Skip to main content

Security report for cso.ie

Central Statistics Office · Government · Ireland

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, SSL/TLS and 1 other check.

Security score

52/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) of Ireland operates as the national statistical authority, providing comprehensive and authoritative data on a wide range of topics including population, economy, environment, and social conditions. The website serves government entities, researchers, businesses, and the public by offering statistical releases, interactive visualisations, surveys, and detailed publications. The CSO maintains a strong market position as the official source of Irish statistics, emphasizing transparency and trust through clear contact information and privacy policies. Technically, the website employs a mature technology stack including jQuery, Highcharts, Leaflet, and other visualization and data handling libraries. It is hosted on official domains with CDN support, ensuring moderate performance and good mobile responsiveness. Accessibility and SEO practices are well implemented, contributing to a positive user experience. From a security perspective, the site uses HTTPS with good SSL configuration and enforces cookie consent with opt-in mechanisms. Google Analytics is configured with privacy-conscious settings such as IP anonymization and consent-based activation. However, there is room for improvement by adding security headers, publishing a security policy, and updating legacy libraries like jQuery. Overall, the CSO website demonstrates a high level of professionalism, trustworthiness, and compliance with privacy regulations, making it a reliable resource for statistical data in Ireland.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
18/ 100 · Critical
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. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • Critical

      EU business without adequate privacy measures

      EU businesses are subject to strict GDPR requirements

      What to do: Implement comprehensive GDPR compliance including privacy policy, cookie consent, and data protection measures

    • Critical

      No HTTPS encryption

      GDPR requires appropriate security measures for personal data

      What to do: Implement SSL/TLS certificate for HTTPS

    • 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

  2. 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.

    • Critical

      No HTTPS Encryption

      Website does not use HTTPS encryption, making all data transmission vulnerable to interception

      What to do: Implement SSL/TLS certificate and redirect all HTTP traffic to HTTPS

  3. 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';…

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

Keep watching cso.ie

This scan found 20 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

Email alerts on material changes and an exportable JSON history of every change.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. The full timeline opens with your unlock code.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

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
0
Security headers
55
Email security
70
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
18
Average
52

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 CSO is positioned as a key government agency responsible for national statistics, serving a broad audience including policymakers, researchers, and the general public. Its business model is non-commercial, focused on data collection, analysis, and dissemination. The website reflects a mature digital presence with extensive data offerings and interactive tools, supporting transparency and public engagement. The presence of customer satisfaction surveys and detailed hubs indicates a focus on user feedback and continuous improvement. The CSO's partnerships with official Irish government entities and use of official domains reinforce its credibility and authoritative status.

Security posture

The website exhibits a solid security posture with mandatory HTTPS, cookie consent mechanisms, and privacy-conscious analytics configuration. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. However, the absence of explicit security headers and a public security or incident response policy represents a compliance gap. The use of an older jQuery version could pose potential risks if not regularly patched. There is no visible vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file, which could improve transparency and incident handling readiness. Overall, the security maturity is good but could be enhanced with additional best practices and documentation.

Recommendations

  1. Implement HTTP security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Content-Type-Options, and X-Frame-Options to strengthen browser security.
  2. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response page to improve transparency and preparedness.
  3. Add a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting of security issues.
  4. Update legacy JavaScript libraries, especially jQuery, to the latest secure versions to mitigate known vulnerabilities.
  5. Continue enhancing privacy compliance by documenting data retention policies and providing granular cookie management options.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Central Statistics Office, Ireland
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Central Statistics Office
Description
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) is Ireland's national statistical office providing official statistics on population, economy, society, environment, and more. It offers data releases, surveys, interactive visualisations, and statistical publications.
Key services
Statistical data collection and dissemination, Surveys and census, Interactive data visualisations and dashboards, Publications and releases, Customer satisfaction surveys
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery 1.11.1, Flexslider, FancyBox, Highcharts 9.3.3, PapaParse CSV, Leaflet, Datatables, JS-Cookie, Google Analytics (gtag.js), FontAwesome 6.5.2, CookieConsent 3.1.1
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • Cookie consent with opt-in mechanism
  • Google Analytics configured with IP anonymization and consent denied by default
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • No visible vulnerable libraries detected

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (gtag.js)
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Marketing tools
Cookie Consent by Silktide
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a government statistical office site with comprehensive data and resources
  2. Strong privacy and cookie consent mechanisms implemented
  3. No signs of blocking or WAF interference
  4. Use of multiple modern JavaScript libraries for interactivity and visualization
  5. Clear contact information and physical address provided
  6. No visible security policy or incident response page
  7. No terms of service page detected
  8. Good SEO and accessibility practices observed
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a combination of well-established JavaScript libraries for UI components, data visualization, and interactivity, including Highcharts, Leaflet, and Datatables. The presence of CDN-hosted resources and asynchronous script loading suggests attention to performance optimization. The site is mobile responsive and accessible, with semantic HTML and ARIA attributes. However, the use of jQuery 1.11.1 is outdated and could be modernized. The site lacks a detected CMS, indicating a custom or government-developed platform. Overall, the technical infrastructure is robust but could benefit from modernization and enhanced security configurations.
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

Reviews of this site

Share your experience with cso.ie. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review cso.ie.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.