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Is usda.gov a Scam? Security Check Results - U.S. Department of Agriculture

usda.gov Security Report Summary

usda.gov received a security score of 55 out of 100 in Guard's comprehensive security analysis, classified as "Elevated Risk". This report covers U.S. Department of Agriculture's website security posture. U.S. Department of Agriculture operates in the Government industry in United States.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) website serves as an authoritative federal government portal providing extensive resources and support related to food, agriculture, natural resources, rural development, nutrition, and related policy areas. The site targets a broad audience including American citizens, farmers, ranchers, agricultural stakeholders, and government employees. It offers comprehensive information on food safety, farming and ranching, forestry, sustainability, trade, and disaster assistance programs, positioning itself as a critical resource in the agricultural sector. Technically, the website is built on Drupal 10, a modern and robust content management system, and integrates multiple analytics tools including Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and the U.S. government's Digital Analytics Program. The site demonstrates good performance, excellent mobile optimization, and strong accessibility features, ensuring a positive user experience across devices. The presence of HTTPS and secure cookie consent mechanisms further enhance its technical maturity. From a security perspective, the USDA website employs HTTPS with excellent SSL configuration and follows best practices such as secure forms and no visible vulnerabilities in third-party libraries. While explicit security headers are not fully confirmed, the overall posture is strong. Privacy compliance is well addressed with clear privacy and cookie policies, including GDPR considerations. Incident response mechanisms are partially visible through a lawfare complaint portal, though more explicit security contact channels could improve readiness. Overall, the website is highly trustworthy, professionally designed, and consistent with its government identity. The lack of WHOIS data is expected due to the .gov domain restrictions, and no suspicious patterns were detected. The site is safe for general audiences with no adult or questionable content. Strategic recommendations include enhancing security header implementation, increasing transparency around incident response, and maintaining up-to-date CMS and third-party components to sustain security and compliance.

The security scan identified 20 findings across security headers, SSL/TLS, DNS health, email security, GDPR compliance, and NIS2 compliance analysis modules.

Technologies detected: Drupal 10, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, YouTube iframe API, Digital Analytics Program (DAP).

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.

U

Is usda.gov Safe? Security Analysis for U.S. Department of Agriculture

https://usda.gov

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

GovernmentUnited Statesenterprise
Drupal 10Google AnalyticsGoogle Tag ManagerYouTube iframe APIDigital Analytics Program (DAP)
Analyzed 8/1/2025Completed 5:38:06 AM8mo ago
55
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

Below Government avg (70)

10,000+

Domains scanned

500+

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Domainusda.gov
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AI Summary

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) website serves as an authoritative federal government portal providing extensive resources and support related to food, agriculture, natural resources, rural development, nutrition, and related policy areas. The site targets a broad audience including American citizens, farmers, ranchers, agricultural stakeholders, and government employees. It offers comprehensive information on food safety, farming and ranching, forestry, sustainability, trade, and disaster assistance programs, positioning itself as a critical resource in the agricultural sector. Technically, the website is built on Drupal 10, a modern and robust content management system, and integrates multiple analytics tools including Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and the U.S. government's Digital Analytics Program. The site demonstrates good performance, excellent mobile optimization, and strong accessibility features, ensuring a positive user experience across devices. The presence of HTTPS and secure cookie consent mechanisms further enhance its technical maturity. From a security perspective, the USDA website employs HTTPS with excellent SSL configuration and follows best practices such as secure forms and no visible vulnerabilities in third-party libraries. While explicit security headers are not fully confirmed, the overall posture is strong. Privacy compliance is well addressed with clear privacy and cookie policies, including GDPR considerations. Incident response mechanisms are partially visible through a lawfare complaint portal, though more explicit security contact channels could improve readiness. Overall, the website is highly trustworthy, professionally designed, and consistent with its government identity. The lack of WHOIS data is expected due to the .gov domain restrictions, and no suspicious patterns were detected. The site is safe for general audiences with no adult or questionable content. Strategic recommendations include enhancing security header implementation, increasing transparency around incident response, and maintaining up-to-date CMS and third-party components to sustain security and compliance.

Detected Technologies

Drupal 10Google AnalyticsGoogle Tag ManagerYouTube iframe APIDigital Analytics Program (DAP)

7 urgent findings need attention

1 critical · 6 high

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

1 finding

0/100

GDPR Compliance

4 findings

53/100

NIS2 Compliance

5 findings

43/100

Email Security

4 findings

80/100

🧠AI Business Intelligence

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

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

USDA holds a dominant position as a federal government agency responsible for agriculture and food policy in the United States. Its business model revolves around public service, regulatory oversight, and program delivery rather than commercial revenue generation. The website reflects this with extensive informational content and resources rather than transactional services. The agency's partnerships with other government domains such as farmers.gov and fsis.usda.gov indicate a strong ecosystem supporting agricultural stakeholders. The site’s comprehensive navigation and content breadth suggest a mature digital presence aimed at maximizing outreach and service delivery to diverse user groups including farmers, policymakers, and the general public.

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The USDA website exhibits a mature security posture with mandatory HTTPS enforcement and excellent SSL configuration. The use of secure cookie consent and integration with government analytics programs demonstrates attention to privacy and compliance. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were found. However, explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options were not clearly identified in the HTML source, representing an area for improvement. Incident response contact information is limited but includes a specialized complaint portal. Overall, the site aligns well with government security standards but could benefit from enhanced header policies and more visible security contact channels.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Implement and explicitly confirm comprehensive security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Referrer-Policy.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Description:

Resources and support for food, agriculture, natural resources, rural development, nutrition, and related issues.

Key Services:
Food safety and nutrition programsFarming and ranching supportForestry managementSustainability initiativesTrade and markets regulationDisaster assistanceFinancial resources for farmers and ranchers
Content Quality:

excellent

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
Drupal 10Google AnalyticsGoogle Tag ManagerYouTube iframe APIDigital Analytics Program (DAP)
Frameworks:
Drupal CMS
Performance:

moderate

Mobile:

excellent

Accessibility:

excellent

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
85/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Secure cookie consent mechanism
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of Google Tag Manager with consent
  • No visible vulnerable libraries

Analytics & Tracking

Services:
Google AnalyticsDigital Analytics Program (DAP)
Tracking Level:moderate
Privacy Compliance:good

Advertising & Marketing

Tracking Pixels:
Digital Analytics Program (DAP)
Transparency Level:good

Website Quality Assessment

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

Key Observations

1

Official US government website with .gov domain

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🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

0/100
Score
Analysis failed - content could not be retrieved

👤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

43/100
Score

No information security framework found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity and information security measures

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 security contact information

HIGH

NIS2 requires clear incident reporting channels

No NIS2 reference found

LOW

Consider explicitly mentioning NIS2 compliance efforts

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📧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 ip4:52.222.69.242 include:mailproxy1.usda.gov include:mailproxy2.usda.gov ip4:134.177.248.0/28 ip4:216.128.251.155 ip4:169.252.36.79 ip4:169.253.194.10 ip4:169.252.4.128/29 ip4:169.253.162.8/29 ip4:199.188.210.136 ip4:52.70.121.208 ip4:174.129.192.189 ip4:149.96.3.26 ip4:149.96.4.26 ip4:65.196.93.7 ip4:70.33.172.36 a:spf.servicenowservices.com include:spf-2248456.jmsend.com include:amazonses.com include:_spf.salesforce.com -all
DNS Lookups:6/10
Policy:-all
DKIM Selectors Found
Selector:k1(1296-bit rsa)
Selector:selector1(1416-bit rsa)
Selector:selector2(1416-bit rsa)
Selector:s1(1440-bit rsa)
DMARC Details
Policy:reject
Aggregate Reports:reports@dmarc.cyber.dhs.gov
Forensic Reports:dmarc_ruf@emaildefense.proofpoint.com

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

0/100
Score

Unable to retrieve SSL certificate

CRITICAL

Could not establish secure connection to retrieve certificate information

Partial SSL/TLS Assessment

LOW

Completed 2 of 4 security checks due to time constraints

OCSP Status

OCSP Stapling Disabled

📊DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment.

DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment

80/100
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

Domain Registration Details

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

DNS Records

A Records:199.134.75.32
Name Servers:
ns1.usda.gov
ns2.usda.gov
MX Records:
10: newsbox-usda-gov.mail.protection.outlook.com
10: usda-gov.mail.protection.outlook.com
SOA:Serial: 2020699235, TTL: 900s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:112ms

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 ip4:52.222.69.242 include:mailproxy1.usda.gov include:mailproxy2.usda.gov ip4:134.177.248.0/28 ip4:216.128.251.155 ip4:169.252.36.79 ip4:169.253.194.10 ip4:169.252.4.128/29 ip4:169.253.162.8/29 ip4:199.188.210.136 ip4:52.70.121.208 ip4:174.129.192.189 ip4:149.96.3.26 ip4:149.96.4.26 ip4:65.196.93.7 ip4:70.33.172.36 a:spf.servicenowservices.com include:spf-2248456.jmsend.com include:amazonses.com include:_spf.salesforce.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

How does usda.gov compare?

See how usda.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 USDA website is built on Drupal 10, leveraging a modern and scalable CMS platform suitable for large government sites. It integrates multiple analytics and tracking tools including Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and the Digital Analytics Program, enabling comprehensive user behavior insights. The site demonstrates good mobile responsiveness and accessibility compliance, enhancing usability. Performance is moderate, likely due to the rich content and media assets. The technical infrastructure appears robust with no visible technical debt or outdated components. Opportunities exist to optimize security headers and further streamline third-party script management to reduce potential risks.
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PDF Report & Export

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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

Domainusda.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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