

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
Google Tag ManagerGoogle AnalyticsCustom CSS and JSWeb fonts (Google Fonts)HTML5JavaScript modules
Performance:

fast

Mobile:

excellent

Accessibility:

excellent

SEO:

excellent

Security Assessment

Security Score:
85/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure forms with feedback submission
  • Use of crossorigin attributes on scripts

Analytics & Tracking

Services:
Google Analytics
Tracking Level:moderate
Privacy Compliance:good

Advertising & Marketing

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 California state government website with comprehensive service offerings

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🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

55/100
Score

Missing X-Frame-Options header

HIGH

Prevents clickjacking attacks

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

58/100
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

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

2/100
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

Critical sector without clear security compliance

HIGH

Detected sectors: transport, digital

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📧Email Security

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

Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation

75/100
Score

DMARC not enforcing

MEDIUM

DMARC policy is set to "none"

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 mx -all
DNS Lookups:1/10
Policy:-all
DKIM Selectors Found
Selector:s1(1440-bit rsa)
DMARC Details
Policy:none
Aggregate Reports:dmarc_ca@state.ca.gov
Forensic Reports:dmarc_ca@state.ca.gov

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

77/100
Score

Weak Protocols Supported

HIGH

Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

OCSP Stapling Not Enabled

LOW

OCSP stapling improves performance and privacy

Certificate Transparency Not Implemented

LOW

Certificate is not logged in Certificate Transparency logs

Partial SSL/TLS Assessment

LOW

Completed 3 of 4 security checks due to time constraints

Protocol Support

TLSv1.2TLSv1.3TLSv1.1

OCSP Status

OCSP Stapling Disabled

📊DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment.

DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment

75/100
Score

DNSSEC Not Enabled

MEDIUM

DNSSEC is not configured for this domain

CAA Records Not Configured

LOW

Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA) records not found

Domain Delete Lock Not Enabled

LOW

Domain can be deleted without additional verification

DMARC Policy Set to None

LOW

DMARC is configured but not enforcing any policy

Domain Registration Details

Domain Age
28 years(mature)
Expiry Risk
low(135 days)
Protection Level
basicDNSSEC OFF
Suspicious Indicators Detected
  • Privacy/proxy registration detected

DNS Records

A Records:13.107.213.45, 13.107.246.45
AAAA Records:2620:1ec:46::45, 2620:1ec:bdf::45
Name Servers:
asa.ns.cloudflare.com
chase.ns.cloudflare.com
MX Records:
50: state-ca-gov.mail.protection.outlook.com
SOA:Serial: 2387257101, TTL: 1800s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Enabled(Algorithm: 13)

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:32ms

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 mx -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

How does ca.gov compare?

See how ca.gov stacks up against similar websites in the same industry.

🔧Technical Analysis

Detailed technical findings and analysis from AI assessment.

Technical Analysis

Comprehensive security assessment findings

Additional Findings

The website is built using modern web standards with HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript modules. It leverages Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics for analytics and tracking. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and accessibility features, ensuring usability across devices and for users with disabilities. Performance is fast with preconnect and preload optimizations for fonts and scripts. No CMS or hosting provider details are explicitly identified. The technical implementation is robust with room for improvement in security header deployment and cookie consent management.
Professional PDF & Marketing Data

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PDF Report & Export

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39.90 €one-time • Incl. 21% VAT

Marketing Intelligence

Contact emails, phone numbers & warm leads

49.90 €one-time • Incl. 21% VAT

Plan Comparison

FeaturePDF ReportMarketing+
Full security analysis
Professional PDF export
Email delivery
Lifetime access + unlock code
Contact emails & phones
Marketing outreach data

Already purchased?

Order summary

Domainca.gov
Access tierFull report or marketing add-on

Digital reports are delivered immediately after payment. By continuing you acknowledge the withdrawal waiver described in our Returns & Refunds policy.

VisaMastercardApple PayGoogle Pay

Secure payments processed via EveryPay. Prices in EUR; Incl. 21% VAT.

SEQ SIA

Lastadijas 12 k-3, Riga, Latvia, LV-1050

Reg. No. 40203410806 • VAT LV40203410806

Support: guard@offseq.com+371 2256 5353

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