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Security report for ciee.org

Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) · Education · United States

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

Security score

71/100

Risk levelMedium

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

CIEE (Council on International Educational Exchange) is a well-established nonprofit organization specializing in international educational exchange programs since 1947. The organization offers a wide range of programs including study abroad for college and high school students, work abroad opportunities, internships, TEFL certification, and custom exchange programs. Their market position is strong as a leader in the education and nonprofit sectors, targeting students, educators, employers, and professionals globally. The website reflects a professional and comprehensive digital presence with clear navigation, rich content, and multiple engagement channels. Technically, the website is built on Drupal 10 CMS and integrates modern analytics and marketing tools such as Google Tag Manager, New Relic, Marketo, and various social media pixels. The site is mobile optimized, accessible, and SEO friendly, providing a good user experience. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced and cookie consent mechanisms in place, though explicit security headers and incident response information could be enhanced. The WHOIS data is unavailable due to a malformed query response, which slightly impacts domain trust analysis. However, the website's branding, contact information, and business details strongly support its legitimacy. Overall, CIEE demonstrates a mature digital infrastructure and a trustworthy online presence suitable for its nonprofit educational mission.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 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 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 ciee.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

€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
79
Security headers
55
Email security
60
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
71

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

Breach exposure

Leaked credentials and lookalike domains from OffSeq Breach. The counts are free; the detailed lists are paid add-ons.

Dark web exposure

Add-on

Leaked records that mention ciee.org, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
7,402
Employees
7
Customers
7,185
Third parties
210
Weak passwords
13%

Latest record dated 2026-05-30 · 40 subdomains affected

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

A one-off add-on to this report that lists the most recent identifier and password pairs OffSeq Breach holds for ciee.org.

Select it in the checkout above.

Masked preview

  • –polaris.ciee.org2026-05-30
  • –polaris.ciee.org2026-05-30
  • –polaris.ciee.org2026-05-17
  • –ciee.org2025-09-20
  • –polaris.ciee.org2025-09-16

Breach keeps ingesting new leaks, so these numbers can grow between scans.

Open in Breach(opens in a new tab)Monitor on Breach(opens in a new tab)

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

CIEE operates in the education and nonprofit sectors, focusing on international exchange programs. Its competitive advantage lies in its long history since 1947, extensive scholarship offerings, and comprehensive program portfolio. Revenue streams likely include program fees, grants, and donations. The target customer segments include students at various educational levels, educators, employers, and professionals seeking international experience. Growth indicators include expanded program offerings and digital engagement through multiple platforms. The partnership ecosystem includes travel protection providers and user portals. Strategic observations highlight CIEE's strong brand consistency, trust signals, and commitment to safety and compliance.

Security posture

The website exhibits a good security maturity level with HTTPS enforced and cookie consent implemented. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. However, the absence of explicit security headers like Content-Security-Policy and incident response contacts indicates room for improvement. Compliance with GDPR is suggested by the privacy policy and cookie banner. The lack of a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file reduces transparency. Overall, the security posture is solid but could benefit from enhanced header configurations and published security policies to improve incident response readiness and user trust.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and verify security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to strengthen browser security.
  2. Publish a clear security policy and incident response contact information on the website to improve transparency and readiness.
  3. Consider adding a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting of security issues.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and libraries to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance form security by implementing robust input validation and anti-CSRF protections.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE)
Description
The world leader in international exchange since 1947, CIEE offers students, professionals, and educators comprehensive, relevant, valuable exchange programs worldwide.
Key services
College Study Abroad, High School Study Abroad, Work Abroad Programs, Internships and Professional Training, TEFL Certification, Custom Exchange Programs, Scholarships and Grants
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Drupal 10 CMS, Google Tag Manager, New Relic Browser Monitoring, Marketo Forms, Tom Select JS, Evergage personalization, Facebook Pixel, TikTok Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Google Ads Conversion Tracking
Frameworks
Drupal
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent banner implemented
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of modern analytics and tracking scripts with async loading

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (via GTM), New Relic, Facebook Pixel, TikTok Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Marketo Munchkin
Tracking level
extensive
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Google Ads, DoubleClick
Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel, TikTok Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Google Analytics (via GTM), New Relic Browser Monitoring, Marketo Munchkin
Marketing tools
Marketo, Evergage
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 navigation.
  2. Strong presence of privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms.
  3. Multiple contact methods clearly provided including phone, email, and physical address.
  4. Use of modern web technologies and analytics tools.
  5. No signs of WAF or content blocking.
  6. WHOIS data unavailable, limiting domain registration trust analysis.
  7. Good security posture but could improve explicit security headers and incident response info.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern and robust technical infrastructure based on Drupal 10 CMS, supported by a suite of analytics and marketing tools including Google Tag Manager, New Relic, Marketo, and various social media pixels. The site is well-structured with responsive design, accessibility features, and SEO optimizations. Performance is moderate, with asynchronous loading of scripts to improve user experience. The use of personalization tools like Evergage indicates advanced digital marketing capabilities. Hosting provider details are not explicitly identified. Overall, the technical stack supports a professional and scalable web presence aligned with the organization's mission.
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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