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Security report for aaf.org

American Advertising Federation · Media · United States

Low risk. 2 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and SSL/TLS.

Security score

79/100

Risk levelLow

0–100, higher is better. How it is calculated

The American Advertising Federation (AAF) is a well-established non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the advertising industry through advocacy, professional development, and recognition programs. The website serves as a comprehensive portal for members, students, educators, and corporate partners, offering resources, event information, and industry news. The organization's market position is strong, supported by a long domain history and visible corporate partnerships. Technically, the website is built on a mature ASP.NET WebForms platform with Telerik UI components, enhanced by modern analytics tools such as Google Analytics and Microsoft Application Insights. The site demonstrates good mobile optimization and accessibility features, although some improvements in security headers and DNSSEC could enhance its security posture. Security-wise, the site enforces HTTPS and employs telemetry for monitoring but lacks some advanced security headers and a public vulnerability disclosure policy. The WHOIS data aligns well with the organization's identity, reinforcing trust and legitimacy. Overall, the site presents a professional, trustworthy, and content-rich experience with moderate tracking and analytics usage. Strategic recommendations include enhancing security headers, enabling DNSSEC, and publishing explicit security and incident response policies to further strengthen trust and compliance.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
73/ 100 · Medium
Checks completed
7of 7

NIS2 Art. 21(2)

  1. (a) Risk analysis and security policies: Not visible from outside
  2. (b) Incident handling: One indicator
  3. (c) Business continuity, backups and crisis management: Not visible from outside
  4. (d) Supply chain security: Not visible from outside
  5. (e) Secure acquisition, development and maintenance, including vulnerability handling: Partly checked
  6. (f) Assessing the effectiveness of security measures: Not visible from outside
  7. (g) Cyber hygiene and security training: Not visible from outside
  8. (h) Cryptography and encryption: Partly checked
  9. (i) HR security, access control and asset management: One indicator
  10. (j) Multi-factor authentication and secured communications: Not visible from outside

This scan rated NIS2 with an earlier keyword method that is no longer shown; rescan for the per-article view. Risk management, continuity, supply chain, training, MFA, management oversight (Art. 20) and incident reporting (Art. 23) need internal evidence, and Guard cannot tell whether NIS2 applies to this organisation.

GDPR is indicative only, based on publicly visible signals: Articles 7, 12, 13 and 32 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive. Not a certification or legal assessment.

Priority findings

2 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • High

      No Cookie Policy found

      GDPR requires clear information about cookie usage

      What to do: Add a dedicated cookie policy explaining cookie usage and purposes

  2. SSL/TLS

    TLS encrypts the connection and proves the site is really yours. Weak or expiring certificates trigger browser warnings and put traffic at risk.

    • High

      Weak SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

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Keep watching aaf.org

This scan found 17 issues across 6 checks. Monitoring re-runs those checks daily, emails you when something material changes and records each fix, so you can show progress.

Daily monitoring

Recommended

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  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
  • SPF, DKIM and DMARC
  • Security headers
  • GDPR and NIS2 posture
  • Exposed services
  • Third-party trackers
  • Security score drift

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Results by check

Each check with its score, findings and the evidence it collected.

How this score is calculated

The security score runs 0–100, higher is better. It is the plain average of the security checks that completed in this scan, each counted equally. A check that could not run is left out: it counts neither as a pass nor as a fail.

Counted in this score

SSL/TLS
75
Security headers
75
Email security
75
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
73
Average
79

Not counted

  • NIS2 outside view: Re-weights evidence from the TLS, email, DNS, network and hygiene checks, so counting it would count that evidence twice. Shown on its own.
  • OffSeq Observations: An AI reading of the site, useful context but not reproducible evidence. Shown on its own.

Findings that cap the score at 49

Each of these is serious on its own, so while any is present the site cannot rate better than high risk, however good the other checks are.

  • The certificate is not trusted by browsers
  • The website is not served over HTTPS
  • A database, remote desktop, file-sharing or Telnet service is reachable from the internet
  • The page loads a script from a compromised source
  • The domain registration has expired
  • SPF authorises every server to send mail as the domain

Partial scans

When the site blocks Guard or most checks cannot run, the score covers only the checks that ran (usually DNS and email), is capped at 75 and is shown as partial, without a risk level.

Risk levels

  • Critical0–25
  • High26–49
  • Medium50–75
  • Low76–100

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

AAF operates as a large non-profit entity within the media sector, focusing on advertising professionals and students. Its revenue streams likely include membership fees, event registrations, sponsorships, and educational programs. The organization maintains a broad partnership ecosystem with major corporations like Google, LinkedIn, Meta, and Amazon Ads, enhancing its industry influence. Growth indicators include active event calendars, awards programs, and scholarship offerings. The website's content and structure reflect a mature digital presence aligned with its business objectives.

Security posture

The website exhibits a good security maturity level with enforced HTTPS and clientTransferProhibited domain status. However, the absence of DNSSEC and Content Security Policy headers indicates room for improvement. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected. The lack of a public security policy or incident response contact reduces transparency. Compliance with GDPR is limited, as no explicit cookie consent mechanism or data protection officer information is provided. Overall, the security posture is solid but could benefit from enhanced transparency and technical controls.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to mitigate cross-site scripting and related attacks.
  3. Publish a security policy and vulnerability disclosure program, including a security.txt file.
  4. Add explicit cookie consent mechanisms to improve privacy compliance and user trust.
  5. Enhance accessibility features and conduct regular security audits to maintain a strong security posture.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
American Advertising Federation
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
American Advertising Federation
Description
The American Advertising Federation (AAF) is a national organization representing the advertising industry, providing advocacy, professional development, events, awards, and resources for advertising professionals, students, and educators.
Key services
Membership services, Professional development events, Advertising awards competitions, Advocacy and government affairs, Educational resources and scholarships
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
ASP.NET WebForms, jQuery, Telerik UI, Microsoft Application Insights, Google Analytics, Bootstrap
Frameworks
ASP.NET, Bootstrap
Platforms
Windows Server (implied by ASP.NET), Azure Application Insights
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Domain status clientTransferProhibited
  • No cookies usage disabled in Application Insights
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Microsoft Application Insights, Feathr
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Microsoft Application Insights, Feathr
Marketing tools
Feathr analytics
Transparency
basic

Site quality

Design
good
User experience
good
Content relevance
good
Navigation
good
Professionalism
good
Trustworthiness
high

Key observations

  1. Website is a professional non-profit organization site for the American Advertising Federation.
  2. Content is rich with resources, events, membership info, and industry news.
  3. Strong social media presence and corporate partnerships displayed.
  4. Uses modern analytics and telemetry tools for performance and usage tracking.
  5. No signs of malicious or suspicious content.
  6. Security posture is good but can be improved with DNSSEC and CSP headers.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on ASP.NET WebForms with Telerik UI components, indicating a legacy but stable technology stack. It integrates modern analytics and telemetry tools such as Google Analytics, Microsoft Application Insights, and Feathr for performance and user behavior tracking. The site uses Bootstrap for responsive design and jQuery for client-side scripting. Performance is moderate, with room for optimization. The CMS appears to be iMIS, a platform tailored for membership organizations. Technical risks include reliance on older frameworks and missing advanced security headers, which should be addressed to reduce potential vulnerabilities.
Standards and sources

Reference chips under each finding point to the standard, regulation or specification the finding relates to. They are taken from the official datasets below and mapped conservatively: a finding with no defensible link shows none. NIS2 and GDPR references mark where a finding is relevant evidence, not a compliance verdict. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690 binds digital infrastructure and digital service providers; for other entities it is the most detailed public reading of the Article 21 measures. WCAG, EN 301 549, European Accessibility Act and Web Accessibility Directive references name the requirement an automated accessibility rule relates to; they are not a conformance verdict.

Retrieved 2026-10-25

Earlier scans of this domain

  1. 75/100Medium28 findingsView report
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