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https://usda.gov

Infrastructure

· 9 checks — DNS, redirects, IPv6, crawlability, URL variants, and domain intelligence rolled into one auditable list.
SCORE
86
GRADE
B
FIX
0
REVIEW
4
PASS
5
INFO
0
Probed from Santa Clara, United States
302 Found
Checks
9
5 PASS 4 REVIEW
C
IPv6 Readiness
Action
No IPv6 support
REVIEW
No IPv6 support
Info::
No IPv6 (AAAA) records found
IPv6 support is increasingly important for global accessibility. About 40% of internet users have IPv6 connectivity.
No IPv6 Support
About 40% of internet users have IPv6. Consider adding AAAA records.

IPv6 support is increasingly important for global accessibility. About 40% of internet users have IPv6 connectivity.

Why this matters

No AAAA records — same impact as 'no IPv6 (AAAA) records'; IPv6-preferring clients pay extra latency falling back to IPv4.

Source: Google IPv6 stats

B
Crawlability
no robots.txt, no sitemap
REVIEW
no robots.txt, no sitemap
Info::
No robots.txt found
robots.txt is optional but recommended. It tells search engine crawlers which pages to index.
Info::
No sitemap.xml found
A sitemap helps search engines discover and index your pages more efficiently.

robots.txt is optional but recommended. It tells search engine crawlers which pages to index.

Why this matters

No robots.txt — crawlers fetch /robots.txt and get 404; not breaking but means default crawl behavior with no directives or sitemap reference.

Learn more

A minimal robots.txt with `User-agent: * / Allow: / / Sitemap: https://example.com/sitemap.xml` covers the basics. Without it, crawlers behave fine but lose the sitemap signal and can't be selectively blocked from crawl-traps.

Source: robotstxt.org

A sitemap helps search engines discover and index your pages more efficiently.

Why this matters

No sitemap.xml — Google relies on crawl-graph discovery alone, slowing indexing of deep or fresh URLs.

Learn more

A sitemap accelerates Google's discovery of new and updated content. Most CMSes auto-generate one; static-site frameworks need a build-step plugin. Reference it from robots.txt and submit in Search Console to confirm Google can fetch it.

Source: sitemaps.org / Google Search Central

robots.txt No robots.txt found

No robots.txt found

This is fine for most sites — a missing robots.txt allows all crawling by default.

sitemap.xml No sitemap found

No sitemap found

Adding a sitemap helps search engines discover your pages.

B
TLS Certificate Expiry & Recommendations
176 days until leaf cert expires — 3 issues to address
REVIEW

Certificate validity

176
days left
0d 30d 60d 90d+

Recommended actions

  • Prefer TLS 1.3 — TLS 1.2 is acceptable but TLS 1.3 removes RSA key exchange and improves latency
  • Add the preload directive and submit to hstspreload.org once max-age + includeSubDomains are in place
  • Enable OCSP stapling on your TLS server to remove a CA roundtrip and protect user privacy
B
CDN & Delivery
Varnish
REVIEW
Varnish
Info::
Site is served via Varnish CDN
Got: via: 1.1 varnish-v4
CDN Detected: Varnish
Provider Varnish Evidence via: 1.1 varnish-v4
A+
DNS Records
1 A records, 192 ms lookup
PASS
1 A records, 192 ms lookup
Info::
Resolves to 1 IPv4 address(es)
Got: 199.134.75.32
Info::
Single A record — no DNS redundancy
Multiple A records provide failover if one server goes down.
Info::
No IPv6 (AAAA) records
Info::
2 nameserver(s) configured
Got: ns1.usda.gov, ns2.usda.gov
Info::
2 mail exchanger(s) configured
Info::
CAA records not checked
CAA record lookup requires a specialized DNS resolver. This check will be available in a future update.
Info::
SPF record present in TXT
Info::
DNS resolution time: 192 ms
Got: 192 ms
A199.134.75.32
AAAA
CNAME
NSns1.usda.gov, ns2.usda.gov
MX
10 newsbox-usda-gov.mail.protection.outlook.com
10 usda-gov.mail.protection.outlook.com
TXT
MS=ms12979162
MS=ms29796207
MS=ms36388944
MS=ms52658663
_5vobqpvhfr5cd0thdv4vg7hpm3rnc1j
_jgi194gwkjfzgfb99jdiaq3sbj7lshi
_l3wdxi5qikgz79gzlubqncdv8of54mx
_uuv8or6ig996b4s2oylxk2r7b2nfdn7
_xlkx7fr2n5kpoe71knhfoarqbf920f7
d20z3jkb2w3lcp4q2f8wtz12g68288fc
hdm2pcbyq6d6n32klshlmmp0rt5vcqtd
lxby8qw0jsvgrjt87n1b7m3hjryl4t43
w1c180styb0q23dtr18sdxp7msnz9bng
71925c97-25d3-42c4-a548-d304e778b261
apple-domain-verification=GobMqbYnpkeHVbgh
apple-domain-verification=NakOWlwwXdsKlvYn
apple-domain-verification=SMgypC6iwOuebgHJ
apple-domain-verification=X6ZbEB4fpBtfMSm6
apple-domain-verification=hVm3lwFF18ZHWY8R
apple-domain-verification=je7SRzXvIHC2i0Rj
apple-domain-verification=lxISMJExhkcFVmC9
docusign=d58ab6cb-9a7b-4999-9aab-cf22677e355d
v=msv1 t=E52C222B-E3EA-45B6-B7ED-46B2E3DB7664
amazonses:gNTTX60nty6+YbEI/b95/AN1ZnFIKHn5rbfqY4hkpCc=
amazonses:wNpf39577mVzQ3NF5QQZgEBDbDi3FhsNArPbnnjHxO0=
google-site-verification=5Mw7I1CKqmGPLRg6_wBqtLI-jZFgchIo4wbfyq_iK3w
adobe-signverification=59ac4f1d13d10b40e3f5f378ddad2cfa08328bf03b3f84727e72457e6...
adobe-sign-verification=59ac4f1d13d10b40e3f5f378ddad2cfa08328bf03b3f84727e72457e...
box-domain-verification=37908f511bd919b9dd1e5eb9d01bca5aa0d3eccb8b4ab0c98a8cb2b2...
adobe-idp-site-verification=052e6010423eef7678be6eb229f1aea52e53cbc427308e485792...
atlassian-domain-verification=T8JPv4G/zaBDlEB8435DSpkUBS4v0B1iYNz3FdTHy5F0teDGzZ...
SPF v=spf1 ip4:52.222.69.242 include:mailproxy1.usda.gov include:mailproxy2.usda.gov...
CAALookup not available with standard resolver
Resolved in 192 ms

Multiple A records provide failover if one server goes down.

Why this matters

Single A record means a single point of failure — if that IP goes down, your site is unreachable until DNS TTL expires.

Learn more

Add multiple A records for round-robin failover, or use a managed DNS provider with health-checked failover (Route 53, Cloudflare, NS1). Short TTL (60-300s) lets clients recover faster on outages.

Source: SRE practice / DNS architecture

CAA record lookup requires a specialized DNS resolver. This check will be available in a future update.

Why this matters

Informational: CAA (Certification Authority Authorization) records weren't checked in this scan.

A+
Redirect Chain
0 redirect(s), 287 ms total
PASS
0 redirect(s), 287 ms total
Info::
Uses 302 (temporary) redirect
If permanent, use 301 instead.
Got: https://usda.gov

https://usda.gov

287 ms · HTTP/1.1 FINAL

#URLStatusTimeProtocolServer
1https://usda.gov302287 msHTTP/1.1

If permanent, use 301 instead.

Why this matters

302 (Found) is for genuinely temporary redirects — if this redirect is permanent, switch to 301 to preserve SEO equity.

Learn more

Search engines treat 302 as temporary, keeping the original URL indexed and not transferring full link equity to the destination. Use 301 (Moved Permanently) for permanent redirects (HTTP→HTTPS, www-vs-non-www, URL restructures).

Source: Google Search Central

A
URL Variants
www/non-www, trailing slash, HTTP→HTTPS
PASS
www/non-www, trailing slash, HTTP→HTTPS
Warning::
HTTP→HTTPS redirect uses 302 instead of 301
Got: 302 temporary redirect Expected: 301 permanent redirect

www / non-www

https://www.usda.gov/
200https://usda.gov/

HTTP → HTTPS

302http://usda.gov/ https://usda.gov/

Use 301 (permanent) instead of 302 (temporary)

A+
Domain Intelligence
usda.gov — via get.gov, 28 years, 11 months old, hosted on USDA-1 - USDA, US
PASS
usda.gov — via get.gov, 28 years, 11 months old, hosted on USDA-1 - USDA, US
Info::
Domain registered until Aug 29, 2026 (4 months remaining)
Info::
DNSSEC is enabled
Info::
Registrar: get.gov
Warning::
Registrar lock is NOT enabled
The domain can be transferred without an unlock step. Enable registrar lock (clientTransferProhibited) in your registrar's control panel to protect against unauthorized or accidental transfers.
Info::
Hosting: USDA-1 - USDA, US
Got: AS4155
Domain expiry

46 days

August 29, 2026

SSL certificate

176 days

Issued by DigiCert Inc

Domain age

28 years, 11 months

Registered October 2, 1997

DNSSEC

Enabled

Protects against DNS spoofing

Hosting

USDA-1 - USDA, US

ASN AS4155

199.134.75.32

Registrar

get.gov

Unlocked 2 NS records
Expiry timeline
Today
+1 year
Domain expiry SSL expiry Danger zone (≤30 days)
Recommended actions
  • Renew the domain or enable auto-renewal to prevent accidental expiry
  • Enable registrar lock (clientTransferProhibited) to block unauthorized domain transfers
Registrar get.gov
Created October 2, 1997 (28 years, 11 months ago)
Expires August 29, 2026 (4 months)
Last Updated October 20, 2025
Name Servers ns1.usda.gov, ns2.usda.gov
DNSSEC Enabled
Registrant REDACTED FOR PRIVACY
Hosting
IP Address 199.134.75.32
ASN AS4155 (USDA-1 - USDA, US)
Provider USDA-1 - USDA, US
Data source: rdap (0.4s)

The domain can be transferred without an unlock step. Enable registrar lock (clientTransferProhibited) in your registrar's control panel to protect against unauthorized or accidental transfers.

Why this matters

Without registrar lock, an attacker who phishes your registrar credentials can transfer the domain in minutes — total brand hijack.

Learn more

Registrar lock (clientTransferProhibited, clientUpdateProhibited, clientDeleteProhibited) requires extra verification before any transfer/update/delete. Every major registrar offers it free. Combined with 2FA on your registrar account, it's the strongest defense against domain hijacking.

Source: ICANN / domain-security best practice

A+
HTTP Probe Timing
Total 287 ms — DNS, TCP, TLS, TTFB, content transfer breakdown
PASS
DNS Lookup DNS Lookup — time to resolve the domain name to an IP address.
34 ms
TCP Connect TCP Connect — time to establish a TCP connection to the server.
62 ms
TLS Handshake TLS Handshake — time to complete the HTTPS encryption handshake.
125 ms
Time to First Byte Time to First Byte — how long the server takes to respond with the first byte of data.
287 ms
Total Time Total request time from DNS lookup through full response.
287 ms

Connection waterfall

DNS Lookup 34 ms TCP Connect 62 ms TLS Handshake 125 ms Server Processing 66 ms Content Transfer 0 ms
All checks on this page are automated. Results are estimates - run targeted manual reviews when the score affects a release decision.

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