Is acm.org legit?

60
/ 100
Mostly Safe
Industry: Education

This site, acm.org, appears to have strong underlying technical infrastructure and a long history, which are good trust indicators. However, the inability to access the website (HTTP 403 error) combined with missing legal pages and basic contact information are significant concerns for potential users.

Education average: 81/100 · based on 35 sites

Checked: April 18, 2026 at 7:53 AM UTC · Refresh

Is acm.org a scam? Here's what we found.

Security 90/100

The site uses modern TLS 1.3 encryption with a valid certificate from a reputable issuer like DigiCert, and Google Web Risk found no threats. This indicates a strong commitment to secure connections and user safety.

Identity 95/100

With a domain age of over 34 years and transparent WHOIS information through Network Solutions, the website's identity is clearly established and has a long-standing presence online. This longevity builds considerable trust.

Reputation 85/100

The high Tranco Rank and clean DNS blacklist status point to a well-known and generally reputable online presence. Despite missing some external signals, its high traffic suggests widespread recognition.

Transparency 45/100

Transparency is a significant area for improvement. The lack of readily available contact information, social media links, and even a favicon makes it harder for users to engage or get essential support, diminishing trust.

Compliance 30/100

The complete absence of a privacy policy and terms of service is a major compliance issue, leaving users uninformed about data handling and site usage rules. This is a critical gap for any legitimate organization, especially one with high traffic.

Infrastructure 65/100

While the DNS, email authentication (SPF/DMARC), and server setup (Cloudflare) are robust, the critical HTTP 403 status means the website is currently inaccessible. This fundamental issue severely impacts usability, despite excellent technical underpinnings.

Signals Detected

[+]
Tranco Rank: Rank #1812

This is a well-known, high-traffic website

[?]
Structured Data: None found

No structured data markup found

[?]
Trustpilot: No Trustpilot profile

This business has no Trustpilot presence — not unusual for smaller or newer companies

[+]
SSL Certificate: Valid

Valid certificate, expires in 181 days

[?]
Certificate Issuer: DigiCert Inc

Certificate issued by DigiCert Inc

[+]
TLS Version: TLS 1.3

Connection uses TLS 1.3

[+]
Clickjacking Protection: Present

X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN

[?]
Server: cloudflare

Web server: cloudflare

[+]
Google Web Risk: Clean

No threats detected by Google Web Risk

[?]
Sitemap: Not found

No sitemap found — common for smaller sites

[+]
robots.txt: Present

robots.txt has 21 directives and references a sitemap

[~]
Branding: Missing

No favicon found — unusual for an established business

[+]
DNS Resolution: 2 IP(s)

Resolves to: 104.17.79.30, 104.17.78.30

[+]
Email (MX Records): 1 record(s)

Mail servers: mail.mailroute.net.

[+]
SPF Record: Present

Domain has SPF email authentication configured

[+]
DMARC Record: Present

Domain has DMARC email authentication configured

[+]
Name Servers: 2 server(s)

DNS providers: olga.ns.cloudflare.com., skip.ns.cloudflare.com.

[~]
Website Status: HTTP 403

Website returned status 403

[~]
Contact Info: Not found

No obvious contact information found on homepage

[-]
Legal Pages: Missing

No privacy policy or terms of service found

[~]
Social Media Presence: None found

No social media links found on homepage

[+]
DNS Blacklists: Clean

Not found on any DNS blacklists

[+]
Domain Age: 34 years, 8 months

Domain created 1992-02-14T05:00:00Z (34 years, 8 months ago)

[?]
Registrar: Network Solutions, LLC

Registered through Network Solutions, LLC

[+]
Domain Expiry: 2028-02-15T05:00:00Z

Expires in 667 days

[+]
DNSSEC: unsigned

DNSSEC status from WHOIS

[?]
Web Archive: Unable to check

Could not query Wayback Machine

[?]
Certificate Transparency: Unable to check

Could not query certificate transparency logs

[+]
Page Load Time: 49ms

Fast page load

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When evaluating a website like acm.org, which boasts a significant Tranco Rank indicating high traffic and recognition, it's crucial to look beyond just the popular perception. In the realm of educational and professional organizations, a site's infrastructure and longevity often speak volumes. acm.org has been online for over 34 years, a remarkable feat that instantly signals a well-established entity, rather than a fly-by-night operation. This long domain history, coupled with robust email authentication and a modern TLS setup, forms a strong foundation of trust for its technical reliability. However, for a widely recognized organization, the user-facing experience and adherence to modern web standards are equally important. We noted a critical HTTP 403 error which means the site is currently inaccessible to users – a fundamental barrier to engagement. Furthermore, the complete absence of privacy policies or terms of service is a glaring omission for any site handling user data or providing resources. Reputable educational bodies typically prioritize transparency around data use and user rights. While the infrastructure is solid, these user-centric concerns significantly impact the overall trustworthiness, making it essential for acm.org to address these issues to fully align with a 'Trusted' status.