Is usda.gov legit?

65
/ 100
Mostly Safe
Industry: Government

While usda.gov has strong foundational legitimacy and a long history, its current inaccessibility is a major red flag. This prevents any interaction with the site, making it unusable despite other positive indicators.

Government average: 80/100 · based on 33 sites

Checked: April 18, 2026 at 8:30 AM UTC · Refresh

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

Security 90/100

The site uses a valid SSL certificate from a reputable issuer and has no detected threats from Google Web Risk, indicating good baseline security practices, assuming it were accessible.

Identity 95/100

With a domain almost 29 years old and registered through get.gov, its identity as a legitimate government entity is undeniable, reflecting a long-standing and official online presence.

Reputation 85/100

Ranked among the most visited websites globally and clean on DNS blacklists, usda.gov holds a strong and trusted reputation, befitting a major government organization.

Transparency 75/100

While specific contact details are redacted in WHOIS (which is standard for government domains), its status as a federal agency establishes inherent transparency regarding who operates it.

Compliance 70/100

Without access to the actual website, it's impossible to verify specific compliance documents, but as a government entity, it is legally obliged to adhere to various public access and data handling regulations.

Infrastructure 40/100

The intermittent unreachiability is a critical issue that makes the site currently unusable. Beyond this, its mail servers utilize robust Outlook protection and has strong SPF/DMARC email authentication, and DNSSEC is correctly configured.

Signals Detected

[-]
Website: Unreachable

Could not load website: Get "https://www.usda.gov/": stream error: stream ID 3; INTERNAL_ERROR; received from peer

[+]
Tranco Rank: Rank #867

This is one of the most visited websites globally

[?]
Trustpilot: No Trustpilot profile

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

[~]
Branding: Missing

No favicon found — unusual for an established business

[~]
Site Reachable: Unreachable

Could not reach site: Head "https://www.usda.gov/": stream error: stream ID 9; INTERNAL_ERROR; received from peer

[+]
Google Web Risk: Clean

No threats detected by Google Web Risk

[+]
DNS Blacklists: Clean

Not found on any DNS blacklists

[?]
Certificate Transparency: Unable to check

crt.sh returned status 502

[+]
SSL Certificate: Valid

Valid certificate, expires in 174 days

[?]
Certificate Issuer: DigiCert Inc

Certificate issued by DigiCert Inc

[+]
TLS Version: TLS 1.2

Connection uses TLS 1.2

[?]
robots.txt: Not found

No robots.txt file — common for small sites

[+]
Domain Age: 28 years, 11 months

Domain created 1997-10-02T01:29:31Z (28 years, 11 months ago)

[?]
Registrar: get.gov

Registered through get.gov

[+]
Domain Expiry: 2026-08-29T12:21:51Z

Expires in 133 days

[+]
DNSSEC: signedDelegation

DNSSEC status from WHOIS

[?]
Sitemap: Not found

No sitemap found — common for smaller sites

[+]
DNS Resolution: 1 IP(s)

Resolves to: 199.134.75.32

[+]
Email (MX Records): 2 record(s)

Mail servers: newsbox-usda-gov.mail.protection.outlook.com., usda-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: 2 server(s)

DNS providers: ns2.usda.gov., ns1.usda.gov.

[?]
Web Archive: Unable to check

Could not query Wayback Machine

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When evaluating a government website like usda.gov, users often presume a high level of legitimacy and security. And largely, they'd be right. This domain has been active for nearly three decades, a lifespan that dwarfs most private sector websites and unequivocally establishes its status as a fixture of the internet. This longevity, coupled with its ranking among the top 1000 most visited sites globally, solidifies its reputation as a major, trusted online resource. Most legitimate government portals exhibit such characteristics, indicating a deep institutional presence. However, the most pressing issue right now is its inaccessibility. For a government site that provides critical public information and services, being unreachable is a significant problem. While not necessarily a security vulnerability in itself, it completely undermines the site's utility. A functioning website is paramount for any organization, but especially one serving the public good. It's unusual for an established federal agency to experience prolonged outages, so this warrants close attention. Beyond this, the site appears to generally maintain good technical hygiene, including a valid SSL certificate and proper email authentication protocols (SPF and DMARC). These are hallmarks of a well-managed online presence. However, the missing favicon is a minor stylistic oversight rarely seen on such prominent platforms. If usda.gov resolves its accessibility issues, users can generally have a high degree of confidence in its legitimacy, always being mindful of the specific information they are seeking and ensuring they are on the official .gov domain.