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Security report for acm.org

Association for Computing Machinery · Technology · United States

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in Security headers and SSL/TLS.

Security score

74/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is a globally recognized professional society dedicated to advancing computing as a science and profession. The organization serves a diverse audience including computing professionals, researchers, educators, and students by providing access to conferences, publications, and educational resources. ACM holds a leading market position as a large, established non-profit entity in the technology and education sectors. Technically, the ACM website employs a modern technology stack including Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Cookiebot for consent management, and various third-party integrations for marketing and analytics. The site is well-optimized for mobile and accessibility, with a professional design and clear navigation structure. Performance is moderate, with room for optimization. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and implements a robust cookie consent mechanism. However, explicit security headers are not evident in the provided data, and there is no public security policy or incident response contact information. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. Overall, the ACM website demonstrates a strong business credibility and privacy compliance posture, with comprehensive policies and transparent user consent mechanisms. The lack of WHOIS data due to query failure or privacy protection does not detract from the site's legitimacy given its well-known brand and consistent online presence. Strategic recommendations include enhancing security headers, publishing a security.txt file, and providing explicit incident response contacts to further strengthen trust and security posture.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of acm.org. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
88/ 100 · Low
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

4 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Security headers

    Security headers are instructions your web server sends to every visitor’s browser. Missing ones leave visitors more exposed to attacks such as clickjacking and injected scripts.

    • High

      Missing X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

      What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"

    • High

      Missing Content-Security-Policy header

      Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

      What to do: Implement a Content-Security-Policy appropriate for your application

      • ASVS V3.4.3
      • OWASP Secure Headers: OWASP Secure Headers Project recommends Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'; form-action 'self'; base-uri 'self'; object-src 'none';…

  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 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
    • 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

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

Keep watching acm.org

This scan found 19 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

€25per month

  • 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
47
Security headers
30
Email security
98
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
88
Average
74

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

ACM operates as a large, essential entity in the technology and education sectors, focusing on professional membership, research dissemination, and educational services. Its business model relies on membership fees, conference hosting, and publication sales. The organization maintains partnerships with multiple content providers and event platforms, enhancing its service offerings. ACM's competitive advantage lies in its established reputation, comprehensive resources, and global reach. Growth indicators include active use of digital marketing and analytics tools, and a broad partner ecosystem. The organization's operations reflect a mature, professional approach with strong market positioning.

Security posture

The ACM website exhibits a mature security posture with mandatory HTTPS and a comprehensive cookie consent mechanism aligned with GDPR requirements. The use of reputable third-party analytics and marketing tools is balanced with user privacy controls. However, the absence of explicit security headers and a public security policy or incident response contact limits transparency. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were found, indicating good operational security hygiene. Compliance with privacy regulations is evident, but incident response readiness and vulnerability disclosure could be improved to enhance security culture and resilience.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and enforce security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security to mitigate common web attacks.
  2. Publish a security.txt file to provide clear vulnerability disclosure guidelines and contact information for security researchers.
  3. Add explicit incident response contact channels (e.g., security@ or abuse@ email addresses) on the website to improve transparency and responsiveness.
  4. Regularly audit third-party scripts and libraries to ensure no vulnerable components are included and maintain up-to-date versions.
  5. Enhance accessibility features by incorporating ARIA landmarks and roles to improve usability for all users.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Association for Computing Machinery
Description
The ACM is a global professional society for computing professionals, providing resources such as publications, conferences, and educational programs to advance computing as a science and profession.
Key services
Professional membership, Academic and industry conferences, Research publications and journals, Educational resources and certifications
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Cookiebot Consent Management, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Bing UET, jQuery (implied by plugins), Slick Carousel
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent with granular controls
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of security storage consent in Google Consent Mode

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Bing UET
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Google AdSense, Google DoubleClick, Microsoft Advertising
Tracking pixels
LinkedIn Insight Tag, Bing UET
Marketing tools
Cookiebot Consent Management
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website uses HTTPS with no visible security warnings
  2. Comprehensive cookie consent mechanism implemented via Cookiebot
  3. Multiple reputable third-party analytics and marketing tools integrated
  4. No exposed sensitive data or security vulnerabilities detected in HTML
  5. WHOIS data unavailable due to query failure or privacy protection
  6. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found in HTML; contact via web form
  7. No security.txt or explicit vulnerability disclosure page found
  8. Privacy and terms of service pages are present and comprehensive
  9. Website content is professional, well-structured, and targeted at computing professionals
Technical notes

Notes

The website leverages a modern and widely adopted technology stack including Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Cookiebot for consent management, and LinkedIn and Bing tracking pixels. The use of slick-carousel and webfontloader indicates attention to user experience and design. The site is mobile optimized and accessible with good SEO practices. Performance is moderate, suggesting potential for optimization in loading times and resource management. No CMS or hosting provider was explicitly identified from the HTML content. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a professional and scalable online presence.
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. 73/100 −1Medium28 findingsView report
  2. 74/100Medium27 findingsView report
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