Is nist.gov legit?

91
/ 100
Trusted
Industry: Government

This website is highly trusted, displaying a robust and mature online presence with excellent security and infrastructure. While minor points like the certificate issuer and an uncheckable web archive exist, they do not detract significantly from its overall trustworthiness.

Government average: 80/100 · based on 33 sites

Checked: April 21, 2026 at 3:05 PM UTC

Is nist.gov a scam? Here's what we found.

Security 90/100

The security posture is strong, featuring modern TLS 1.3, an HSTS header, Content Security Policy, and clickjacking protection, though the Let's Encrypt certificate is a minor point for a government site. Google Web Risk reports no threats, which is excellent.

Identity 95/100

The domain boasts significant age and transparent registration through get.gov, indicating a well-established and legitimate entity. WHOIS information is redacted, but this is typical for government sites and `.gov` domains.

Reputation 90/100

The site holds an exceptionally high Tranco rank, indicating high visibility and traffic. It is clean on all DNS blacklists and has a long, established history, reinforcing its reputable status, though the lack of Trustpilot and uncheckable Web Archive are minor gaps.

Transparency 95/100

The website provides clear contact information, custom branding, and active social media presence, demonstrating high transparency and an accessible public face.

Compliance 100/100

The presence of both a privacy policy and terms of service pages demonstrates a commitment to legal and user compliance.

Infrastructure 90/100

Network infrastructure is well-managed with multiple IP addresses, robust email authentication (SPF, DMARC), and DNSSEC protection. The inability to check Certificate Transparency is an unfortunate technical hiccup, but doesn't point to malfeasance.

Signals Detected

[+]
Tranco Rank: Rank #234

This is one of the most visited websites globally

[+]
Structured Data: Found

Site has structured data markup

[?]
Trustpilot: No Trustpilot profile

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

[?]
Certificate Transparency: Unable to check

crt.sh returned status 502

[+]
DNS Resolution: 8 IP(s)

Resolves to: 2606:4700:78::90:0:180, 2606:4700:78::90:0:181, 2606:4700:78::90:0:182, 2606:4700:78::90:0:183, 172.65.90.26, 172.65.90.25, 172.65.90.24, 172.65.90.27

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

Mail servers: nist-gov.mail.protection.outlook.com.

[+]
SPF Record: Present

Domain has SPF email authentication configured

[+]
DMARC Record: Present

Domain has DMARC email authentication configured

[?]
Name Servers: 3 server(s)

DNS providers: gold.foundationdns.com., gold.foundationdns.net., gold.foundationdns.org.

[+]
SSL Certificate: Valid

Valid certificate, expires in 88 days

[?]
Certificate Issuer: Let's Encrypt

Certificate issued by Let's Encrypt

[+]
TLS Version: TLS 1.3

Connection uses TLS 1.3

[+]
robots.txt: Present

robots.txt has 64 directives and references a sitemap

[+]
Sitemap: 55 pages

Site maintains a proper sitemap with 55 indexed pages

[+]
HSTS Header: Present

Site enforces HTTPS via HSTS

[+]
Content Security Policy: Present

Site has Content Security Policy configured

[+]
Clickjacking Protection: Present

X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN

[?]
Server: cloudflare

Web server: cloudflare

[+]
Google Web Risk: Clean

No threats detected by Google Web Risk

[+]
Domain Age: 28 years, 11 months

Domain created 1997-10-02T01:29:27Z (28 years, 11 months ago)

[?]
Registrar: get.gov

Registered through get.gov

[+]
Domain Expiry: 2026-08-24T23:36:29Z

Expires in 125 days

[+]
DNSSEC: signedDelegation

DNSSEC status from WHOIS

[+]
Branding: Complete

Site has custom branding and social media metadata

[+]
DNS Blacklists: Clean

Not found on any DNS blacklists

[+]
Website Status: Online

Website is live and responding

[+]
Contact Info: Found

Website appears to have contact information

[+]
Legal Pages: Privacy & Terms found

Website has both privacy policy and terms of service pages

[+]
Social Media Presence: 5 platforms

Website links to multiple social media platforms

[?]
Web Archive: Unable to check

Could not query Wayback Machine

[?]
Page Load Time: 1074ms

Average page load time

Embed This Badge

Own this site? Show visitors your trust score.

Trust badge for nist.gov
<a href="https://verified.fyi/review/nist.gov"><img src="https://verified.fyi/badge/nist.gov?size=medium&style=full&theme=dark" alt="nist.gov trust score — verified.fyi" /></a>
[![nist.gov trust score](https://verified.fyi/badge/nist.gov?size=medium&style=full&theme=dark)](https://verified.fyi/review/nist.gov)

Stay Safe Online

Good habits to protect yourself, no matter the scan result.

Use a password manager

Never reuse passwords across sites.

Enable two-factor authentication

Add a second layer of security to your accounts.

Check before you buy

Always verify unfamiliar stores before entering payment info.

When evaluating a government website like nist.gov, the bar for trust is incredibly high, and this site meets it with flying colors. As the National Institute of Standards and Technology, its role is foundational to US infrastructure and scientific integrity, so its online presence must be unimpeachable. Our analysis shows exactly that. Unlike many commercial sites, the legitimacy of a .gov domain is inherently tied to its official status. NIST.gov was created nearly 29 years ago and is registered through get.gov, the official registrar for US government domains. This immediately tells you this isn't a fly-by-night operation. For a government site, you're not just looking for basic security, but for enterprise-level resilience. NIST.gov doesn't disappoint, employing advanced security protocols like HSTS and a robust Content Security Policy, making it highly secure against common online threats. Users can be confident that information accessed or submitted here is protected by best practices. While some WHOIS details are redacted for privacy, this is standard for government entities and doesn't detract from its established identity. When seeking official standards, scientific research, or government information, nist.gov stands out as an exceptionally reliable and secure resource.