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Security report for crossref.org

Crossref · Education · N/a

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

Security score

68/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Crossref is a globally recognized non-profit organization that provides open infrastructure to link research objects, entities, and actions, supporting open science and scholarly communication. With a large membership base spanning 23,000 members in 163 countries, Crossref facilitates metadata exchange and supports nearly 2 billion monthly API queries. The website reflects a mature digital presence with comprehensive content, clear navigation, and a professional design tailored to researchers, publishers, and funders. Technically, the site leverages modern web technologies including Hugo, Bootstrap, jQuery, and Algolia search, combined with analytics and user feedback tools, indicating a well-maintained and performant infrastructure. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced and no visible vulnerabilities, though the absence of explicit security policies and incident response information suggests room for improvement. Privacy compliance is strong, with clear privacy and cookie policies and consent mechanisms in place. Overall, Crossref's website demonstrates high trustworthiness and professionalism, supporting its role as a key player in scholarly metadata services.

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

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 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 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

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

Keep watching crossref.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

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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
77
Security headers
15
Email security
70
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
68
Average
68

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

Crossref operates as an essential non-profit entity within the education and scholarly publishing sectors, offering critical services such as content registration, grant linking, metadata retrieval, and reference linking. Its business model centers on membership fees and service provision to academic publishers, research funders, and libraries. The organization maintains a strong market position as a leading metadata infrastructure provider, supported by a large and diverse global membership. The website's integration with partner sites and community forums highlights an active ecosystem and collaborative approach. While direct revenue streams are not detailed, the extensive API usage and service portfolio suggest sustainable operational funding. The absence of direct contact emails or phone numbers on the site indicates a preference for controlled communication channels, likely to maintain service quality and security.

Security posture

The website employs HTTPS with an excellent SSL configuration, uses secure and updated external libraries, and avoids exposing sensitive data in its HTML content. However, the lack of security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and absence of a published security policy or vulnerability disclosure page represent gaps in transparency and defense-in-depth. No incident response contacts or security-specific communication channels are provided, which could hinder timely reporting and mitigation of security issues. Despite these gaps, no vulnerabilities or suspicious activities were detected, and the use of Matomo analytics with privacy considerations indicates a responsible approach to user data. Enhancing security documentation and implementing recommended headers would strengthen the overall security posture.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy and vulnerability disclosure page to improve transparency and user trust.
  2. Implement standard security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to enhance protection against common web attacks.
  3. Provide clear incident response contact information to facilitate timely reporting and handling of security incidents.
  4. Consider enabling DNSSEC for the domain to improve DNS security and integrity.
  5. Maintain and regularly update privacy and cookie policies to ensure ongoing GDPR and global privacy compliance.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Crossref
Description
Crossref runs open infrastructure to link research objects, entities, and actions, creating a lasting and reusable scholarly record that underpins open science. Together with our 23,000 members in 163 countries, we drive metadata exchange and support nearly 2 billion monthly API queries, facilitating global research communication, for the benefit of society.
Key services
Content Registration, Grant Linking System (GLS), Metadata Retrieval, Open Funder Registry (OFR), Reference Linking, Similarity Check, Cited-by, Metadata Plus, Event Data, Crossmark
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Hugo static site generator, jQuery, Bootstrap, FontAwesome, Algolia search, Matomo analytics, Usersnap feedback widget, DataTables, Masonry layout, MathJax
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of secure external libraries

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Matomo
Marketing tools
ActOn
Transparency
basic

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 professional design
  2. Strong focus on scholarly metadata infrastructure and open science
  3. No WHOIS data available, possibly due to privacy or registry restrictions
  4. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found in HTML; contact via web form
  5. Privacy and cookie policies are present and comprehensive
  6. No explicit security policy or incident response information published
  7. Use of modern web technologies and analytics tools
  8. No suspicious or malicious content detected
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built using the Hugo static site generator, ensuring fast and reliable content delivery. It incorporates Bootstrap for responsive design, jQuery for DOM manipulation, and Algolia for advanced search capabilities, reflecting a modern and user-friendly technical stack. Analytics are handled via Matomo, an open-source platform that respects privacy. The site also integrates user feedback tools like Usersnap and uses DataTables and Masonry for dynamic content presentation. Performance is moderate with good mobile optimization and accessibility features. No CMS vulnerabilities or outdated libraries were detected. Opportunities exist to improve technical SEO and implement additional security headers to further enhance 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

Earlier scans of this domain

  1. 68/100Medium32 findingsView report
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