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Security report for dcat.org

Drug, Chemical & Associated Technologies Association (DCAT) · Healthcare · United States

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

67/100

Risk levelMedium

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

DCAT (Drug, Chemical & Associated Technologies Association) is a well-established not-for-profit business development association founded in 1996, serving the global Bio/Pharmaceutical manufacturing value chain. The organization provides its members with networking opportunities, industry events, research reports, and educational resources, positioning itself as a premier association in the healthcare sector. The website reflects a professional and consistent brand image, targeting industry professionals and companies involved in pharmaceutical development and manufacturing. The business model focuses on membership services, events, and knowledge dissemination to enhance industry collaboration and growth. Technically, the website is built on WordPress using the Avada theme and Fusion Builder framework, supplemented by popular plugins such as Yoast SEO, Contact Form 7, and WP Statistics. The site is hosted likely via GoDaddy, with a moderate performance profile and good mobile optimization. SEO practices are well implemented, and accessibility is basic but functional. Analytics are implemented through Google Analytics and WP Statistics, indicating moderate user tracking. From a security perspective, the site uses HTTPS with a good SSL configuration but lacks explicit security headers and a public security policy or incident response information. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. The domain WHOIS data shows privacy protection via Domains By Proxy, which is justified for this type of organization. The domain age and registration details align well with the organization's history, supporting legitimacy. Overall, DCAT's website demonstrates a strong business credibility and content quality with a solid technical foundation. Security posture is adequate but could be improved with additional headers and transparency. Privacy compliance is good with a clear privacy policy but lacks a cookie consent mechanism. The site is safe for general audiences and free from adult or questionable content.

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

6 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 Consent Banner found

      GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies

      What to do: Implement a cookie consent banner that appears on first visit

  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

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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
47
Security headers
15
Email security
85
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
68
Average
67

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

DCAT holds a strong market position as a key association in the Bio/Pharmaceutical manufacturing ecosystem, serving a medium-sized membership base globally. Its competitive advantage lies in its long-standing history, comprehensive member services, and authoritative industry insights such as benchmarking reports and newsletters. Revenue streams likely include membership dues, event sponsorships, and publication sales. The target customers are pharmaceutical companies, suppliers, and industry professionals seeking networking and business development opportunities. The partnership ecosystem includes related domains like dcatvci.org for industry insights and a member directory hosted on a Salesforce domain. The organization shows strategic focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, enhancing its reputation and member engagement.

Security posture

The website's security maturity is moderate. HTTPS is properly implemented, ensuring encrypted communications. However, the absence of security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and others reduces defense-in-depth. No public security or incident response policies are found, which could impact trust and readiness in case of incidents. The use of popular WordPress plugins necessitates regular updates to mitigate vulnerabilities. No signs of exposed credentials or malicious content were found. Privacy protection on WHOIS is appropriate. The site lacks a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file, which are recommended best practices. Overall, the security posture is sufficient for a non-critical informational site but could be enhanced to meet higher compliance and trust standards.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive HTTP security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Content-Type-Options, and X-Frame-Options.
  2. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security.
  3. Add a cookie consent mechanism to comply fully with GDPR and other privacy regulations.
  4. Publish a security policy and incident response information to increase transparency and trust.
  5. Consider adding a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Drug, Chemical & Associated Technologies Association (DCAT)
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Drug, Chemical & Associated Technologies Association (DCAT)
Description
The premier association for the global Bio/Pharmaceutical manufacturing value chain
Key services
Membership services, Industry events and webinars, Research and benchmarking reports, Scholarship initiatives, Publications and newsletters
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Yoast SEO plugin, Google Analytics, jQuery, Fusion theme, Contact Form 7, WP Statistics
Frameworks
Fusion Builder
Platforms
WordPress
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of security plugins (implied by Contact Form 7 and WP Statistics usage)

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, WP Statistics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Marketing tools
MonsterInsights (Google Analytics plugin)
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is professionally designed and well maintained
  2. Clear focus on Bio/Pharmaceutical industry association activities
  3. Comprehensive membership and event information
  4. Strong social media presence and engagement
  5. No signs of malicious or suspicious activity
  6. No explicit security policy or incident response information publicly available
Technical notes

Notes

The website infrastructure is based on a mature WordPress CMS with the Avada theme and Fusion Builder framework, indicating a modern and flexible technical stack. The use of Yoast SEO and Google Analytics shows attention to SEO and user analytics. Performance is moderate, with room for optimization especially in mobile responsiveness and accessibility. The hosting provider is likely GoDaddy, consistent with WHOIS data. The site uses standard JavaScript libraries such as jQuery and includes multiple plugins for forms, statistics, and UI enhancements. There is no evidence of technical debt or deprecated technologies, but security-related technical improvements are recommended. Overall, the technical implementation supports the business goals effectively with potential for further modernization.
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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