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Security report for eliterature.org

Electronic Literature Organization · Education · United States

High risk. 12 critical or high findings in Email security, Network security and 3 other checks.

Security score

37/100

Risk levelHigh

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

The Electronic Literature Organization (ELO) is a well-established non-profit organization founded in 1999, dedicated to the promotion and study of literature created for digital media. It serves an international academic and artistic community through conferences, publications, and digital archives. The website reflects this mission with rich content, clear navigation, and a professional design consistent with its educational and cultural focus. The organization maintains partnerships with reputable academic institutions and publishers, reinforcing its credibility and market position within the digital humanities and electronic literature sectors. Technically, the website is built on WordPress 6.8.2, utilizing standard web technologies including JavaScript and Google Fonts. It is hosted under a domain registered with Network Solutions since 1999, indicating long-term stability. The site is HTTPS enabled, mobile responsive, and moderately optimized for performance and SEO. However, it lacks advanced security headers and DNSSEC, which are recommended for enhanced security. Analytics are limited to StatCounter, indicating minimal user tracking. From a security perspective, the site demonstrates basic good practices such as HTTPS and domain transfer protection but lacks explicit security policies, vulnerability disclosures, and cookie consent mechanisms, which are important for GDPR compliance and user trust. No critical vulnerabilities or adult content were detected, and the site is accessible without WAF or blocking mechanisms. Overall, the ELO website is a credible, professional platform serving a niche academic and artistic community. Strategic improvements in privacy compliance, security headers, and transparency around data protection would enhance its security posture and regulatory adherence.

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

12 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Email security

    SPF, DKIM and DMARC stop others sending email that looks like it comes from your domain, a common route to phishing and invoice fraud.

    • Critical

      No email authentication configured

      Domain is vulnerable to email spoofing

      What to do: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC immediately

  2. 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
  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 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';…

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Keep watching eliterature.org

This scan found 31 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
62
Security headers
15
Email security
40
DNS health
70
Network security
0
GDPR outside view
35
Average
37

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

Breach exposure

Leaked credentials and lookalike domains from OffSeq Breach. The counts are free; the detailed lists are paid add-ons.

Dark web exposure

Add-on

Leaked records that mention eliterature.org, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
7
Employees
0
Customers
7
Third parties
0
Weak passwords
57%

2 subdomains affected

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

A one-off add-on to this report that lists the most recent identifier and password pairs OffSeq Breach holds for eliterature.org.

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Breach keeps ingesting new leaks, so these numbers can grow between scans.

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

The ELO occupies a unique niche in the education and media sectors, focusing on electronic literature and digital humanities. Its competitive advantage lies in its long-standing history, international reach, and partnerships with academic institutions and publishers. The business model is membership and grant-funded, supplemented by publishing activities and conferences. Target customers include academics, artists, and researchers interested in digital literature. Growth indicators include ongoing conferences, awards, and active digital archives. The partnership ecosystem is robust, involving universities and cultural organizations, which supports sustainability and influence in its domain.

Security posture

The current security maturity level is basic to moderate. HTTPS is enforced, and domain transfer is protected, but the absence of DNSSEC and security headers such as Content-Security-Policy or X-Frame-Options reduces defense-in-depth. There is no published incident response or vulnerability disclosure policy, which limits transparency and preparedness. Data protection practices are not explicitly detailed, and cookie consent mechanisms are missing, indicating compliance gaps with GDPR and similar regulations. The security culture appears minimal but adequate for a non-profit academic site. Enhancements in these areas would reduce risk and improve trust.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement standard security headers (CSP, X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options) to mitigate common web attacks.
  3. Publish a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie consent mechanism to improve GDPR compliance.
  4. Develop and publish a security policy and incident response contact information to enhance transparency and readiness.
  5. Regularly audit and update third-party libraries and plugins to avoid vulnerabilities.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Electronic Literature Organization
Description
An international organization dedicated to the investigation of literature produced for the digital medium. Founded in 1999, it promotes writing, publishing, and reading of electronic literature, hosts conferences, publishes anthologies and reports, and maintains digital archives.
Key services
Annual conference and media art festival, Publishing open source anthologies (Electronic Literature Collection), Maintaining electronic literature directories and archives, Partnerships with academic and cultural institutions
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress 6.8.2, PHP, JavaScript, Google Fonts, StatCounter analytics
Frameworks
WordPress
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
65/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • Domain status clientTransferProhibited

Analytics and tracking

Services
StatCounter
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Tracking pixels
StatCounter
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a WordPress-based non-profit organization site focused on electronic literature.
  2. Content is rich and relevant to the organization's mission.
  3. No privacy or cookie policy explicitly found, which is a compliance gap.
  4. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure found.
  5. No explicit contact emails or phone numbers visible on the homepage; contact is via a form.
  6. Social media presence includes Twitter, Facebook, and Vimeo.
  7. No advertising networks detected except StatCounter analytics.
  8. No signs of adult or unsafe content.
  9. Site uses HTTPS but lacks advanced security headers and DNSSEC.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern WordPress CMS with version 6.8.2, leveraging standard web technologies such as JavaScript and Google Fonts. The site is mobile responsive and moderately optimized for performance and SEO. Hosting details beyond the registrar are not explicit, but the domain is stable and long-standing. There is no evidence of technical debt or deprecated technologies. However, the lack of DNSSEC and security headers indicates room for modernization in security infrastructure. The use of StatCounter for analytics suggests minimal tracking, aligning with privacy-conscious practices. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports the organization's mission but could benefit from security and privacy enhancements.
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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