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Security report for atdc.org

Advanced Technology Development Center · Technology · United States

High risk. 9 critical or high findings in Network security, Security headers and 2 other checks.

Security score

49/100

Risk levelHigh

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

The Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) is a well-established technology startup incubator and accelerator based in Georgia, USA, with a domain age dating back to 1997. The organization focuses on supporting early-stage science and technology companies by providing expert coaching, access to capital, talent sourcing, industry connections, and federal funding assistance. Their market position is strong within the Southeastern United States as a key enabler of startup success. The website is built on a modern WordPress platform using Elementor and integrates various plugins and analytics tools, reflecting a mature digital infrastructure. Security posture is good with HTTPS enforced and domain protections in place, though improvements such as DNSSEC and enhanced security headers are recommended. Privacy and cookie policies exist but are basic, with no explicit GDPR compliance or incident response policies published. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and serves its target audience effectively.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
65/ 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

9 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: 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
    • Critical

      Critical Service Exposed: PostgreSQL

      Port 5432 (PostgreSQL) is publicly accessible - PostgreSQL - Database server

      What to do: Immediately restrict access to PostgreSQL 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';…

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Keep watching atdc.org

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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
20
Email security
75
DNS health
80
Network security
0
GDPR outside view
65
Average
50
After the cap
49

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

ATDC operates as a non-equity startup incubator, focusing on technology startups primarily in Georgia. Their business model revolves around providing mentorship, resources, and connections without taking equity, which positions them as a trusted partner for early-stage companies. The organization has a broad partnership ecosystem including industry giants and investors, enhancing their value proposition. Their services include startup coaching, investor connections, talent recruitment, and federal funding support, which collectively drive growth for their portfolio companies. The presence of testimonials and a long domain history indicate strong credibility and market presence. Their digital presence is supported by integrations with social media and analytics, aiding in outreach and engagement.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a solid security foundation with HTTPS enabled and domain status flags that prevent unauthorized domain transfers or deletions. However, DNSSEC is not enabled, which is a missed opportunity to secure DNS queries. The absence of a Content-Security-Policy header and other security headers like X-Content-Type-Options suggests room for improvement in mitigating common web vulnerabilities. No security or incident response policies are publicly available, which could be a gap in transparency and preparedness. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. Overall, the security posture is good but could be enhanced with additional headers and published policies.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement a Content-Security-Policy header to reduce risks of cross-site scripting attacks.
  3. Publish a dedicated security policy and vulnerability disclosure page to improve transparency and incident response readiness.
  4. Add additional security headers such as X-Content-Type-Options, Referrer-Policy, and X-Frame-Options for enhanced protection.
  5. Enhance privacy compliance by expanding the privacy policy to explicitly address GDPR and other regulations.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Advanced Technology Development Center
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Advanced Technology Development Center
Description
ATDC is a technology startup incubator and accelerator focused on scaling early-stage science and technology-based companies primarily in Georgia, USA. It supports startups with coaching, access to capital, talent, corporate networks, and federal funding programs like SBIR & STTR.
Key services
Startup coaching and mentoring, Access to capital and investors, Talent sourcing and recruitment, Industry partnerships and corporate connections, Federal funding support (SBIR & STTR)
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress 6.8.1, Elementor, PHP, Google Analytics, Slider Revolution, FontAwesome, jQuery
Frameworks
Elementor, U-Design WordPress Theme
Platforms
WordPress
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed credentials in HTML
  • Use of clientDeleteProhibited domain status to prevent unauthorized transfers

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Marketing tools
MonsterInsights Google Analytics plugin
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professional technology startup incubator and accelerator
  2. Content is rich with business information, testimonials, and resources
  3. Uses modern WordPress CMS with Elementor and various plugins
  4. Has social media presence on major platforms
  5. No signs of malicious or suspicious activity
  6. Privacy and cookie policies are present but basic
  7. No explicit security or incident response policies published
  8. Domain uses privacy protection but is legitimate and long-standing
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress 6.8.1 with the Elementor page builder and U-Design theme, indicating a modern and flexible CMS infrastructure. It uses common web technologies including PHP, jQuery, FontAwesome, and Slider Revolution. Google Analytics is integrated via MonsterInsights plugin for tracking user behavior. The site is hosted likely with GoDaddy based on WHOIS and nameservers. Performance is moderate with good mobile optimization and SEO practices evident from meta tags and structured data. Accessibility features are basic but present. The technical stack is mature but could benefit from performance tuning and enhanced security configurations.
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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