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Security report for awel.be

awel vzw · Non-profit · Belgium

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

Security score

70/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Awel is a well-established Belgian non-profit organization founded in 2009 that provides anonymous and free support services to children and young people via phone, email, and chat. The website serves as a digital platform offering access to these services, thematic information, forums, and volunteer opportunities. The organization maintains a strong market position as a trusted youth support entity in Belgium, supported by partnerships with governmental and non-profit entities. Technically, the website is built on Drupal 10, leveraging modern web technologies and standard analytics tools such as Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager, with good mobile optimization and accessibility features. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforcement and cookie consent mechanisms, although there is room for improvement in publishing explicit security policies and implementing additional security headers. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and compliant with GDPR requirements, making it a reliable resource for its target audience.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
73/ 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

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 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 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 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

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

Keep watching awel.be

This scan found 23 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
40
Email security
82
DNS health
65
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
73
Average
70

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

Awel operates in the non-profit sector focusing on youth support and counseling. Its business model centers on providing free, anonymous communication channels for children and young people to seek help. The organization benefits from a medium-sized operational scale with a clear target audience and a strong partnership ecosystem including the Vlaamse overheid and WatWat. The website reflects a consistent brand and professional content quality, supporting volunteer recruitment and community engagement. Revenue streams are likely based on donations and governmental support, typical for non-profits. The digital presence is mature, with integrated social media channels and a clear focus on privacy and user trust.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, cookie consent compliant with GDPR, and anonymized IP tracking in analytics. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. However, the absence of explicit security policies, incident response contacts, and security headers such as Content-Security-Policy or X-Frame-Options suggests opportunities for strengthening defenses. The site does not appear to use a WAF or present any blocking challenges, indicating open accessibility. Overall, the security maturity is good but could benefit from formalized policies and enhanced header configurations.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy page including incident response contacts to improve transparency and readiness.
  2. Implement security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to enhance protection against common web attacks.
  3. Add a terms of service page to clarify user rights and obligations.
  4. Regularly audit third-party scripts and libraries to ensure no vulnerabilities are introduced.
  5. Enhance data retention disclosures related to analytics and cookies to further improve privacy compliance.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
awel vzw
Description
Awel is a non-profit organization that listens to children and young people, providing anonymous and free support via phone, mail, and chat. It offers thematic resources, a forum, and volunteer opportunities.
Key services
Phone support, Email support, Chat support, Forum, Information and thematic resources, Volunteer engagement
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Drupal 10, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Slick Carousel
Frameworks
Drupal
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent with categories
  • IP anonymization in Google Analytics
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
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 fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenges.
  2. Content is focused on anonymous support for children and youth.
  3. Strong privacy and cookie compliance mechanisms are in place.
  4. No explicit security policy or incident response contact found.
  5. No terms of service page detected.
  6. Use of modern CMS (Drupal 10) and standard analytics tools.
  7. Social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.
  8. Partner mentions include Vlaamse overheid and WatWat.
  9. No suspicious or malicious external domains detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on Drupal 10, a modern and widely supported CMS, indicating a solid technical foundation. It uses Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager for tracking, with IP anonymization enabled, reflecting privacy-conscious analytics implementation. The site includes responsive design and accessibility features, providing a good user experience across devices. Performance is moderate, with standard use of CSS and JavaScript libraries including Slick Carousel for slideshows. Hosting is managed by Combell nv, a reputable provider. There is no evidence of technical debt or outdated technologies, but security header implementation could be improved to reduce risk exposure.
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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