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Is noaa.gov a Scam? Security Check Results - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Reviews

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Is noaa.gov Safe? Security Analysis for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

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

GovernmentUnited Statesenterprise
Drupal 10jQueryGoogle Tag ManagerGoogle AnalyticsTooltipster+5 more
Analyzed 9/4/2025Completed 11:24:14 PM
69
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

AI Summary

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) operates as a key U.S. government agency under the Department of Commerce, providing critical scientific data, research, and public services related to weather, climate, oceans, fisheries, and environmental stewardship. The website serves a broad audience including the general public, emergency managers, researchers, and educators, offering comprehensive resources and tools. The site is well-branded, professionally designed, and highly accessible, reflecting its authoritative government status. Technically, the website is built on Drupal 10 with a modern technology stack including jQuery, Google Tag Manager, and various UI libraries. It demonstrates good mobile optimization, accessibility, and SEO practices, though performance is moderate. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforced and no exposed sensitive data, but could be improved by adding explicit security headers and a visible cookie consent mechanism. Privacy compliance is partially addressed with a comprehensive privacy policy, but lacks a cookie banner and explicit GDPR indicators. Overall, the security posture is solid for a government site, with no detected vulnerabilities or suspicious patterns. The WHOIS data is limited due to the .gov domain privacy but aligns with the official nature of the site. The site uses tracking technologies responsibly but could enhance transparency and user consent mechanisms. The risk level is low, and the site is trustworthy and professional. Strategic recommendations include implementing explicit cookie consent, publishing security and incident response policies, adding security headers, and providing clearer contact information for security matters to further enhance trust and compliance.

Detected Technologies

Drupal 10jQueryGoogle Tag ManagerGoogle AnalyticsTooltipsterOwl CarouselCycle2SuperclickFreezeframeHandlebars.js

🧠AI Business Intelligence

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

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

NOAA holds a dominant position as the U.S. federal agency responsible for oceanic and atmospheric data, research, and public services. Its business model is government-funded and focused on scientific research, environmental monitoring, and public safety. The agency's key services span weather forecasting, climate monitoring, fisheries management, satellite data provision, and educational outreach. The website reflects a mature digital presence with strong branding and consistent messaging. Partnerships with other government entities and public resources are evident through linked domains. The absence of commercial advertising and affiliate programs aligns with its government mission. Growth indicators include ongoing research initiatives and expanded public services. The agency maintains a broad partnership ecosystem within government and scientific communities.

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with mandatory HTTPS, no visible sensitive data exposure, and use of secure .gov domain infrastructure. However, the absence of explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options represents an area for improvement. No vulnerability disclosures or incident response contacts are published, which could hinder rapid response to security events. Tracking technologies are used with some privacy considerations but lack a visible consent mechanism. Overall, the site is secure but could enhance transparency and user privacy controls. No critical vulnerabilities or malware indicators were found.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Implement a visible cookie consent banner to comply with privacy regulations and enhance user trust.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Description:

U.S. Department of Commerce

Key Services:
Weather forecastingClimate monitoringOcean and coastal dataFisheries managementSatellite dataResearchMarine and aviation servicesChartingSanctuariesEducation
Content Quality:

excellent

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
Drupal 10jQueryGoogle Tag ManagerGoogle AnalyticsTooltipsterOwl CarouselCycle2SuperclickFreezeframeHandlebars.js
Frameworks:
Drupal CMS
Performance:

moderate

Mobile:

excellent

Accessibility:

excellent

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
85/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Secure .gov domain
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of Google Tag Manager with consent mode disabled

Analytics & Tracking

Services:
Google AnalyticsSiteimprove AnalyticsDigitalGov Universal Federated Analytics
Tracking Level:moderate
Privacy Compliance:basic

Advertising & Marketing

Tracking Pixels:
Siteimprove AnalyticsDigitalGov Universal Federated Analytics
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 website with .gov domain

🛡️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

Complex SPF record

LOW

Too many include statements can cause lookup limits

Weak DKIM Key

HIGH

DKIM selector 'google' uses 328-bit key

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 ip4:107.20.210.250/32 ip4:52.1.14.157/32 ip4:140.172.0.0/16 ip4:140.208.0.0/16 ip4:140.90.0.0/16 ip4:199.255.192.0/22 ip4:199.127.232.0/22 ip4:54.240.0.0/18 ip4:69.169.224.0/20 ip4:23.249.208.0/20 ip4:23.251.224.0/19 ip4:76.223.176.0/20 ip4:54.240.64.0/19 ip4:54.240.96.0/19 ip4:52.82.172.0/22 ip4:76.223.128.0/19 include:_spf.google.com include:spf0.noaa.gov include:spf1.noaa.gov include:spf2.noaa.gov include:spf3.noaa.gov include:spf4.noaa.gov -all
DNS Lookups:6/10
Policy:-all
DKIM Selectors Found
Selector:google(328-bit rsa)
DMARC Details
Policy:reject
Aggregate Reports:dmarc-reports@doc.gov

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

90/100
Score

Mixed Content Detected

MEDIUM

1 resources loaded over insecure HTTP

Partial SSL/TLS Assessment

LOW

Completed 2 of 4 security checks due to time constraints

Certificate Details

Subject:www.noaa.gov
Issuer:Amazon RSA 2048 M04
Valid Until:5/7/2026 (245 days)
SANs:www.noaa.gov, test.woc.noaa.gov

OCSP Status

OCSP Stapling Disabled

📊DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment.

DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment

85/100
Score

DNSSEC Not Enabled

MEDIUM

DNSSEC is not configured for this domain

Domain Delete Lock Not Enabled

LOW

Domain can be deleted without additional verification

Domain Registration Details

Domain Age
27 years(mature)
Expiry Risk
low(332 days)
Protection Level
basicDNSSEC OFF
Suspicious Indicators Detected
  • Privacy/proxy registration detected

DNS Records

A Records:137.75.88.52, 137.75.88.7
AAAA Records:2610:20:8800:8c00::24, 2610:20:8000:8c04::24
Name Servers:
ns-01.noaa.gov
ns-02.noaa.gov
ns-03.noaa.gov
MX Records:
10: ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM
20: ALT1.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM
20: ALT2.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM
40: ALT3.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM
40: ALT4.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM
SOA:Serial: 1757003763, TTL: 86400s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:149ms

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 ip4:107.20.210.250/32 ip4:52.1.14.157/32 ip4:140.172.0.0/16 ip4:140.208.0.0/16 ip4:140.90.0.0/16 ip4:199.255.192.0/22 ip4:199.127.232.0/22 ip4:54.240.0.0/18 ip4:69.169.224.0/20 ip4:23.249.208.0/20 ip4:23.251.224.0/19 ip4:76.223.176.0/20 ip4:54.240.64.0/19 ip4:54.240.96.0/19 ip4:52.82.172.0/22 ip4:76.223.128.0/19 include:_spf.google.com include:spf0.noaa.gov include:spf1.noaa.gov include:spf2.noaa.gov include:spf3.noaa.gov include:spf4.noaa.gov -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 10, leveraging modern JavaScript libraries and frameworks such as jQuery, Handlebars.js, and Owl Carousel for UI components. Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics are integrated for analytics and marketing purposes. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible, adhering to government web standards. Performance is moderate, likely due to rich media content and extensive scripts. The technical infrastructure is robust but could benefit from enhanced security headers and improved privacy controls. Hosting details are not explicitly identified but likely government-managed. Overall, the technical implementation supports a professional and reliable user experience.
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