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Security report for artsobservasjoner.no

Artsdatabanken · Government · Norway

Medium risk. 7 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

65/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Artsobservasjoner.no is a Norwegian government-affiliated non-profit platform operated by Artsdatabanken, serving as the largest species observation reporting system in Norway. It enables users to register sightings of all species in Norway, contributing to biodiversity knowledge and environmental awareness. The platform targets nature enthusiasts, researchers, and the general public interested in Norwegian flora and fauna. The website is well-branded, consistent, and supported by reputable partners and government funding, reflecting a strong market position in the environmental and biodiversity sector. Technically, the website employs a modern but custom-built infrastructure using common JavaScript libraries such as jQuery, Slick Carousel, and Google Analytics for tracking. It supports mobile optimization with a dedicated mobile site and uses Google Fonts for typography. The platform appears to be built on ASP.NET MVC or a similar framework, with moderate performance and basic accessibility features. SEO is basic but functional, with proper meta tags and Open Graph images. From a security perspective, the site uses HTTPS and implements cookie consent mechanisms, but lacks explicit security headers like CSP or HSTS in the HTML content. No sensitive data is exposed, and input validation is present for date fields. However, there is room for improvement in security best practices and privacy policy clarity. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure information is found. Overall, Artsobservasjoner.no is a trustworthy, well-maintained platform with good content quality and business credibility. It is safe for general audiences and fulfills its mission as a biodiversity data collection tool. Strategic improvements in security headers, privacy policy detail, and contact transparency would enhance its security posture and user trust.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
50/ 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

7 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 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';…

  2. GDPR outside view

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

    • High

      No Privacy Policy found

      GDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy

      What to do: Add a comprehensive privacy policy page and link to it prominently

    • 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

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

Keep watching artsobservasjoner.no

This scan found 24 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
62
Security headers
15
Email security
85
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
50
Average
65

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

Artsobservasjoner.no operates in the government and non-profit sector focused on environmental data collection and biodiversity monitoring. Its competitive advantage lies in being Norway's largest species observation reporting system, backed by Artsdatabanken and the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment. The business model is community-driven data collection, enabling citizen science and research collaboration. Revenue streams are likely government funding and grants. The target customers include nature observers, researchers, and environmental organizations. The platform shows growth through active news updates and recent sightings. Its partnership ecosystem includes multiple reputable Norwegian environmental organizations, enhancing credibility and reach. Operationally, the platform is stable with a clear focus on data quality and user engagement.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate security maturity level. HTTPS is enforced, and cookie consent is implemented, indicating awareness of privacy regulations. However, the absence of key security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and HSTS reduces the overall security posture. No explicit security or incident response policies are published, and no vulnerability disclosure mechanisms are evident. The site does not expose sensitive data or credentials, and input validation is implemented for date fields, which is positive. The use of third-party scripts like Google Analytics introduces moderate tracking but no apparent vulnerabilities. Overall, the security posture is adequate for a non-commercial government platform but would benefit from enhanced security controls and transparency.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and HSTS to mitigate common web attacks.
  2. Publish a dedicated privacy policy page detailing GDPR compliance and data handling practices separate from terms of use.
  3. Provide clear and accessible contact information including official emails and phone numbers for support and inquiries.
  4. Establish and publicize an incident response and vulnerability disclosure policy to improve security transparency and readiness.
  5. Enhance accessibility features to meet recognized standards and improve user experience for all visitors.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Artsdatabanken
Description
Artsobservasjoner er Norges største kunnskapsdugnad. Her kan du registrere funn av alle arter i Norge. Artsobservasjoner er for mange en digital felthåndbok – samtidig som det bidrar til å øke kunnskapen om naturmangfoldet i Norge.
Key services
species sighting reporting, observation search, statistics and leaderboards, media gallery for species images, thematic pages and atlas data
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery, Google Analytics, Slick Carousel, MobileDetect.js, jQuery UI Datepicker, Google Web Fonts (Roboto)
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
65/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS usage implied by URL
  • Cookie consent banner implemented
  • No sensitive data exposed in HTML
  • JavaScript validation for date inputs

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a Norwegian species observation reporting platform
  2. Content is in Norwegian with English option
  3. No direct contact emails or phone numbers visible on homepage
  4. Cookie consent implemented with link to detailed cookie info
  5. Multiple partner organizations linked in footer
  6. Active news and recent sightings content updated frequently
  7. No explicit privacy or security policy pages found beyond terms of use
  8. No visible security headers or advanced security policies in HTML
  9. Uses common web libraries and Google Analytics for tracking
  10. Mobile optimization present with mobile site redirect option
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a custom or proprietary CMS likely built on ASP.NET MVC framework, leveraging popular JavaScript libraries such as jQuery and Slick Carousel for UI components. Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager are used for analytics and tracking. The site is mobile optimized with a separate mobile version and uses Google Fonts for consistent typography. Performance is moderate with asynchronous script loading and image sliders. SEO is basic with meta descriptions and Open Graph tags but lacks structured data like JSON-LD. Accessibility is basic with some ARIA roles and skip links but could be improved. No major technical debt is evident, but security-related technical enhancements are recommended.
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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