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Security report for computerhistory.org

Computer History Museum · Education · United States

Medium risk. 3 critical or high findings in Security headers and GDPR outside view.

Security score

69/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Computer History Museum is a well-established non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and educating the public about the history and impact of computing technology. Their website reflects a professional and comprehensive digital presence, offering rich content including exhibits, events, blogs, and educational resources targeted at a broad audience including technology enthusiasts, educators, and students. The museum leverages a WordPress-based infrastructure with modern web technologies and integrates multiple analytics and marketing tools to engage visitors effectively. Security posture is solid with HTTPS and reCAPTCHA usage, though improvements can be made by enabling DNSSEC and adding more security headers. Privacy compliance is partial, with a privacy policy present but lacking a clear cookie consent mechanism. Overall, the website is trustworthy, well-branded, and serves its educational mission effectively.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
68/ 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

3 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

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

Keep watching computerhistory.org

This scan found 25 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
87
Security headers
25
Email security
55
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
68
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

The museum holds a strong market position as a leading institution in computing history preservation and education. Its business model is non-profit, relying on donations, memberships, and event ticketing, supported by dedicated subdomains for donations and ticketing. The target audience spans general public and specialized tech communities. The website's content and structure support growth and engagement, with active social media channels and a clear call to action for donations and visits. The organization maintains transparency with tax and registration information and demonstrates consistent branding and trust signals.

Security posture

The website employs HTTPS with a valid SSL configuration and uses Google reCAPTCHA to protect forms. However, DNSSEC is not enabled, and several important security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options are missing, which could expose the site to certain web-based attacks. There is no visible security policy or vulnerability disclosure page, which limits transparency in incident response. The absence of a cookie consent mechanism may pose compliance risks in certain jurisdictions. Overall, the security posture is good but could be enhanced with additional controls and policies.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement a comprehensive Content-Security-Policy header to mitigate cross-site scripting risks.
  3. Add security headers such as X-Frame-Options and X-Content-Type-Options to protect against clickjacking and MIME sniffing.
  4. Publish a dedicated security policy or vulnerability disclosure page to improve transparency and incident response readiness.
  5. Implement a cookie consent banner or mechanism to comply with GDPR and other privacy regulations.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Computer History Museum
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Computer History Museum
Description
Computer History Museum is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and presenting the history of computing and its impact on society.
Key services
Museum exhibits, Educational programs, Events and tours, Online collections and resources, Membership and donations
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, jQuery, Google Tag Manager, Google reCAPTCHA, Facebook Pixel, AddToAny sharing, Popup Maker plugin, MediaElement.js
Frameworks
Yoast SEO
Platforms
WordPress CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of Google reCAPTCHA for forms
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of security plugins (Popup Maker with cookie controls)

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, New Relic Browser, HubSpot Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Ad networks
HubSpot Ads
Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel, Google Analytics (via GTM), New Relic Browser
Marketing tools
AddToAny sharing, Popup Maker
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professionally maintained non-profit museum site.
  2. Content is rich, relevant, and well-structured.
  3. No signs of malicious or suspicious activity.
  4. Use of multiple analytics and marketing tools indicates active engagement.
  5. Security posture is good but can be improved with additional headers and DNSSEC.
  6. No GDPR cookie consent banner detected despite EU visitors likely.
  7. WHOIS data supports authenticity and long-term operation.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress CMS with a modern tech stack including jQuery, Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, and various plugins for enhanced functionality such as AddToAny sharing and Popup Maker. Performance is moderate with good mobile optimization and basic accessibility features. SEO is supported by Yoast SEO plugin and proper meta tags. Hosting and DNS are managed via Cloudflare, providing reliable infrastructure. There is room for improvement in performance optimization and accessibility compliance to further enhance user experience and technical robustness.
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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