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Security report for acm.org

Association for Computing Machinery · Technology · N/a

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

Security score

73/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is a globally recognized professional organization dedicated to advancing computing as a science and profession. The website serves as a comprehensive portal offering resources such as publications, conferences, educational materials, and membership services targeted at computing professionals, researchers, educators, and students. ACM holds a leading market position in the technology and education sectors, operating as a large non-profit entity with a strong brand presence and consistent professional content. Technically, the website employs modern web technologies including Google Tag Manager, Cookiebot for consent management, and various analytics and marketing tools from reputable providers such as Google, Microsoft, and LinkedIn. The site is well-optimized for mobile devices, accessible, and SEO-friendly, with a moderate performance profile. The use of HTTPS and cookie consent mechanisms reflects a mature digital infrastructure. From a security perspective, the site demonstrates good practices including HTTPS enforcement and cookie consent compliance. However, explicit security headers like X-Frame-Options and X-Content-Type-Options are not clearly identified and could be improved. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. The absence of a dedicated security policy or incident response contact suggests room for enhancement in transparency and readiness. Overall, the website is trustworthy, professionally maintained, and compliant with privacy regulations such as GDPR. The lack of WHOIS data is consistent with privacy protection for large organizations and does not detract from legitimacy. Strategic recommendations include enhancing security header implementation, publishing a security.txt file, and providing clearer incident response information to further strengthen security posture and user trust.

Scanned

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

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Keep watching acm.org

This scan found 20 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.

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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
42
Security headers
30
Email security
98
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
88
Average
73

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 non-profit organization in the technology and education sectors, focusing on computing professionals worldwide. Its business model centers on membership services, educational content, and professional networking. The organization leverages partnerships with major technology providers for analytics and marketing, indicating a robust ecosystem. The website's comprehensive content and professional design support ACM's market leadership and growth. No direct revenue streams or parent/subsidiary relationships were identified from the data provided. The organization's strategic positioning as a trusted knowledge hub is reinforced by its extensive digital presence and adherence to privacy and cookie compliance standards. The absence of direct contact information on the analyzed page suggests a focus on digital self-service and member engagement through secure channels.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and a comprehensive cookie consent mechanism aligned with GDPR requirements. The integration of reputable third-party analytics and marketing tools is managed with user consent, reflecting good privacy practices. However, explicit security headers such as X-Frame-Options and X-Content-Type-Options are not clearly present, which could expose the site to clickjacking or MIME sniffing risks. No evidence of vulnerabilities, malware, or phishing was found. The lack of a published security policy or incident response contact limits transparency and may hinder rapid response to security incidents. The absence of a security.txt file or vulnerability disclosure program suggests an opportunity to improve security communication and community engagement. Overall, the security posture is strong but could benefit from enhanced header implementation and clearer incident response mechanisms.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and verify security headers including X-Frame-Options and X-Content-Type-Options to mitigate clickjacking and MIME sniffing risks.
  2. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security practices and compliance frameworks.
  3. Establish and publicize an incident response contact, such as security@acm.org or abuse@acm.org, to facilitate vulnerability reporting and incident management.
  4. Create and maintain a security.txt file to improve transparency and encourage responsible vulnerability disclosure.
  5. Conduct regular audits of third-party scripts and dependencies to ensure no vulnerable libraries are in use and maintain up-to-date components.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Association for Computing Machinery
Description
The ACM is a global scientific and educational organization dedicated to advancing computing as a science and profession. It provides resources such as publications, conferences, and professional development for computing professionals and researchers.
Key services
Professional membership, Scientific publications, Conferences and events, Educational resources, Digital library access
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Google Tag Manager, Cookiebot CMP, Modernizr, WebFontLoader, Slick Carousel, HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of reputable analytics and marketing scripts

Analytics and tracking

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

Advertising

Ad networks
Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, LinkedIn Ads
Tracking pixels
LinkedIn Insight Tag, Bing UET
Marketing tools
Cookiebot CMP
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 strong SSL configuration
  2. Comprehensive cookie consent and privacy policy present
  3. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly found in the HTML content provided
  4. Multiple reputable third-party analytics and marketing tools integrated
  5. No signs of malware, phishing, or suspicious content
  6. WHOIS data is privacy protected or unavailable, common for large organizations
  7. No security.txt or explicit vulnerability disclosure found
  8. No explicit security policy or incident response contact found on the analyzed content
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern technology stack including Google Tag Manager, Cookiebot for consent management, and various JavaScript libraries such as Modernizr and Slick Carousel. The site employs HTML5 and CSS3 standards with asynchronous loading of scripts to optimize performance. The presence of multiple analytics and marketing tags indicates a sophisticated data collection and user engagement strategy. Mobile optimization and accessibility features are well implemented, contributing to a positive user experience. SEO best practices are observed through proper meta tags and Open Graph properties. Hosting details and CMS are not explicitly identified, but the site appears professionally managed with moderate performance. Technical risks include potential dependency on third-party scripts which require ongoing monitoring. Opportunities exist to enhance security headers and improve incident response readiness.
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. 74/100Medium27 findingsView report
  2. 74/100Medium27 findingsView report
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