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Security report for afsglobal.org

AFS Global · Non-profit · N/a

High risk. 10 critical or high findings in Network security, Security headers and 2 other checks.

Security score

45/100

Risk levelHigh

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

AFS Global operates as a secured portal likely serving members and affiliates of AFS Intercultural Programs, a non-profit organization focused on intercultural exchange and educational programs. The website uses legacy ASP.NET WebForms technology combined with Bootstrap and jQuery, indicating a moderately mature but somewhat dated technical infrastructure. Google Tag Manager is employed for analytics, but no explicit privacy or cookie policies are present in the analyzed content, which may raise compliance concerns. Security posture shows basic HTTPS usage but lacks modern security headers and uses an outdated jQuery version, exposing potential vulnerabilities. Overall, the site is functional but would benefit from modernization and enhanced privacy and security measures.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
35/ 100 · High
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

10 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Network security

    Services reachable from the internet are the first thing attackers probe. Anything open that does not need to be should be closed.

    • Critical

      Critical Service Exposed: MSSQL

      Port 1433 (MSSQL) is publicly accessible - MSSQL - Database server

      What to do: Immediately restrict access to MSSQL using firewall or VPN

      • NIS2 21(2)(e)
      • IR 2024/2690 6.7.2(f): Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690, Annex point 6.7.2(f): Network security
      • NIST CM-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CM-7: Least Functionality
      • NIST SC-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SC-7: Boundary Protection
    • Critical

      Critical Service Exposed: MySQL

      Port 3306 (MySQL) is publicly accessible - MySQL - Database server

      What to do: Immediately restrict access to MySQL using firewall or VPN

      • NIS2 21(2)(e)
      • IR 2024/2690 6.7.2(f): Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690, Annex point 6.7.2(f): Network security
      • NIST CM-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CM-7: Least Functionality
      • NIST SC-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SC-7: Boundary Protection

  2. 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 Strict-Transport-Security header

      Forces HTTPS connections

      What to do: Add "Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload"

      • CWE-319
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V3.4.1
    • 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';…

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

Keep watching afsglobal.org

This scan found 26 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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  • 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
Security headers
25
Email security
60
DNS health
80
Network security
0
GDPR outside view
35
Average
45

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 · found on this site
  • 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

The website targets a niche audience involved in intercultural exchange programs, likely volunteers, participants, and administrators within the AFS network. The business model is non-profit and educational, focusing on cultural exchange services rather than commercial transactions. The platform serves as a portal rather than a public-facing marketing site, which explains the minimal public content and lack of contact information. The presence of Google Tag Manager suggests some level of user behavior tracking, but no advanced marketing or advertising tools are detected. The domain's WHOIS data is unavailable, likely due to privacy protection, which is common for non-commercial organizations. The site maintains moderate trustworthiness but lacks visible trust signals such as certifications or detailed business information.

Security posture

Security measures are basic with HTTPS enforced but no visible security headers like Content-Security-Policy or HSTS. The use of an outdated jQuery version (2.1.4) introduces known vulnerabilities that should be addressed promptly. No exposed sensitive data or credentials were found in the HTML content. The site uses ASP.NET WebForms with hidden form fields for state management, which requires careful security controls to prevent common web vulnerabilities. Absence of privacy and cookie policies indicates potential compliance gaps with GDPR and other privacy regulations. Incident response and security policy information are not publicly available, limiting assessment of organizational security maturity.

Recommendations

  1. Upgrade jQuery and all JavaScript libraries to their latest secure versions to mitigate known vulnerabilities.
  2. Implement comprehensive privacy and cookie policies accessible from the portal to improve GDPR and privacy compliance.
  3. Add essential security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options, and HSTS to enhance security posture.
  4. Conduct a security audit focusing on ASP.NET WebForms vulnerabilities and secure session management.
  5. Improve transparency by providing contact information and security incident response details to build user trust.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
AFS Global
Description
AFS Global appears to be a platform related to AFS Intercultural Programs, likely serving as a secured portal for users involved with AFS activities globally.
Key services
Intercultural exchange programs, User secured portal access, Volunteer and participant management
Content quality
basic
Branding
moderate

Technology

Stack
jQuery 2.1.4, Bootstrap 3.1.1, Font Awesome 4.7.0, Google Tag Manager
Frameworks
Bootstrap, ASP.NET WebForms
Platforms
Windows Server (likely, based on ASP.NET usage)
Performance
moderate
Mobile
basic
Accessibility
basic
SEO
poor

Security

Observed score
50/100
Good practices seen
  • Use of HTTPS (implied by https URL)
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of hidden form fields with __VIEWSTATE for state management

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Transparency
basic

Site quality

Design
basic
User experience
basic
Content relevance
basic
Navigation
basic
Professionalism
basic
Trustworthiness
moderate

Key observations

  1. Website is a secured portal for AFS Global users
  2. No public contact or policy pages detected in provided HTML
  3. Uses legacy ASP.NET WebForms technology
  4. Includes Google Tag Manager for analytics
  5. No visible privacy or cookie policies in main page HTML
  6. No WHOIS data available, indicating privacy protection or query failure
  7. No signs of WAF or blocking mechanisms
  8. No adult or questionable content detected
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on ASP.NET WebForms technology with Bootstrap 3.1.1 and jQuery 2.1.4, indicating a legacy but stable platform. The front-end uses Font Awesome 4.7.0 for icons and includes Google Tag Manager for analytics. The site is moderately optimized for mobile devices but lacks advanced accessibility features. Performance is moderate with no explicit indicators of slow loading but also no advanced optimization techniques detected. The absence of a CMS suggests a custom or in-house developed platform. Hosting provider details are not discernible from the provided data. The site uses iframe-based content loading which may impact SEO and accessibility negatively. Overall, the technical stack is functional but dated and would benefit from modernization and security hardening.
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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