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Security report for f1000research.com

F1000 Research Ltd. · Education · United Kingdom

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

Security score

73/100

Risk levelMedium

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

F1000Research is a well-established open access publishing platform founded in 2011 and operated by F1000 Research Ltd., a subsidiary of Informa PLC. The platform targets researchers across all disciplines, offering rapid publication, open peer review, and indexing in major scientific databases such as Scopus, PubMed, and MEDLINE. It maintains strong partnerships with leading research funders and institutions, enhancing its market position as a trusted and transparent publishing venue. The website content is professionally curated, with clear navigation and comprehensive information supporting its business model.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
85/ 100 · Low
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 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 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

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

Keep watching f1000research.com

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

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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
67
Security headers
40
Email security
60
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
85
Average
73

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 company operates in the education sector, focusing on academic publishing with an open access model. Its revenue streams likely include article processing charges and partnerships with research funders. The platform's competitive advantages include rapid publication, open peer review, and extensive indexing, which appeal to researchers seeking timely dissemination of their work. The partnership ecosystem includes prestigious organizations such as Wellcome, the Gates Foundation, and the European Commission, indicating strong industry integration. The website's content and design reflect a mature digital presence aligned with its business goals.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a strong security posture with enforced HTTPS, domain locking statuses (clientDeleteProhibited, clientTransferProhibited), and use of Cloudflare DNS services. Security best practices are observed, including secure forms with OAuth integrations and consent management for privacy compliance. However, explicit security policies, incident response procedures, and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms are not publicly documented, representing areas for improvement. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the analysis.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response plan to improve transparency and trust.
  3. Implement a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting.
  4. Regularly review third-party scripts and tracking tools to minimize privacy risks.
  5. Maintain and update privacy and cookie policies to ensure ongoing GDPR compliance.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
F1000 Research Ltd.
Description
F1000Research is an innovative open access publishing platform offering rapid publication and open peer review, whilst supporting data deposition and sharing.
Key services
Rapid publication, Open peer review, Data deposition and sharing, Indexing in Scopus, PubMed, MEDLINE
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery, Moment.js, Material Design Lite, CKEditor, Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, Hotjar, MathJax, New Relic Browser monitoring
Frameworks
Material Design Lite
Platforms
Cloudflare DNS and CDN
Performance
fast
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Domain locked with clientDeleteProhibited and clientTransferProhibited
  • Use of Cloudflare DNS
  • Secure forms with OAuth and CSRF tokens (implied)

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (via Google Tag Manager), Hotjar, New Relic Browser
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel, Hotjar
Marketing tools
HubSpot
Transparency
good

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 publishing platform.
  2. Content is rich, relevant, and well-structured.
  3. Strong trust signals including indexing and partnerships.
  4. Good privacy and cookie policy presence with consent management.
  5. No signs of blocking or WAF challenges.
  6. Use of modern web technologies and analytics tools.
  7. Security posture is strong with HTTPS and domain locking.
  8. No explicit security policy or incident response info found.
  9. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt present.
Technical notes

Notes

The website employs a modern technology stack including jQuery, Moment.js, Material Design Lite, CKEditor, and MathJax for rendering mathematical content. It uses Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, Hotjar, and New Relic for analytics and monitoring, indicating a mature digital infrastructure. Hosting and DNS are managed via Cloudflare, providing performance and security benefits. The site is mobile-optimized with good accessibility and SEO practices. No major technical debts or performance bottlenecks were identified, suggesting a well-maintained platform.
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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