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Security report for canadahelps.org

CanadaHelps · Non-profit · Canada

Low risk. 1 critical or high finding in SSL/TLS.

Security score

77/100

Risk levelLow

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

CanadaHelps operates as Canada's largest online platform for charitable giving, enabling Canadians to donate and fundraise for any registered Canadian charity. The platform offers a comprehensive suite of services including one-time and monthly donations, cause funds, urgent crisis support, and charity gift cards. Established since 2000, CanadaHelps holds a strong market position as a trusted non-profit intermediary facilitating philanthropy across Canada. Technically, the website is built on WordPress with modern libraries and tools such as jQuery, Font Awesome, Google Tag Manager, and New Relic monitoring, hosted on Azure CDN infrastructure. The site demonstrates excellent design quality, mobile optimization, and SEO practices, providing a seamless user experience. Security posture is robust with HTTPS enforcement and bot protection via Google reCAPTCHA, though some security headers could be improved. Privacy compliance is good with clear privacy and terms of use policies, though explicit cookie consent mechanisms are not evident. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and well-maintained, supporting its mission to inspire generosity and facilitate charitable donations.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
83/ 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

1 finding rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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

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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
72
Security headers
65
Email security
65
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
83
Average
77

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

CanadaHelps targets Canadian donors and charities, leveraging a business model centered on online donation facilitation and fundraising tools. Its competitive advantage lies in its comprehensive platform, trusted brand, and extensive charity network. Revenue streams likely include transaction fees and service subscriptions for charities. The platform supports multiple giving methods and urgent crisis campaigns, indicating agility and responsiveness. Partnerships with payment processors and support services enhance operational capabilities. The absence of direct contact details on the homepage suggests a focus on self-service and digital engagement. The brand consistency and content quality reflect a mature organization with a strong market presence in the Canadian non-profit sector.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with mandatory HTTPS, bot mitigation via reCAPTCHA, and monitoring through New Relic. However, explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options are not visibly implemented, representing potential areas for enhancement. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. Privacy policies are comprehensive and GDPR compliant, though cookie consent mechanisms could be more explicit. Incident response and security policy information are not publicly available, which is common for non-profit platforms but could be improved for transparency. Overall, the security measures align with industry best practices for a public-facing donation platform.

Recommendations

  1. Implement explicit Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options headers to strengthen security.
  2. Add a clear cookie consent banner to comply with privacy regulations and enhance user transparency.
  3. Publish a security policy and incident response contact information to improve trust and transparency.
  4. Regularly audit third-party scripts and libraries to ensure no vulnerabilities are introduced.
  5. Enhance contact information visibility to support user trust and engagement.

Contact details published on the site

Registration number
Registration Number 896568417RR0001
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
CanadaHelps
Description
A one-stop shop for Canadians to donate and fundraise online for any registered Canadian charity. A complete online fundraising solution for charities.
Key services
Online donations to Canadian charities, Fundraising tools, Cause funds, Urgent crisis support, Charity gift cards, eCard donations
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, jQuery, Font Awesome, Google Tag Manager, Google reCAPTCHA, New Relic Browser monitoring, Convert Experiences A/B testing
Frameworks
WordPress
Platforms
Web
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
excellent

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of Google reCAPTCHA for bot protection
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of security monitoring scripts (New Relic)

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (via GTM), New Relic Browser
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
DoubleClick, Bing Ads
Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Convert Experiences
Marketing tools
Convert Experiences
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich content and no blocking detected
  2. Strong focus on Canadian charitable giving and fundraising
  3. Use of modern web technologies and analytics tools
  4. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found on homepage
  5. Privacy and terms of use pages are present and comprehensive
  6. No explicit cookie consent banner detected, but privacy policy is detailed
  7. WHOIS data is unavailable, likely due to privacy protection
  8. No suspicious or malicious content detected
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress CMS, utilizing modern JavaScript libraries such as jQuery and Font Awesome for UI components. It integrates Google Tag Manager for analytics and marketing, Google reCAPTCHA for bot protection, and New Relic for performance monitoring. Hosting is via Azure CDN, ensuring fast content delivery and scalability. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and accessibility considerations. SEO is well-implemented with comprehensive meta tags, Open Graph, and JSON-LD structured data. Performance is fast with efficient resource loading. Technical debt appears minimal, though security header implementation could be improved. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a robust, scalable, and user-friendly platform.
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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