Skip to main content

Security report for episciences.org

CCSD · Education · France

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

69/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Episciences is a Diamond Open Access scientific publishing platform operated by CCSD, a French non-profit research organization. It hosts overlay journals across multiple disciplines, providing innovative editorial tools integrated within the European scholarly ecosystem. The platform is supported by European Union funding and partners with major research infrastructures, positioning it as a reputable and trusted academic publishing service. Technically, the website is built on WordPress with modern SEO and analytics tools, offering excellent mobile responsiveness and accessibility. Security measures include HTTPS and CAPTCHA protections, though some HTTP security headers could be enhanced. Privacy policies and GDPR compliance are well addressed, reflecting a mature approach to data protection. Overall, Episciences demonstrates a high level of professionalism, trustworthiness, and technical maturity suitable for its academic audience.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of episciences.org. View the latest report

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

4 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 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 episciences.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

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
67
Security headers
25
Email security
75
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
68
Average
69

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

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 episciences.org, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
98
Employees
0
Customers
98
Third parties
0
Weak passwords
16%

17 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 episciences.org.

Select it in the checkout above.

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 platform targets researchers and academic institutions seeking open access publishing without author fees, leveraging a Diamond Open Access model. Its competitive advantage lies in integration with European research infrastructures and adherence to FAIR principles. Revenue streams likely include institutional funding and pledges rather than commercial fees. The partnership ecosystem includes CCSD, HAL, OpenAIRE, and other European scholarly services, enhancing its credibility and reach. Growth indicators include recent journal launches and EU project funding. The business model emphasizes transparency, open science, and community support, aligning with current trends in scholarly communication.

Security posture

Episciences exhibits a solid security posture with mandatory HTTPS, use of hCaptcha to protect forms, and no visible exposure of sensitive data. However, the absence of some recommended security headers like Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options suggests room for improvement. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure pages were found, which could be added to enhance transparency and readiness. The platform's GDPR compliance and privacy policies are strong points, but formal security policies and dedicated incident contacts would further strengthen its security culture. Overall, the risk level is low, but proactive enhancements are advisable.

Recommendations

  1. Implement Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options HTTP headers to improve security.
  2. Publish a formal security policy and incident response contact information on the website.
  3. Regularly audit and update WordPress core and plugins to mitigate vulnerabilities.
  4. Enhance transparency by adding a vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file.
  5. Continue monitoring privacy compliance and update cookie consent mechanisms as regulations evolve.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
CCSD
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
CCSD
Description
Overlay journals; Episciences is a Diamond Open Access scientific publishing platform covering all disciplines, offering innovative tools integrated into the European ecosystem for content distribution and editorial support.
Key services
Hosting overlay journals, Editorial support, Open access publishing, Integration with European scholarly communication services
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Yoast SEO plugin, Matomo analytics, hCaptcha, Docker (mentioned in journal article), SVG graphics
Frameworks
WordPress
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • Use of HTTPS
  • Use of hCaptcha for forms
  • No exposed sensitive data found
  • No vulnerable libraries detected in scripts

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Matomo
Transparency
excellent

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professionally designed academic open access publishing platform.
  2. Content is rich, multilingual, and well structured with clear navigation.
  3. No signs of malicious or suspicious activity detected.
  4. WHOIS data is unavailable, likely due to privacy protection or query failure.
  5. Security posture is good with HTTPS and CAPTCHA usage, but some headers could be improved.
  6. Privacy and cookie policies are present and GDPR compliant.
  7. No phone numbers found with explicit company contact labeling.
  8. Multiple social media profiles linked to CCSD and Episciences.
  9. No incident response or security policy pages found.
  10. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses WordPress CMS with Yoast SEO and Matomo analytics, indicating a modern and SEO-optimized infrastructure. The use of SVG logos and responsive design ensures good performance and mobile usability. Integration of hCaptcha protects forms from spam and abuse. Performance is moderate, with potential for optimization in loading speed. Hosting provider details are not explicit, but the platform is professionally maintained. Technical debt appears low, but security header implementation and performance tuning could be improved to reduce risks and enhance user experience.
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. 69/100Medium32 findingsView report
Reviews of this site

Share your experience with episciences.org. 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 episciences.org.

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.