Is research.gov Safe? Security Analysis for National Science Foundation
Check if research.gov is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.
AI Summary
Research.gov is the official grants management platform for the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) community, providing comprehensive services including proposal preparation, submission, award management, reviews, panels, and financial administration. The platform serves researchers, reviewers, and institutions engaged with NSF, positioning itself as a critical government service with a strong market presence in the research funding sector. The website is well-branded, consistent, and clearly communicates its purpose and services to its target audience. Technically, the site employs a mature technology stack including jQuery, Bootstrap, DataTables, and integrates multiple analytics and user experience tools such as Google Tag Manager, Crazy Egg, ForeSee, and WebTrends. The site demonstrates good mobile optimization, accessibility, and SEO practices, although some modern security headers are not explicitly detected. Performance is moderate, suitable for an enterprise government platform. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and promotes multi-factor authentication, indicating a strong security posture. However, explicit security headers like Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options are not evident, and no visible cookie consent mechanism is present, which could impact privacy compliance. The WHOIS data is unavailable, likely due to privacy protection, but this does not detract from the site's legitimacy given its government affiliation. Overall, Research.gov is a trustworthy, professional, and secure platform essential for NSF grant management. Strategic improvements in privacy compliance and security header implementation would further enhance its security posture and user trust.
Detected Technologies
🧠AI Business Intelligence
Technology stack, business insights, and market analysis powered by AI.
Business Intelligence
Market & Strategic Analysis
Research.gov operates as a government service platform under the National Science Foundation, targeting the U.S. research community involved in NSF grants. Its competitive advantage lies in its official status and comprehensive integration of proposal, review, award, and financial management services. Revenue streams are government-funded, with no commercial transactions evident on the site. The platform supports a broad user base including researchers, reviewers, and administrative staff, indicating a large enterprise scale. Partnerships with NSF and related government entities are evident, and the site maintains a strong ecosystem of related NSF domains. The platform's strategic focus on user experience and analytics suggests ongoing efforts to optimize service delivery and stakeholder engagement.
Extracted Contact Information
Marketing Intelligence Data
Phone Numbers (3)
Physical Addresses (1)
Security Posture Analysis
Comprehensive Security Assessment
The security maturity of Research.gov is solid, with mandatory HTTPS, promotion of multi-factor authentication, and no visible exposure of sensitive data. The absence of some security headers and a cookie consent mechanism are notable gaps that could affect compliance with privacy regulations such as GDPR. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure information is publicly available, which could be improved to enhance transparency and readiness. The use of multiple analytics and tracking tools indicates moderate user tracking, balanced by the site's government nature and implied privacy standards. Overall, the security posture is strong but could benefit from enhanced privacy and security policy disclosures.
Strategic Recommendations
Priority Actions for Security Improvement
Implement and explicitly configure security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to strengthen defense-in-depth.
✨Observations
AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.
AI-Enhanced Website Analysis
Business Insights
National Science Foundation
NSF's Research.gov is where to prepare and submit proposals, manage awards, and participate in reviews and panels.
good
consistent
Technical Stack
moderate
good
good
good
Security Assessment
- HTTPS enforced
- No exposed sensitive data in HTML
- Use of MFA banner to promote multi-factor authentication
- No visible vulnerable libraries
Analytics & Tracking
Advertising & Marketing
Website Quality Assessment
Key Observations
Official U.S. government domain with .gov TLD
🛡️Security Headers
HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.
Security Headers
HTTP security headers analysis
Weak X-XSS-Protection configuration
LOWCurrent value: "0"
Missing Referrer-Policy header
LOWControls referrer information sent with requests
Missing Permissions-Policy header
MEDIUMControls browser features and APIs
👤GDPR Compliance
Privacy and data protection assessment under GDPR regulations.
GDPR Compliance
Privacy and data protection assessment
No Cookie Policy found
HIGHGDPR requires clear information about cookie usage
No Cookie Consent Banner found
HIGHGDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies
No Data Protection Officer mentioned
LOWLarge organizations may need to designate a DPO under GDPR
Privacy policy may not be GDPR compliant
MEDIUMPrivacy policy lacks explicit GDPR compliance elements
GDPR Compliance Analysis
🛡️NIS2 Compliance
Network & Information Security Directive compliance assessment.
NIS2 Compliance
Network & Information Security Directive
No vulnerability disclosure policy
MEDIUMNIS2 encourages coordinated vulnerability disclosure
No incident response procedures found
HIGHNIS2 requires documented incident response and business continuity plans
No business continuity planning found
MEDIUMNIS2 emphasizes operational resilience and business continuity
No security contact information
HIGHNIS2 requires clear incident reporting channels
No vulnerability reporting mechanism
MEDIUMClear vulnerability reporting supports coordinated disclosure
No NIS2 reference found
LOWConsider explicitly mentioning NIS2 compliance efforts
📧Email Security
SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation and email security assessment.
Email Security
SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation
No DKIM record found
MEDIUMDKIM adds cryptographic signatures to emails
No BIMI Record
LOWBIMI displays brand logos in email clients
No MTA-STS Policy
MEDIUMMTA-STS enforces TLS for email delivery
No TLS-RPT Record
LOWTLS-RPT provides reporting for email TLS issues
SPF Details
DMARC Details
🏆SSL/TLS Security
Certificate validity and encryption analysis.
SSL/TLS Security
Certificate validity and encryption analysis
Mixed Content Detected
MEDIUM25 resources loaded over insecure HTTP
Partial SSL/TLS Assessment
LOWCompleted 2 of 4 security checks due to time constraints
Certificate Details
OCSP Status
📊DNS Health
DNS configuration and security assessment.
DNS Health
DNS configuration and security assessment
DNSSEC Not Enabled
MEDIUMDNSSEC is not configured for this domain
CAA Records Not Configured
LOWCertificate Authority Authorization (CAA) records not found
Domain Delete Lock Not Enabled
LOWDomain can be deleted without additional verification
Slow DNS Resolution
LOWDNS resolution took 2512ms (>1000ms)
Domain Registration Details
- •Privacy/proxy registration detected
DNS Records
DNSSEC Status
DNS Performance
SPF Analysis
⚡Network Security
Port scanning and network exposure analysis.
Network Security
Port scanning and network exposure analysis
Good Network Security Posture
LOWNo unnecessary services detected on common risky ports
🔧Technical Analysis
Detailed technical findings and analysis from AI assessment.
Technical Analysis
Comprehensive security assessment findings