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Security report for austausch.org

Austausch e.V. · Non-profit · Germany

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

72/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Austausch e.V. is a well-established non-profit organization based in Germany, focused on fostering active civil society and closer relations between East and West through international cooperation. With over 32 years of experience, the organization collaborates with more than 250 partners across 15+ countries, delivering projects and knowledge transfer initiatives. The website reflects a professional and consistent brand presence, targeting NGOs, activists, and civil society actors. Technically, the site is built on WordPress with Elementor, hosted under a reputable registrar and using Cloudflare DNS for performance and security. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enabled and cookie consent mechanisms in place, though some security headers could be improved. Privacy compliance is strong with a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie management. No critical vulnerabilities or suspicious elements were detected, and the domain registration data aligns well with the organization's claims, supporting legitimacy.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
80/ 100 · Low
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

4 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 X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

      What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"

  2. GDPR outside view

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

    • 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

  3. 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.

    • High

      Weak Protocols Supported

      Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

      What to do: Disable TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, and all SSL versions

      • CWE-327
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V12.1.1
    • High

      Weak SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

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

Keep watching austausch.org

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.

Daily monitoring

Recommended

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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
47
Security headers
75
Email security
70
DNS health
60
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
80
Average
72

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

The organization operates in the non-profit sector, focusing on international civil society collaboration and democratic engagement. Its business model revolves around project implementation, partnerships, and knowledge dissemination. The website indicates a medium-sized entity with a broad partnership network and a clear mission. The presence of multiple social media channels and detailed policy pages suggests a mature digital presence. The lack of explicit revenue streams or commercial activities aligns with its non-profit nature. The organization appears well-positioned within its niche, leveraging digital tools for outreach and engagement.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a good security baseline with HTTPS enforced and cookie consent implemented. However, DNSSEC is not enabled, which could improve DNS security. Security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options are not explicitly detected and should be considered for implementation. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were found. The absence of a published security policy or incident response contact limits transparency in security governance. Overall, the security posture is adequate but could benefit from enhancements to align with best practices and compliance frameworks.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement and verify security headers including CSP, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  3. Publish a clear security policy and incident response contact information on the website.
  4. Consider adding a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to improve transparency.
  5. Regularly audit and update third-party libraries and plugins to mitigate vulnerabilities.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Austausch e.V.
Description
Austausch ist eine nichtstaatliche Non-Profit-Organisation, die sich international für eine aktive Zivilgesellschaft und eine engere Beziehung zwischen Ost und West einsetzt.
Key services
Facilitating exchange and cooperation among NGOs and activists, Developing and implementing projects and programs, Knowledge transfer via publications, lectures, and consultations
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Elementor, PHP, jQuery, Cloudflare DNS
Frameworks
Elementor
Platforms
WordPress
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented
  • No exposed sensitive data found

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is professionally designed and content-rich.
  2. Clear focus on non-profit civil society engagement.
  3. Comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanism.
  4. No visible security policy or incident response information.
  5. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerabilities detected.
  6. Social media presence on major platforms.
  7. Domain registration data supports legitimacy.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern WordPress CMS platform using the Elementor page builder, supported by jQuery and other standard web technologies. Hosting and DNS are managed by reputable providers (IONOS SE and Cloudflare). The site shows moderate performance with good mobile optimization and SEO practices. Accessibility features are basic but present. The site uses lazy loading for images and includes a cookie consent mechanism compliant with GDPR. There is room for improvement in security headers and DNS configuration. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports the organization's digital needs effectively with opportunities for further 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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