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Security report for chicagofilmarchives.org

Chicago Film Archives · Media · N/a

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

65/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Chicago Film Archives is a specialized non-profit organization dedicated to collecting, preserving, and providing access to films representing the Midwest region. The website showcases a rich collection of over 40,000 films and media, many available for online streaming, supported by grants from reputable film preservation foundations. The organization targets researchers, historians, and film enthusiasts interested in regional media heritage. Technically, the website is built on WordPress with modern JavaScript libraries such as jQuery and uses Matomo for privacy-conscious analytics. The site is well-optimized for SEO and mobile devices, with good content quality and navigation clarity. However, some accessibility features could be enhanced. From a security perspective, the site uses HTTPS with good SSL configuration but lacks explicit security headers and visible privacy or cookie policies. No contact emails or phone numbers are directly available, which may impact user trust and compliance. The WHOIS data is privacy-protected or unavailable, which is typical for non-profits but limits domain trust analysis. Overall, the site is professional and trustworthy but would benefit from improved privacy compliance documentation, security header implementation, and clearer contact information to enhance user confidence and regulatory adherence.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
65/ 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

6 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 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

  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 chicagofilmarchives.org

This scan found 26 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

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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
42
Security headers
30
Email security
75
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
65
Average
65

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

Chicago Film Archives occupies a niche market as a regional film archive and preservation entity, leveraging grants and partnerships with national film preservation organizations. Its business model focuses on archival services, digital access, and public engagement through events and exhibitions. The organization maintains a consistent brand and a growing digital presence across multiple social media platforms. Growth indicators include recent grants and active event scheduling. The partnership with Elmhurst Art Museum and use of advanced digital tools suggest a strategic approach to expanding reach and impact within the cultural heritage sector.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate to good security posture with mandatory HTTPS and secure form practices. However, the absence of key security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options reduces protection against common web attacks. Lack of published privacy and cookie policies, as well as missing incident response contacts, indicates gaps in compliance and transparency. The use of Matomo analytics reflects a privacy-aware approach, but overall data protection practices could be strengthened. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with explicit GDPR compliance statements.
  2. Add security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to enhance protection.
  3. Provide clear contact information including company emails and phone numbers for user support and incident response.
  4. Publish a security.txt file to facilitate vulnerability disclosure and improve security transparency.
  5. Enhance accessibility features to meet WCAG standards and improve user experience for all visitors.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Chicago Film Archives
Description
Dedicated to collecting, preserving and providing access to films that represent the Midwest. CFA holds thousands of films, videos, and audio recordings, many of which can be watched online.
Key services
Film collection and preservation, Online streaming access to films, Digital exhibitions, Preservation services, Public events and news
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery 3.6.4, Yoast SEO plugin, Matomo Analytics, Splide.js (carousel), Slick Slider, LazyLoad images
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of secure forms with proper labels and ARIA attributes

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Matomo
Marketing tools
Mailchimp (via list-manage.com)
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 rich content and multimedia
  2. No WHOIS data available due to privacy or query failure
  3. No explicit privacy, cookie, or terms of service pages detected
  4. Social media presence on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, YouTube, Vimeo
  5. Uses Matomo for analytics, indicating privacy-conscious tracking
  6. No visible security.txt or vulnerability disclosure information
  7. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly found in HTML
  8. Site uses WordPress CMS with Yoast SEO plugin for optimization
  9. Good mobile responsiveness and accessibility basics present
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a WordPress CMS platform enhanced with Yoast SEO for search optimization and uses JavaScript libraries such as jQuery, Slick Slider, and Splide.js for interactive content presentation. Images are lazy-loaded for performance optimization. Analytics are handled via Matomo, a privacy-focused tool. The site is mobile responsive and uses ARIA attributes for basic accessibility. Performance is moderate, with opportunities to improve load times and accessibility compliance. No hosting provider details were identified from the HTML content. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports the organization's mission but could benefit from modernization in security and accessibility.
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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