Skip to main content

Security report for cepis.org

Council of European Professional Informatics Societies · Technology · Belgium

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

69/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Council of European Professional Informatics Societies (CEPIS) is a well-established non-profit organization representing 30 national informatics associations across Europe. Founded in 1997, CEPIS promotes best practices for IT professionals and users, focusing on advocacy, education, and professional development within the European IT sector. The website reflects a professional and consistent brand image, targeting IT professionals, policymakers, and educators. It offers information on events, projects, and expert groups, supporting its mission to advance informatics in Europe. Technically, the website is built on WordPress with modern plugins such as Yoast SEO, Formidable Forms, and Google Tag Manager integration. The site is mobile-optimized, moderately performant, and includes SEO best practices. Privacy compliance is strong, with a clear privacy policy, cookie consent mechanism, and GDPR adherence. However, some security best practices like DNSSEC and security headers could be improved. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced and no visible vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data. The absence of a published security policy or incident response contact is a minor gap. The domain registration data is consistent with the organization's identity, showing a long history and legitimacy. Social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn further supports trust. Overall, CEPIS.org is a credible, professional, and secure website serving its niche audience effectively. Strategic improvements in security headers and incident response transparency would enhance its security maturity and trustworthiness.

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

5 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"

    • 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 Policy found

      GDPR requires clear information about cookie usage

      What to do: Add a dedicated cookie policy explaining cookie usage and purposes

  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 cepis.org

This scan found 24 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. See sample alerts.

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
52
Security headers
30
Email security
80
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
80
Average
69

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

CEPIS holds a strong market position as the representative body for European national informatics societies, leveraging its network of 30 member associations. Its business model is non-profit and advocacy-driven, focusing on IT professionalism, digital skills, and inclusion. Revenue streams likely include membership fees, event sponsorships, and project partnerships. The target customers are IT professionals, educators, and policymakers in Europe. The organization demonstrates growth through active events and research collaborations. Partnerships with entities like ICDL Foundation and presence on major social platforms indicate a healthy ecosystem. The website content and structure reflect a mature digital presence aligned with its strategic goals.

Security posture

CEPIS.org exhibits a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and cookie consent mechanisms aligned with GDPR. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. However, the lack of DNSSEC and security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and Strict-Transport-Security suggests room for improvement. The absence of a public security policy or incident response contact limits transparency and readiness perception. Overall, the site is secure for visitors and data collection but would benefit from enhanced security controls and published policies to meet higher compliance standards.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security to harden the website against common attacks.
  3. Publish a formal security policy and incident response contact information to increase transparency and preparedness.
  4. Add a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting of security issues.
  5. Regularly audit third-party plugins and scripts to ensure no vulnerable libraries are in use and maintain up-to-date software.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Council of European Professional Informatics Societies
Description
CEPIS is the representative body of national informatics associations throughout greater Europe. It promotes best practices for IT professionals and users throughout Europe.
Key services
Advocacy for IT professionalism, Organizing events and conferences, Promoting digital skills and inclusion, Supporting expert groups and research projects
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Yoast SEO plugin, Google Tag Manager, jQuery, Formidable Forms plugin, TablePress plugin, Kadence Blocks, Jetpack
Frameworks
WordPress
Platforms
WordPress CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented
  • No exposed sensitive data detected
  • Use of Google Tag Manager with consent settings denying ad personalization

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Jetpack Stats
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Jetpack Stats
Marketing tools
Cookiebot
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is professionally designed and maintained using WordPress CMS
  2. Clear focus on European IT professional societies and related activities
  3. Good privacy and cookie compliance with explicit consent mechanisms
  4. No visible security policy or incident response information
  5. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerabilities detected in the HTML content
  6. Social media presence on major platforms enhances trust
  7. Domain registration data supports legitimacy and long-term presence
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a WordPress CMS platform using a modern tech stack including Yoast SEO for optimization, Formidable Forms for data collection, and Google Tag Manager for analytics and marketing integration. The site loads with moderate performance and is mobile-optimized with responsive design. Accessibility features are basic but present. The hosting provider is not explicitly identified but DNS is managed via topsec.com name servers. The site uses standard web technologies such as jQuery and CSS frameworks. There is no indication of technical debt or deprecated technologies, but security enhancements could be made to improve resilience.
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

Reviews of this site

Share your experience with cepis.org. 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 cepis.org.

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.