Identity
69
C
cia.gov
Posture Score: 78/100
Scanned May 8, 2026 at 8:17 AM UTC
Attack Surface
74
Reputation
92
Identity Findings
Weak DKIM RSA key (~1296 bits) for selector 's1'
RSA keys shorter than 2048 bits are considered weak. Current key is approximately 1296 bits.
💡 Generate a new 2048-bit (or larger) RSA key pair and update the DKIM record.
NS delegation mismatch
The registrar-delegated nameservers do not match the zone NS records.
💡 Update either the registrar NS delegation or the zone NS records to match.
No MTA-STS record found
Without MTA-STS, mail transport encryption cannot be enforced and is vulnerable to downgrade attacks.
💡 Publish a _mta-sts TXT record and host a policy file at https://mta-sts.cia.gov/.well-known/mta-sts.txt
STARTTLS without MTA-STS or DANE protection
STARTTLS alone is vulnerable to downgrade attacks. Neither MTA-STS nor DANE is configured to enforce encryption.
💡 Deploy MTA-STS and/or DANE to protect against STARTTLS stripping attacks.
No TLS-RPT record found
Without TLS-RPT, you will not receive reports about TLS negotiation failures.
💡 Publish a _smtp._tls TXT record (e.g. "v=TLSRPTv1; rua=mailto:tls-reports@cia.gov").
ARC support not detected
No evidence of ARC (Authenticated Received Chain) support on MX servers. Forwarded messages may lose authentication.
💡 Consider enabling ARC signing on your mail servers to preserve authentication through forwarding.
Very low TTL on A records: 20s
2 A records have a TTL of 20s or less (below 300s).
💡 Increase the TTL to at least 300 seconds unless frequent changes are expected.
Very low TTL on AAAA records: 20s
2 AAAA records have a TTL of 20s or less (below 300s).
💡 Increase the TTL to at least 300 seconds unless frequent changes are expected.
Very low TTL on SPF record: 268s
The SPF record has a TTL of 268s or less (below 300s).
💡 Increase the TTL to at least 300 seconds unless frequent changes are expected.
Very low TTL on DMARC record: 268s
The DMARC record has a TTL of 268s or less (below 300s).
💡 Increase the TTL to at least 300 seconds unless frequent changes are expected.
NS TTL mismatch between parent and authoritative zone
The NS record TTL in the parent zone (~7168s) differs significantly from the authoritative zone (~86400s).
💡 Align NS record TTLs between the parent zone delegation and the authoritative zone.
SPF record is valid
The SPF record is properly configured with valid syntax and within lookup limits.
DKIM cryptographic configuration is compliant
No RFC 8301 compliance issues detected in DKIM key configuration.
MX records are valid
All MX records are properly configured.
SMTP security checks passed
No open relay, VRFY/EXPN, or banner disclosure issues detected.
SMTP RFC 5321 compliance checks passed
The mail server accepts postmaster@ and abuse@ and uses a valid FQDN in EHLO.
IPv6 readiness is good
IPv6 records are present and properly configured.
DNS responses are consistent across all nameservers
All authoritative nameservers return consistent answers with proper AA flags.
DKIM2 not detected
No DKIM key record with v=2 was found across common selectors. DKIM2 is an emerging standard and not yet widely deployed.
DMARC alignment: adkim=s, aspf=s
DKIM alignment is strict, SPF alignment is strict.
DMARC failure reporting: fo=1
Failure reports generated when any authentication mechanism fails.
DMARCbis np tag absent
The DMARC record does not include the np (non-existent subdomain policy) tag. Consider adding np=reject to protect non-existent subdomains under DMARCbis.
Deprecated DMARCbis tags found: pct, ri
The DMARC record contains tags deprecated in DMARCbis: pct, ri. Consider removing these for forward compatibility.
DMARCbis psd tag absent
The DMARC record does not include the psd (public suffix domain) indicator. Consider adding psd=n to explicitly identify this as an organizational domain.
No DANE/TLSA records found
DANE is not configured for any MX server. This is optional but provides strong certificate binding.
No BIMI record found
BIMI is not configured. Your brand logo will not display in supporting email clients.
Open mail ports on mail3.cia.gov
Detected open mail-related ports: 25
RFC 8058 one-click unsubscribe assessment
DKIM signing is configured. RFC 8058 compliance depends on List-Unsubscribe and List-Unsubscribe-Post headers being included in outbound messages and DKIM signatures.
MX IP network diversity
All MX IPs are in the same /16 network. Consider diversifying across networks for resilience.
SOA record parameters
Serial: 2015111811, Refresh: 7200s, Retry: 3600s, Expire: 2419200s, Min TTL: 14400s
Authorized certificate authorities
CAA records restrict certificate issuance to: digicert.com
Attack Surface Findings
Weak DNSSEC RSA key: 336 bits
The DNSKEY uses an RSA key of 336 bits, below the recommended 2048 bits.
💡 Generate a new DNSKEY with at least 2048-bit RSA or migrate to ECDSA/Ed25519.
Weak DNSSEC RSA key: 336 bits
The DNSKEY uses an RSA key of 336 bits, below the recommended 2048 bits.
💡 Generate a new DNSKEY with at least 2048-bit RSA or migrate to ECDSA/Ed25519.
Weak DNSSEC RSA key: 336 bits
The DNSKEY uses an RSA key of 336 bits, below the recommended 2048 bits.
💡 Generate a new DNSKEY with at least 2048-bit RSA or migrate to ECDSA/Ed25519.
DNS ANY query returns 4 record(s)
The DNS server responds to ANY queries with 4 record(s). The low record count limits amplification risk, but ANY responses still aid reconnaissance.
💡 Configure the DNS server to refuse or minimize ANY query responses per RFC 8482.
Domain enumerability: low
The domain has low enumerability. Proper NSEC3 configuration and limited CT exposure reduce the attack surface.
No internal information leakage detected
No non-routable IP addresses or internal references were found in public DNS records.
No email autodiscovery endpoints detected
No Microsoft Autodiscover, Mozilla Autoconfig, or email SRV records were found.
4 subdomain(s) discovered for cia.gov
Subdomains were enumerated via Certificate Transparency logs, DNS wordlist brute-forcing, and DNS record analysis.
0 certificate(s) found in CT logs
Certificate Transparency logs contain 0 certificate(s) for cia.gov and its subdomains. Each certificate reveals subdomain names.
NSEC3 authenticated denial of existence
The domain uses NSEC3 with 0 iteration(s) and salt '-'.
DNSSEC is enabled
DNSKEY and/or DS records are present, indicating DNSSEC is configured.
Reputation Findings
Missing domain locks: clientTransferProhibited, clientDeleteProhibited
Domain cia.gov is missing protective locks: clientTransferProhibited, clientDeleteProhibited.
💡 Enable clientTransferProhibited and clientDeleteProhibited locks through your registrar to prevent unauthorized transfers or deletions.
HSTS enabled with preload on cia.gov
Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=63072000; includeSubDomains; preload
security.txt present
Found security.txt at https://cia.gov/.well-known/security.txt.
TLS certificate valid for 96 days
Certificate for cia.gov expires on 2026-08-12.
Certificate issued by DigiCert Global G3 TLS ECC SHA384 2020 CA1
The certificate for cia.gov is issued by a third-party CA.
Signature algorithm: ecdsa-with-sha384
The certificate for cia.gov uses an acceptable signature algorithm.
ECC key: 256 bits
The certificate for cia.gov uses an adequate ECC key of 256 bits.
SCTs present in certificate
The certificate for cia.gov contains Signed Certificate Timestamps.
No weak ciphers detected
No known weak cipher suites detected on cia.gov.
Domain valid for 124 days
Domain cia.gov expires on 2026-09-09.
Google Safe Browsing DNS check — no flag detected
DNS-based Safe Browsing lookup returned no results. Full verification requires the Google Safe Browsing API key.
Abuse contact lookup failed
Could not query abuse contact information.
PhishTank — API key required
PhishTank phishing database check requires an API key.
Sender Score — API key required
Sender Score reputation check requires an API key.
Cisco Talos — API key required
Cisco Talos IP reputation check requires an API key.
Could not connect to webmail.cia.gov
HTTPS request to https://webmail.cia.gov failed or timed out.
WHOIS registration data
Registrar: get.gov | Created: 1998-06-26 | Expires: 2026-09-09 | Updated: 2026-01-29
WHOIS privacy protection enabled
Domain cia.gov has WHOIS privacy/redaction enabled.
Dependency Chains
DMARC Authentication Chain (SPF)
DMARC uses SPF to verify that emails come from authorized servers
SPF Record
SPF record found and configured
→
DMARC Policy
DMARC policy: quarantine
DMARC Authentication Chain (DKIM)
DMARC uses DKIM to verify that emails have not been tampered with
DKIM Signature
DKIM signature missing
→
DMARC Policy
DMARC policy: quarantine
⚠️ DKIM signature is missing. DMARC relies on DKIM to verify email integrity and prevent tampering. Without DKIM, DMARC alignment will fail for cryptographic verification.
Mail Server Identity: mail3.cia.gov
PTR record proves mail server legitimacy
MX: mail3.cia.gov
Mail server at 12.151.182.158
→
PTR Record
Reverse DNS: mail3.cia.gov
Mail Server Identity: mail4.cia.gov
PTR record proves mail server legitimacy
MX: mail4.cia.gov
Mail server at 12.151.182.219
→
PTR Record
Reverse DNS: mail4.cia.gov
Mail Server Reputation: mail3.cia.gov
RBL check ensures server is not blacklisted
MX: mail3.cia.gov
Mail server at 12.151.182.158
→
RBL Status
Not blacklisted
Mail Server Reputation: mail4.cia.gov
RBL check ensures server is not blacklisted
MX: mail4.cia.gov
Mail server at 12.151.182.219
→
RBL Status
Not blacklisted
Enforced Encryption Chain
MTA-STS enforces TLS encryption to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks
TLS Support
Mail servers support TLS encryption
→
MTA-STS Policy
MTA-STS not configured
⚠️ MTA-STS policy is missing. Even with TLS support, you lack the enforcement layer that prevents attackers from stripping encryption (downgrade attacks).
Brand Identity Chain
BIMI displays your logo in email clients, but requires DMARC enforcement
DMARC Enforcement
DMARC policy: quarantine
→
BIMI Record
BIMI not configured
⚠️ BIMI record is missing. Even with DMARC enforcement, you need to configure BIMI to display your brand logo in supported email clients.
TLS Monitoring Chain
TLS-RPT provides reports about TLS connection failures
TLS Support
Mail servers support TLS encryption
→
TLS-RPT Reporting
TLS-RPT not configured
⚠️ TLS-RPT is not configured. Without TLS reporting, you have no visibility into TLS connection failures that may be impacting email delivery.
Security Checks
MX Records
✓
SPF Record
✓
DKIM Record
✗
DMARC Policy
✓
BIMI Record
✗
CAA Records
✓
DNSSEC
✓
MTA-STS
✗
TLS-RPT
✗
Embed Badge
Display your domain's security grade on your website or README:
<img src="https://scan.ractermx.com/badge/cia.gov.svg" alt="Email Security Grade">
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