48
Fail

mayoclinic.org

Security posture assessment · Scanned February 15, 2026

Findings
2 · 3 · 3
Checks
8 passive

mayoclinic.org scored 48/100 and does not meet the minimum security posture threshold. The most critical issue is: Set up email authentication (DKIM). This must be addressed before the vendor can be approved for procurement or data processing activities.

Critical gaps in: DMARC / Email Security, HSTS Header, Security Headers. Positive signals: Known Breaches, CVE Exposure all passed.

6 action items identified, including 1 critical. The issues are configuration gaps, not architectural problems. A focused remediation effort of 2–5 days could address all findings.

Ordered by priority · 6 items
1
Set up email authentication (DKIM)
Effort: 1–2 days   Owner: IT / DNS administrator
critical
Without email authentication, anyone can send emails that appear to come from mayoclinic.org. This is the most common vector for phishing attacks targeting employees and customers. DKIM is not configured.
Compliance Impact
NIST CSFPR.AC-7
Email authentication is a required access control
ISO 27001A.13.2.1
Information transfer policies require email security controls
HIPAA§164.312(e)
Transmission security for electronic PHI
Remediation Steps
1
Add SPF record to DNS: v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all (adjust for your email provider)
2
Configure DKIM signing with your email provider and publish the public key in DNS
3
Add DMARC record: v=DMARC1; p=quarantine; rua=mailto:dmarc-reports@mayoclinic.org
4
Monitor DMARC reports for 2–4 weeks, then upgrade policy to p=reject
2
Enable HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security)
Effort: < 1 hour   Owner: Web server administrator
high
The HSTS header is missing on mayoclinic.org. Without it, connections can be downgraded from HTTPS to HTTP via man-in-the-middle attacks. This is a straightforward server configuration change.
Compliance Impact
PCI-DSS 4.0Req 6.4.1
Required application security controls
NIST 800-53SC-8
Transmission confidentiality and integrity
Remediation Steps
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://mayoclinic.org | grep -i strict
4
Submit to hstspreload.org after confirming the header is correct
3
Add missing security headers (CSP, X-Content-Type-Options, Referrer-Policy, Permissions-Policy)
Effort: 1–2 hours   Owner: Web server administrator
high
4 of 5 recommended security headers are missing on mayoclinic.org: CSP, X-Content-Type-Options, Referrer-Policy, Permissions-Policy. These headers protect against clickjacking, MIME-sniffing, and unauthorized browser feature access. Adding them is a server configuration change with no application code changes required.
Compliance Impact
PCI-DSS 4.0Req 6.4.1
Security headers are required application controls
OWASPSecure Headers
Recommended baseline for web applications
Remediation Steps
1
Add Content-Security-Policy header (start with report-only to avoid breakage)
2
Add: X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff
3
Add: Referrer-Policy: strict-origin-when-cross-origin
4
Add: Permissions-Policy: camera=(), microphone=(), geolocation=()
5
Verify with: curl -sI https://mayoclinic.org | grep -iE 'content-security|x-frame|x-content|referrer|permissions'
4
Enable DNSSEC on your domain
Effort: 1–3 days (depends on registrar)   Owner: DNS administrator / domain registrar
medium
Without DNSSEC, DNS responses for mayoclinic.org can be spoofed, potentially redirecting users to malicious sites. This requires coordination with your domain registrar to publish DS records.
Compliance Impact
NIST 800-53SC-20
Secure name/address resolution service
Remediation Steps
1
Check if your DNS provider supports DNSSEC (Cloudflare, Route53, etc.)
2
Enable DNSSEC signing in your DNS provider dashboard
3
Add the DS record to your registrar for .org TLD
4
Verify: dig +dnssec mayoclinic.org
5
Upgrade to TLS 1.3
Effort: < 1 hour   Owner: Web server administrator
low
mayoclinic.org negotiated TLSv1.2. TLS 1.2 is still compliant under all major security frameworks and is not a vulnerability. TLS 1.3 offers faster handshakes and removes legacy cipher negotiation. This is a best-practice improvement, not a compliance gap.
Remediation Steps
1
Update web server config to prefer TLS 1.3 (nginx: ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3)
2
Verify: openssl s_client -connect mayoclinic.org:443 -tls1_3
6
Review certificate configuration
Effort: 1–2 hours   Owner: Infrastructure / DevOps
low
Certificate issues found for mayoclinic.org: wildcard certificate in use. Wildcard certificates have a broader blast radius if compromised. These are operational hygiene items, not immediate security risks.
Remediation Steps
1
Consider replacing wildcard cert with individual certs for critical subdomains
2
Consolidate certificate issuance to 1–2 trusted CAs
DMARC / Email Security
Critical
HSTS Header
Critical
Security Headers
Critical
DNS Configuration
Warning
TLS Configuration
Warning
Certificate Hygiene
Warning
Known Breaches
Healthy
CVE Exposure
Healthy