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Security report for cordex.org

WCRP Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment · Government · N/a

High risk. 9 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 2 other checks.

Security score

47/100

Risk levelHigh

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

The WCRP Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) website serves as a global scientific platform dedicated to advancing regional climate downscaling research through international collaboration. The site provides comprehensive resources including experiment guidelines, data access, strategic activities, and publications, targeting climate researchers, policymakers, and the scientific community. It is positioned as a reputable non-profit initiative under the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), with a medium organizational size and a founding date consistent with the domain registration in 2015. Technically, the website is built on a modern WordPress CMS with a robust tech stack including Gantry5 framework, jQuery, and several plugins for search and sliders. Hosting and DNS services are provided by reputable providers, and the site employs HTTPS with good SSL configuration. Performance and mobile optimization are adequate, though accessibility features are basic. SEO practices are well implemented with proper meta tags and structured navigation. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and shows no signs of exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries. However, it lacks DNSSEC, security.txt, privacy and cookie policies, and a cookie consent mechanism, which are important for compliance and security transparency. The use of Matomo analytics indicates minimal user tracking, but privacy compliance is weak due to missing policies. Overall, the website is a trustworthy and professional scientific resource with strong business credibility and good technical implementation. The main risks relate to privacy compliance and DNS security enhancements. Strategic recommendations include publishing privacy and cookie policies, enabling DNSSEC, adding a security.txt file, and improving HTTP security headers to enhance trust and compliance.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
35/ 100 · High
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

9 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 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 Privacy Policy found

      GDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy

      What to do: Add a comprehensive privacy policy page and link to it prominently

    • 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 cordex.org

This scan found 28 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
72
Security headers
20
Email security
70
DNS health
65
Network security
20
GDPR outside view
35
Average
47

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

CORDEX operates as a globally recognized scientific coordination entity under WCRP, focusing on regional climate downscaling. Its business model is non-commercial, emphasizing research collaboration and data sharing. The organization targets climate scientists, research institutions, and policy makers worldwide. The website reflects a mature digital presence with regular content updates, event announcements, and strategic initiatives such as task forces and flagship pilot studies. Partnerships with WCRP and related climate research bodies strengthen its market position. Revenue streams are likely grant and institutional funding rather than commercial sales. The partnership ecosystem includes WCRP and national meteorological institutes like SMHI. The site’s structured content and branding consistency support its authoritative role in the climate research domain.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate to good security posture with mandatory HTTPS enabled and no visible exposure of sensitive data. The absence of DNSSEC reduces DNS security resilience. Lack of published security policies, vulnerability disclosure mechanisms, and cookie consent indicates gaps in compliance and transparency. The use of Matomo analytics suggests privacy-conscious tracking but without explicit user consent mechanisms. No critical vulnerabilities or malware indicators were found. Security headers are minimal and could be enhanced with CSP and other headers. Overall, the site is secure for its purpose but should address compliance and DNS security to improve its security maturity and user trust.

Recommendations

  1. Publish comprehensive privacy and cookie policies to ensure GDPR and global privacy compliance.
  2. Implement a cookie consent mechanism to inform users and obtain consent for tracking.
  3. Enable DNSSEC to protect against DNS spoofing and improve domain security.
  4. Add a security.txt file to facilitate responsible vulnerability disclosure and incident response.
  5. Enhance HTTP security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options to mitigate common web attacks.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
WCRP Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment
Description
The CORDEX vision is to advance and coordinate the science and application of regional climate downscaling through global partnerships.
Key services
Climate downscaling science coordination, Experiment guidelines and protocols, Data access facilitation, Strategic activities and task forces, Publications and news dissemination
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress 6.7.4, jQuery, MooTools, Ajax Search Lite plugin, MetaSlider plugin, Gantry5 framework, Font Awesome
Frameworks
Gantry5, WordPress
Platforms
WordPress CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of security plugins (implied by WordPress ecosystem)

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Matomo
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a well-maintained scientific portal for CORDEX under WCRP.
  2. Content is regularly updated with news, publications, and event information.
  3. No privacy or cookie policies found, which is a compliance gap.
  4. No direct contact emails or phone numbers visible; contact via form only.
  5. Use of modern WordPress plugins and frameworks indicates active maintenance.
  6. No signs of malicious or suspicious content.
  7. Social media presence on Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
  8. No advertising or commercial monetization detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress 6.7.4 with a Gantry5 framework and uses modern JavaScript libraries including jQuery and MooTools. It employs plugins like Ajax Search Lite and MetaSlider for enhanced user experience. Hosting is managed via Key-Systems GmbH with DNS servers at Oderland. The site is HTTPS enabled with good SSL configuration but lacks DNSSEC. Performance is moderate with good mobile responsiveness. SEO is supported by proper meta tags and structured navigation menus. Accessibility is basic but could be improved. The technical stack is current and well-maintained, indicating low technical debt and good operational stability.
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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