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Security report for acpjournals.org

American College of Physicians · Healthcare · United States

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

70/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The American College of Physicians (ACP) operates the ACP Journals website, a professional platform hosting multiple medical journals including the Annals of Internal Medicine and Clinical Cases. The site serves physicians, healthcare professionals, and researchers by providing peer-reviewed medical content and educational resources. It holds a strong market position as a leading publisher in internal medicine with a large audience and a subscription-based business model complemented by open access content. Technically, the website employs modern web technologies, including Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, and Cloudflare services, ensuring good performance, mobile optimization, and accessibility. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforcement, secure forms, and script nonce usage, though explicit security headers and cookie consent mechanisms could be improved. The absence of WHOIS data due to privacy protection is typical for such organizations and does not detract from the site's legitimacy. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and well-maintained, with minor recommendations for enhanced privacy compliance and security transparency.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
58/ 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

5 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 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. 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

    • High

      No Cookie Consent Banner found

      GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies

      What to do: Implement a cookie consent banner that appears on first visit

  3. 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 acpjournals.org

This scan found 22 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

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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
47
Security headers
65
Email security
75
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
58
Average
70

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

Breach exposure

Leaked credentials and lookalike domains from OffSeq Breach. The counts are free; the detailed lists are paid add-ons.

Dark web exposure

Add-on

Leaked records that mention acpjournals.org, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
1
Employees
0
Customers
1
Third parties
0
Weak passwords
0%

1 subdomain affected

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

A one-off add-on to this report that lists the most recent identifier and password pairs OffSeq Breach holds for acpjournals.org.

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Breach keeps ingesting new leaks, so these numbers can grow between scans.

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

ACP Journals is positioned as a key player in the healthcare publishing sector, targeting medical professionals globally. Its competitive advantage lies in authoritative content, partnerships with reputable organizations like the American Heart Association, and a comprehensive portfolio of journals. Revenue streams include subscriptions, open access publishing, and advertising. The site integrates with related ACP services such as career portals and e-commerce stores, indicating a mature ecosystem. Growth indicators include active content updates and engagement via social media. Strategic partnerships and use of advanced marketing tools support its market presence and user engagement.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS, secure login and registration forms, and use of nonce attributes to mitigate script injection risks. However, the lack of explicit Content-Security-Policy headers and absence of a visible cookie consent mechanism suggest areas for improvement in compliance and defense-in-depth. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. Incident response and vulnerability disclosure information are not publicly available, which could be enhanced to improve transparency and trust. Overall, the security measures are adequate for the site's purpose but could benefit from formalized policies and enhanced privacy controls.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and enforce a comprehensive Content-Security-Policy header to reduce XSS risks.
  2. Add a visible cookie consent banner to comply fully with GDPR and other privacy regulations.
  3. Publish a security policy and incident response contact information to improve transparency.
  4. Consider creating and publishing a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file.
  5. Regularly review and update third-party scripts and tracking technologies to minimize privacy risks.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
American College of Physicians
Description
ACP Journals provides access to medical journals including Annals of Internal Medicine, Annals of Internal Medicine: Clinical Cases, and ACP Journal Club Archives. The mission is to promote excellence in medicine, inform healthcare professionals, advance medical research standards, and improve global health.
Key services
Medical journal publishing, Peer-reviewed articles, Open access clinical case reports, Subscription services, Continuing medical education (CME)
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, Eloqua Marketing Automation, StackAdapt, Cloudflare Insights, Twitter Widgets, DoubleClick for Publishers (Google Ad Manager), JavaScript, CSS, HTML5
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of nonce attributes on scripts
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure login and registration forms with password strength indicators
  • Use of CAPTCHA/reCAPTCHA placeholders in forms

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Eloqua
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Ad networks
Google Ad Manager, MedTargetSystem
Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel, Eloqua, StackAdapt, LinkedIn Insight Tag
Marketing tools
Eloqua Marketing Automation, StackAdapt
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich content and professional design.
  2. Strong branding consistent with American College of Physicians.
  3. Multiple journals and medical content available with clear navigation.
  4. Use of modern analytics and advertising technologies.
  5. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly listed on the main page.
  6. Privacy policy and terms of use are present and accessible.
  7. No explicit cookie consent banner detected, which may be a GDPR compliance gap.
  8. No visible security.txt or vulnerability disclosure policy.
  9. WHOIS data is not available, indicating privacy protection.
  10. No signs of adult or unsafe content.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern technology stack with extensive use of JavaScript, CSS, and HTML5. It integrates multiple third-party analytics and marketing tools, including Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, Eloqua, and StackAdapt. Hosting appears to be via Cloudflare, providing performance and security benefits. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible, with good SEO practices evident from meta tags and structured data. Performance is moderate, with some room for optimization. The CMS is not explicitly identified, suggesting a custom or proprietary solution. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a robust and scalable publishing platform.
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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