Skip to main content

Security report for auda.org.au

.au Domain Administration (auDA) · Government · Australia

Low risk. 2 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view.

Security score

83/100

Risk levelLow

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

The .au Domain Administration (auDA) is a well-established Australian not-for-profit organization responsible for the administration and policy governance of the .au domain namespace. As the official domain administrator, auDA holds a unique market position with a clear mandate to manage domain registrations, accredit registrars, and protect consumers within the Australian internet ecosystem. The website reflects this authoritative role with comprehensive information, clear navigation, and professional branding targeted at domain registrants, registrars, and stakeholders in the Australian internet community. Technically, the site is built on modern web technologies including Gatsby and React, ensuring fast performance, mobile responsiveness, and good accessibility. Security is robust with HTTPS enforced and multiple security headers implemented, although there is room to enhance incident response transparency and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms. Overall, the website demonstrates a high level of digital maturity and trustworthiness appropriate for a government-related entity.

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

2 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.

    • 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

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

Keep watching auda.org.au

This scan found 15 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.

Daily monitoring

Recommended

€25per month

  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
  • SPF, DKIM and DMARC
  • Security headers
  • GDPR and NIS2 posture
  • Exposed services
  • Third-party trackers
  • Security score drift

Email alerts on material changes and an exportable JSON history of every change.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. The full timeline opens with your unlock code.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

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
95
Security headers
75
Email security
85
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
58
Average
83

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

auDA operates as a non-profit entity within the government sector, focusing on domain name administration and policy development for the .au namespace. Its business model centers on governance and accreditation rather than commercial sales, positioning it as an essential infrastructure provider in Australia's digital landscape. The organization targets a broad audience including domain registrants, registrars, government bodies, and internet users. Its market position is strong and exclusive, with no direct competitors for the .au domain administration. The website's content and structure support transparency and stakeholder engagement, with clear contact channels and policy documentation. The presence of social media channels and Google Analytics indicates an active engagement and monitoring of user interactions. No commercial advertising or affiliate programs were detected, consistent with its non-profit status.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced site-wide and a comprehensive set of security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, Strict-Transport-Security, and X-Frame-Options. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. Forms appear to be securely implemented with appropriate input types. However, the absence of a publicly visible incident response contact or security.txt file suggests an opportunity to improve transparency and readiness for vulnerability reporting. Privacy compliance is strong with clear privacy and cookie policies and consent mechanisms in place. Overall, the security posture aligns well with the organization's role and regulatory expectations, minimizing risk exposure.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated incident response page or contact email to facilitate security issue reporting.
  2. Implement and publish a security.txt file to formalize vulnerability disclosure processes.
  3. Regularly audit third-party scripts and dependencies to ensure no vulnerable libraries are included.
  4. Enhance advertising transparency by disclosing any tracking or analytics usage more explicitly.
  5. Maintain and update privacy and cookie policies to reflect evolving regulatory requirements.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
.au Domain Administration Ltd
Registration number
ACN 079 009 340
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
.au Domain Administration (auDA)
Description
Australian not-for-profit organisation responsible for administering the .au domain.
Key services
Administration of .au domain, Policy development for .au domain, Accreditation of registrars, Consumer protection in domain name space
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, Gatsby, JavaScript, CSS
Frameworks
Gatsby
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Security headers present
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure forms with proper input types

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenges.
  2. Content is comprehensive and professionally presented.
  3. Strong focus on domain administration and policy governance.
  4. Good security posture with HTTPS and security headers.
  5. No suspicious or malicious indicators found.
  6. Limited advertising or tracking, focused on user privacy.
  7. Clear and consistent branding and messaging.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built using Gatsby, a modern React-based static site generator, which contributes to fast loading times and excellent mobile optimization. The use of modern CSS and JavaScript frameworks ensures a responsive and accessible user experience. SEO best practices are followed with proper meta tags and Open Graph data for social sharing. The hosting provider is not explicitly identified but the site uses HTTPS with a strong SSL configuration. No technical debt or legacy technologies were detected. The site architecture supports scalability and maintainability, suitable for a government-related entity with evolving content needs.
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

Earlier scans of this domain

  1. 84/100Low21 findingsView report
  2. 84/100Low22 findingsView report
  3. 75/100Medium3 findings · partial scanView report
Reviews of this site

Share your experience with auda.org.au. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review auda.org.au.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.