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Security report for aies.at

Austria Institut für Europa- und Sicherheitspolitik (AIES) · Government · Austria

High risk. 9 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, SSL/TLS and 2 other checks.

Security score

28/100

Risk levelHigh

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

The Austria Institut für Europa- und Sicherheitspolitik (AIES) is a well-established independent research institute based in Vienna, Austria, focused on European integration, security, defense, and foreign policy. Founded in 1996, it serves public stakeholders by providing expert analysis, organizing events, and publishing research. The website reflects a professional and content-rich platform targeting policymakers, academics, and the public interested in European and security policy. Technically, the site uses modern frontend technologies such as jQuery, Swiper.js, and Usercentrics for consent management, but suffers from a critical lack of valid SSL/TLS configuration, impacting its security posture. The site is mobile-optimized, accessible, and SEO-friendly, with strong social media integration and clear contact information. Security-wise, the absence of HTTPS and security headers is a significant vulnerability, though no active WAF or blocking mechanisms are detected. WHOIS data confirms domain legitimacy and consistency with the organization's profile. Strategic improvements in SSL deployment and security headers are recommended to enhance trust and compliance.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
0/ 100 · Critical
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

9 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • Critical

      EU business without adequate privacy measures

      EU businesses are subject to strict GDPR requirements

      What to do: Implement comprehensive GDPR compliance including privacy policy, cookie consent, and data protection measures

    • Critical

      No HTTPS encryption

      GDPR requires appropriate security measures for personal data

      What to do: Implement SSL/TLS certificate for HTTPS

  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.

    • Critical

      No HTTPS Encryption

      Website does not use HTTPS encryption, making all data transmission vulnerable to interception

      What to do: Implement SSL/TLS certificate and redirect all HTTP traffic to HTTPS

  3. 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"

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

Keep watching aies.at

This scan found 21 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
0
Security headers
15
Email security
50
DNS health
85
Network security
20
GDPR outside view
0
Average
28

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

AIES occupies a niche in the government and non-profit sector, providing specialized research and policy advice on European and security matters. Its competitive advantage lies in its long-standing presence, expert staff, and comprehensive publication and event portfolio. The business model is research and consultancy-based, targeting government bodies, academia, and media. The organization maintains a strong partnership ecosystem, including cooperation with the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna and transatlantic initiatives. Growth indicators include active media presence and frequent events. The website supports these activities with well-structured content and outreach channels.

Security posture

The current security maturity level is low due to the lack of a valid SSL certificate and HTTPS enforcement, which exposes users to potential interception and undermines trust. The absence of security headers and HSTS further weakens the security posture. No known vulnerabilities or malware are detected, and no WAF or blocking mechanisms interfere with access. Compliance with GDPR is supported by a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie consent mechanism. Incident response and vulnerability disclosure policies are not publicly documented, representing a gap in security culture and readiness. Overall, the site requires urgent improvements in transport security and security best practices to mitigate risks.

Recommendations

  1. Obtain and deploy a valid SSL/TLS certificate to enable HTTPS site-wide.
  2. Implement HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) with includeSubDomains and preload options.
  3. Add essential security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-XSS-Protection.
  4. Publish a security policy and vulnerability disclosure statement to improve transparency and incident response readiness.
  5. Regularly audit and update all software dependencies and server configurations to maintain security hygiene.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Technical notes

Notes

The website is hosted on an nginx server with IPv4 and IPv6 addresses. It uses jQuery and Swiper.js for interactive UI components and Usercentrics for GDPR-compliant cookie consent management. Google Analytics 4 is integrated for visitor analytics. The site is responsive and optimized for mobile devices with good accessibility features such as skip links and font size controls. However, the SSL configuration is missing or invalid, with no TLS protocols enabled, which is a critical technical debt. Performance metrics are unavailable but inferred as slow due to missing load time data. The site does not use a known CMS, suggesting a custom or static site architecture. Hosting provider details are not explicit but the DNS uses domaincontrol.com nameservers, indicating GoDaddy as registrar. Overall, the technical infrastructure is modern but requires urgent security upgrades.
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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