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Is sec.gov a Scam? Security Check Results - U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Reviews

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Is sec.gov Safe? Security Analysis for U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

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

GovernmentUnited Stateslarge
Drupal CMSGoogle Tag ManagerYouTube iframe APIUSWDS (U.S. Web Design System)
Analyzed 9/5/2025Completed 10:31:17 PM
67
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

AI Summary

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) operates the website www.sec.gov as its official online presence. The SEC is a large government regulatory agency established in 1934 to oversee securities markets, protect investors, and promote fair and efficient capital markets. The website provides comprehensive resources including filings search, enforcement news, rulemaking activities, and investor education. Technically, the site uses Drupal CMS and adheres to the U.S. Web Design System (USWDS) standards, ensuring excellent accessibility and mobile optimization. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforced and no visible vulnerabilities, though explicit security headers could be enhanced. Privacy compliance is moderate due to the absence of visible privacy and cookie policies or consent mechanisms. Overall, the site is highly professional, trustworthy, and serves a critical role in U.S. financial market regulation.

Detected Technologies

Drupal CMSGoogle Tag ManagerYouTube iframe APIUSWDS (U.S. Web Design System)

🧠AI Business Intelligence

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

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

The SEC holds a dominant position as the primary federal regulator of securities markets in the United States. Its business model is regulatory and enforcement-focused, funded by the government. The website targets investors, market participants, small businesses, and the general public seeking regulatory information and filings. The SEC leverages partnerships with related government domains for filings and data dissemination. The site’s comprehensive content and official branding reinforce its authoritative market presence. Growth indicators include ongoing digital modernization efforts such as EDGAR Next and crypto task force initiatives. The SEC’s ecosystem includes multiple portals for filings management and investor resources, reflecting a mature and integrated service platform.

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The SEC website demonstrates a mature security posture with mandatory HTTPS, secure .gov domain usage, and no detected exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries. The use of Google Tag Manager and YouTube APIs is managed securely. However, the absence of explicit security headers like Content-Security-Policy and a public vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file suggests room for improvement. No incident response or security contact information is visible, which could enhance transparency and readiness. Compliance with privacy regulations such as GDPR is not clearly indicated, and cookie consent mechanisms are missing. Overall, the site is secure but could benefit from enhanced security policy disclosures and privacy compliance features.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Implement and publish a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie consent mechanism to improve privacy compliance.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Description:

Founded to help our country respond to the Great Depression, the SEC protects investors from misconduct, promotes fairness & efficiency in the securities markets, and facilitates capital formation for those looking to hire, innovate, and grow.

Key Services:
Investor protectionMarket regulationEnforcement and litigationFiling and disclosure managementData and research provision
Content Quality:

excellent

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
Drupal CMSGoogle Tag ManagerYouTube iframe APIUSWDS (U.S. Web Design System)
Frameworks:
Drupal
Performance:

moderate

Mobile:

excellent

Accessibility:

excellent

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
90/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of secure .gov domain
  • No exposed sensitive data detected
  • Secure forms with proper input types

Analytics & Tracking

Services:
Google Analytics (via Google Tag Manager)
Tracking Level:moderate
Privacy Compliance:basic

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 U.S. government website with .gov domain

🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

35/100
Score

Missing X-Frame-Options header

HIGH

Prevents clickjacking attacks

Missing X-Content-Type-Options header

MEDIUM

Prevents MIME type sniffing

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

👤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

47/100
Score

No vulnerability disclosure policy

MEDIUM

NIS2 encourages coordinated vulnerability disclosure

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

80/100
Score

Complex SPF record

LOW

Too many include statements can cause lookup limits

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 include:_mail.sec.gov include:_sas.sec.gov include:_sas1.sec.gov include:_sas2.sec.gov ip4:162.138.52.160 ip4:162.138.52.161 ip4:162.138.53.160 ip4:162.138.53.161 include:spf.protection.outlook.com -all
DNS Lookups:5/10
Policy:-all
DKIM Selectors Found
Selector:selector1(1296-bit rsa)
Selector:selector2(1296-bit rsa)
DMARC Details
Policy:reject
Aggregate Reports:DMARC@sec.gov!10m

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

80/100
Score

Weak SSL Key Length

HIGH

SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

Partial SSL/TLS Assessment

LOW

Completed 2 of 4 security checks due to time constraints

Certificate Details

Subject:www.sec.gov
Issuer:DigiCert Global G3 TLS ECC SHA384 2020 CA1
Valid Until:7/25/2026 (323 days)
SANs:www.sec.gov, acadia.sec.gov, acadiastg.sec.gov +89 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: d1-ip01.sec.gov

Unregistered MX Record

HIGH

MX record points to unregistered domain: d2-ip01.sec.gov

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(341 days)
Protection Level
basicDNSSEC OFF
Suspicious Indicators Detected
  • Privacy/proxy registration detected

DNS Records

A Records:23.210.231.207
AAAA Records:2a02:26f0:ad:3ab::17b2, 2a02:26f0:ad:380::17b2
Name Servers:
a1-32.akam.net
a18-65.akam.net
a20-66.akam.net
a3-67.akam.net
a6-64.akam.net
a7-65.akam.net
MX Records:
10: sec-gov.mail.protection.outlook.com
20: d1-ip01.sec.gov
20: d2-ip01.sec.gov
SOA:Serial: 2020112815, TTL: 300s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:219ms

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 include:_mail.sec.gov include:_sas.sec.gov include:_sas1.sec.gov include:_sas2.sec.gov ip4:162.138.52.160 ip4:162.138.52.161 ip4:162.138.53.160 ip4:162.138.53.161 include:spf.protection.outlook.com -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 SEC website is built on Drupal CMS and utilizes the U.S. Web Design System for consistent, accessible design. It integrates Google Tag Manager for analytics and YouTube APIs for media content. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible, with a moderate performance profile. The technical implementation is modern and well-structured, though opportunities exist to enhance security headers and privacy compliance features. Hosting details are not explicitly identified, but the .gov domain and HTTPS usage indicate a secure government hosting environment. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports the SEC’s mission effectively with room for incremental improvements.
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