F
55/100

eff.org

April 14, 2026 ·
2 Critical 8 Warnings 4 Passed 14 checks
HSTS Header
Strict-Transport-Security header is missing. Connections can be downgraded to HTTP via man-in-the-middle attacks.
Strict-Transport-Security header is missing. Connections can be downgraded to HTTP via man-in-the-middle attacks.
Critical
Security Headers
2/5 security headers present. Missing: CSP, Referrer-Policy, Permissions-Policy. This exposes the application to clickjacking, MIME-sniffing, and other client-side attacks.
2/5 security headers present. Missing: CSP, Referrer-Policy, Permissions-Policy. This exposes the application to clickjacking, MIME-sniffing, and other client-side attacks.
Critical
MX Records & Mail Provider
Strengths: Mail handled by Microsoft 365; 1 MX record(s) configured. Issues: Only 1 MX record — no failover if primary mail server is unavailable.
Strengths: Mail handled by Microsoft 365; 1 MX record(s) configured. Issues: Only 1 MX record — no failover if primary mail server is unavailable.
Needs work
MTA-STS & TLS Reporting
Issues: No MTA-STS configured — email in transit is vulnerable to TLS downgrade attacks. Sending servers cannot verify that your mail server requires TLS; No TLSRPT record — TLS delivery failures won't be reported to domain owner.
Issues: No MTA-STS configured — email in transit is vulnerable to TLS downgrade attacks. Sending servers cannot verify that your mail server requires TLS; No TLSRPT record — TLS delivery failures won't be reported to domain owner.
Needs work
TLS Configuration
TLSv1.2 negotiated. Issues: TLS 1.2 negotiated (1.3 preferred).
TLSv1.2 negotiated. Issues: TLS 1.2 negotiated (1.3 preferred).
Needs work
DNS Configuration
Strengths: 3 nameservers configured (ns4.eff.org., ns2.eff.org., ns1.eff.org.); 1 MX records present; Zone transfers properly restricted. Issues: DNSSEC not configured — DNS responses can be spoofed.
Strengths: 3 nameservers configured (ns4.eff.org., ns2.eff.org., ns1.eff.org.); 1 MX records present; Zone transfers properly restricted. Issues: DNSSEC not configured — DNS responses can be spoofed.
Needs work
TLS Protocol Support
Strengths: TLS 1.2 supported; TLS 1.2 supported (consider enabling TLS 1.3). Protocol support: TLS 1.3: No, TLS 1.2: Yes, TLS 1.1: No, TLS 1.0: No.
Strengths: TLS 1.2 supported; TLS 1.2 supported (consider enabling TLS 1.3). Protocol support: TLS 1.3: No, TLS 1.2: Yes, TLS 1.1: No, TLS 1.0: No.
Needs work
DMARC / Email Security
Strengths: SPF record present with hard-fail (-all); DKIM configured (selectors: selector1, s1, s2). Issues: DMARC policy is 'none' (monitoring only, no enforcement).
Strengths: SPF record present with hard-fail (-all); DKIM configured (selectors: selector1, s1, s2). Issues: DMARC policy is 'none' (monitoring only, no enforcement).
Needs work
security.txt (RFC 9116)
No security.txt found. Publishing a security.txt at /.well-known/security.txt is the industry standard (RFC 9116) for vulnerability disclosure policies. Its absence may indicate a less mature security program.
No security.txt found. Publishing a security.txt at /.well-known/security.txt is the industry standard (RFC 9116) for vulnerability disclosure policies. Its absence may indicate a less mature security program.
Needs work
Certificate Hygiene
Strengths: Certificate valid, 76 days remaining; Issued by Let's Encrypt; 2071 certificates logged in CT. Issues: Certificates issued by 10 different CAs (threshold: 8 for 2071 logged certs) — possible misconfiguration or shadow IT.
Strengths: Certificate valid, 76 days remaining; Issued by Let's Encrypt; 2071 certificates logged in CT. Issues: Certificates issued by 10 different CAs (threshold: 8 for 2071 logged certs) — possible misconfiguration or shadow IT.
Needs work
DNS CAA Records
Strengths: CAA records configured (7 record(s)); Authorized CAs: comodoca.com, letsencrypt.org, ssl.com; Violation reporting (iodef) configured.
Strengths: CAA records configured (7 record(s)); Authorized CAs: comodoca.com, letsencrypt.org, ssl.com; Violation reporting (iodef) configured.
Passed
Known Breaches
No known breaches found in public disclosure databases.
No known breaches found in public disclosure databases.
Passed
Cookie Security
No cookies set on the homepage response. No cookie security flags to evaluate.
No cookies set on the homepage response. No cookie security flags to evaluate.
Passed
CVE Exposure
Detected technologies: nginx, Proxy/CDN, Drupal 7/(http://drupal.org). (Proxy/CDN detected but excluded from CVE matching — upstream infrastructure). No high or critical CVEs found for detected versions.
Detected technologies: nginx, Proxy/CDN, Drupal 7/(http://drupal.org). (Proxy/CDN detected but excluded from CVE matching — upstream infrastructure). No high or critical CVEs found for detected versions.
Passed
Recommended actions 1+ items

Steps to improve eff.org's security grade, ranked by impact.

1
Enable HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security)
< 1 hour High

The HSTS header is missing on eff.org. Without it, connections can be downgraded from HTTPS to HTTP via man-in-the-middle attacks. This is a straightforward server configuration change.

PCI-DSS 4.0Req 6.4.1
Required application security controls
NIST 800-53SC-8
Transmission confidentiality and integrity
How to fix this
1 Add header: Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload
2 Verify all subdomains support HTTPS before adding includeSubDomains
3 Test with: curl -sI https://eff.org | grep -i strict
4 Submit to hstspreload.org after confirming the header is correct
AI Summary
What this means

eff.org scored 55/100 and does not currently meet the minimum security posture threshold. Multiple configuration gaps were identified that require attention before approval.

Critical gaps in: HSTS Header, Security Headers. Positive signals: DNS CAA Records, Known Breaches, Cookie Security all passed.

6 action items identified, including 0 critical. The issues are configuration gaps, not architectural problems. A focused remediation effort of 2–5 days could address all findings.

How eff.org compares

Grade distribution across 2678 companies we've scanned. eff.org scores better than 17% of them.

17th percentile
0 Percentile rank 100
88
A+
28
A
194
A-
200
B+
75
B
376
B-
137
C+
117
C
347
C-
123
D+
96
D
265
D-
632
F
eff.org — Grade F (55/100) 2678 companies scanned
At a glance

Key data points from the scan.

TLS Version
TLSv1.2
TLSv1.2 negotiated. Issues: TLS 1.2 negotiated (1.3 preferred).
DMARC Policy
p=none
Strengths: SPF record present with hard-fail (-all); DKIM configured (selectors: selector1, s1, s2). Issues: DMARC policy is 'none' (monitoring only, no enforcement).
SPF Record
Present
v=spf1 mx ip4:173.239.79.202 include:spf1.eff.org include:spf2.eff.org include:spf.protection.outloo
Security Headers
2/5 present
Missing: CSP, Referrer-Policy, Permissions-Policy
HSTS
Not enabled
Strict-Transport-Security header is missing. Connections can be downgraded to HTTP via man-in-the-middle attacks.
SSL Certificate
Issues
Strengths: Certificate valid, 76 days remaining; Issued by Let's Encrypt; 2071 certificates logged in CT. Issues: Certificates issued by 10 different CAs (threshold: 8 for 2071 logged certs) — possible misconfiguration or shadow IT.
DNSSEC
Not enabled
Strengths: 3 nameservers configured (ns4.eff.org., ns2.eff.org., ns1.eff.org.); 1 MX records present; Zone transfers properly restricted. Issues: DNSSEC not configured — DNS responses can be spoofed.