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Security report for datasciencealliance.org

Data Science Alliance · Non-profit · United States

High risk. 10 critical or high findings in Network security, Security headers and 3 other checks.

Security score

48/100

Risk levelHigh

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

Data Science Alliance is a small nonprofit organization founded in 2019, focused on promoting Responsible Data Science through community projects, educational events, and resources primarily in San Diego. Their mission centers on leveraging data science to foster positive social impact. The website reflects a professional and consistent brand image with clear navigation and relevant content targeting data professionals, students, and community members interested in ethical AI and data science. Technically, the site uses modern frontend technologies including Bootstrap, Font Awesome, Google Fonts, and integrates secure payment processing via Stripe. Analytics tools such as Google Tag Manager and Hotjar are employed for user insights, though no cookie consent mechanism is present. Security posture is adequate with HTTPS and secure payment integration, but lacks explicit security headers and published privacy or cookie policies. Overall, the domain registration is privacy protected but consistent with nonprofit norms, and the site demonstrates a trustworthy and professional online presence.

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

10 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Network security

    Services reachable from the internet are the first thing attackers probe. Anything open that does not need to be should be closed.

    • Critical

      Critical Service Exposed: MySQL

      Port 3306 (MySQL) is publicly accessible - MySQL - Database server

      What to do: Immediately restrict access to MySQL using firewall or VPN

      • NIS2 21(2)(e)
      • IR 2024/2690 6.7.2(f): Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690, Annex point 6.7.2(f): Network security
      • NIST CM-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CM-7: Least Functionality
      • NIST SC-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SC-7: Boundary Protection

  2. 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"

  3. 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 datasciencealliance.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
77
Security headers
30
Email security
75
DNS health
70
Network security
0
GDPR outside view
35
Average
48

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 · found on this site
  • 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 organization operates as a nonprofit relying on donations and memberships, with a clear focus on community engagement and education in data science ethics and responsible practices. Their market position is niche and community-centric within the San Diego region. Revenue streams include donations via Stripe and memberships. The partnership ecosystem includes event registration platforms and payment processors. Growth indicators include active event series and multiple ongoing projects. The website supports their mission with educational content, project showcases, and community outreach. Strategic observations suggest opportunities to enhance trust and compliance by publishing privacy and cookie policies and improving security headers.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate security maturity level with HTTPS enforced and secure payment processing through Stripe. However, the absence of security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options represents a gap. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure information is provided, limiting transparency. Analytics and tracking tools are used without visible consent mechanisms, posing potential GDPR compliance risks. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected. The security culture appears basic but functional, with room for improvement in formal policies and technical controls.

Recommendations

  1. Publish comprehensive privacy and cookie policies including GDPR compliance details.
  2. Implement security headers to enhance protection against common web vulnerabilities.
  3. Add terms of service and incident response contact information to improve transparency.
  4. Introduce a cookie consent mechanism to comply with privacy regulations.
  5. Consider publishing a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to foster responsible reporting.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Data Science Alliance
Registration number
EIN 84-3819214
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Data Science Alliance
Description
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit promoting the importance of Responsible Data Science (RDS) through projects and events in San Diego and beyond.
Key services
Community events, Data-driven projects, Educational resources, Responsible Data Science framework, Newsletters and articles
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Bootstrap 5.3.2, Font Awesome 6.7.2, Google Fonts (Montserrat, Lato, Barlow), Stripe.js v3, Google Tag Manager, Hotjar
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
70/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of Stripe for secure payment processing
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of Google Tag Manager and Hotjar for analytics

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager, Hotjar
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Hotjar
Marketing tools
Hotjar
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. No privacy or cookie policy found on the website.
  2. No terms of service or security policy pages detected.
  3. Contact information includes physical address and contact form but no email or phone number explicitly provided.
  4. Website uses modern frontend technologies and secure payment processing via Stripe.
  5. Social media presence is strong with multiple verified platforms linked.
  6. No security headers detected in provided data; opportunity for improvement.
  7. Analytics and tracking tools used without visible cookie consent mechanism.
  8. Website content is professionally presented and relevant to nonprofit mission.
  9. No adult or questionable content detected; safe for general audiences.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built with a modern and widely adopted frontend stack including Bootstrap 5.3.2 and Font Awesome 6.7.2, ensuring responsive design and good user experience. Google Fonts are used for typography. Payment processing is securely handled by Stripe. Analytics are managed via Google Tag Manager and Hotjar, providing user behavior insights. Hosting and DNS are managed through Cloudflare, offering CDN and security benefits. Performance is moderate with no major issues detected. Accessibility features are basic but present. There is no detected CMS, indicating a custom or static site approach. Technical risks include missing security headers and lack of formal privacy and security documentation.
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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