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Security report for access-ci.org

ACCESS · Government · United States

Partial score · DNS & email only

66/100

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

ACCESS is a U.S. National Science Foundation funded program designed to provide researchers, educators, and the cyberinfrastructure community with free access to advanced computing resources. The website clearly targets scientific and educational audiences, offering resources, support, and community engagement to advance research capabilities. The program is positioned as a successor to the XSEDE project, emphasizing innovation in cyberinfrastructure. Technically, the site is built on WordPress with modern plugins and tracking tools, showing a moderate to good level of digital maturity. The site is mobile optimized and uses HTTPS with reCAPTCHA for form security, but lacks some advanced security headers and DNSSEC. Privacy compliance is weak due to missing privacy and cookie policies. Overall, the site is professional, trustworthy, and well-branded with clear NSF affiliation.

Scanned

3 of 7 checks could not complete. The site may be unreachable or blocking automated scans, so the results below cover only what could be checked. Try a rescan later.

NIS2 and GDPR posture

NIS2 outside view
Not assessed
GDPR outside view
Not assessed

Both readouts depend on the site's pages, which could not be loaded in this scan.

Priority findings

1 finding rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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 Protocols Supported

      Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

      What to do: Disable TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, and all SSL versions

      • CWE-327
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V12.1.1

Need hands-on remediation? Email guard@offseq.com

Keep watching access-ci.org

This scan found 14 issues across 4 checks. Monitoring re-runs those checks daily, emails you when something material changes and records each fix, so you can show progress.

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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
72
Email security
75
DNS health
75
Network security
40
Average
66

Not counted

  • Security headers: did not complete in this scan.
  • GDPR outside view: did not complete in this scan.
  • 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

ACCESS operates as a government-funded initiative focusing on providing free access to national advanced computing resources. Its business model is non-commercial, aimed at supporting scientific research and education. The program targets multiple user groups including researchers, educators, graduate students, and resource providers. The website serves as a portal for information, support, and community engagement. The presence of NSF branding and official logos enhances credibility. The program is relatively new, founded in 2021, and is positioned as a key player in the U.S. cyberinfrastructure ecosystem. Partnerships with NSF and related organizations are evident, though no commercial partnerships or subsidiaries are listed.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a basic to moderate security posture. HTTPS is enforced, and Google reCAPTCHA v3 is implemented on forms to prevent abuse. However, DNSSEC is not enabled, and no explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy or Strict-Transport-Security are detected, which are recommended best practices. There is no publicly available security policy, incident response plan, or vulnerability disclosure statement, which limits transparency and preparedness. No sensitive data is exposed in the HTML content. Overall, the security posture is adequate for a government informational site but could be improved to meet higher standards and compliance requirements.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Publish comprehensive privacy and cookie policies to improve GDPR and privacy compliance.
  3. Implement and configure security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  4. Develop and publish incident response and vulnerability disclosure policies to increase transparency and readiness.
  5. Enhance accessibility features to meet WCAG standards and improve user experience for all users.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
ACCESS
Description
ACCESS is a program established and funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation to help researchers and educators utilize the nation’s advanced computing systems and services at no cost to users. It supports advanced computational resources, resource providers, and the cyberinfrastructure community.
Key services
Access to advanced computing systems, Support for researchers and educators, Resource provider collaboration, Community engagement and education
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress 6.8.2, jQuery 3.7.1, Google Tag Manager, Google reCAPTCHA v3, FontAwesome 6.3.0, Ultimate Blocks plugin, Simple Lightbox plugin, Post Draft Preview plugin, Advanced iFrame plugin, Yoast SEO plugin
Frameworks
WordPress
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
65/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Google reCAPTCHA v3 on forms
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of security nonce tokens in forms

Analytics and tracking

Services
Microsoft Clarity, Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Microsoft Clarity, Google Analytics (via GTM)
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a government-funded research program site with clear NSF affiliation.
  2. Content is well structured with clear calls to action for different user groups.
  3. No privacy or cookie policies found, which is a compliance gap.
  4. Use of modern web technologies and plugins indicates active maintenance.
  5. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly listed; contact via forms only.
  6. No visible security or incident response policies published.
  7. No DNSSEC enabled, which is a minor security shortfall.
  8. Good use of HTTPS and reCAPTCHA for form security.
  9. No suspicious or malicious content detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress 6.8.2 with a variety of plugins including Yoast SEO, Ultimate Blocks, Simple Lightbox, and Advanced iFrame. It uses jQuery 3.7.1 and FontAwesome 6.3.0 for UI elements. Google Tag Manager and Microsoft Clarity are used for analytics and user behavior tracking. The site is mobile responsive with good SEO metadata including Open Graph and JSON-LD structured data. Performance is moderate, with no major issues detected. The site lacks DNSSEC and some security headers, which are technical debt areas. Overall, the technical infrastructure is modern and well-maintained but could benefit from additional security hardening and privacy enhancements.
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

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