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Security report for gia.edu

Gemological Institute of America · Education · United States

Low risk. 3 critical or high findings in Security headers and GDPR outside view.

Security score

79/100

Risk levelLow

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

The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) is a globally recognized non-profit organization specializing in gemological research, education, and laboratory services. Established in 1931, GIA serves a diverse audience including gem and jewelry buyers, students, researchers, and industry professionals. The website reflects a mature digital presence with comprehensive educational content, research publications, and service offerings. Technically, the site employs modern web technologies such as Google Tag Manager, Typekit fonts, and slick carousel for enhanced user experience. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible, with good SEO practices and consent management implemented via TrustArc. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforced and no visible vulnerabilities, though additional security headers and a published security policy would enhance trust. WHOIS data is unavailable, likely due to .edu domain policies, but the brand's longstanding reputation mitigates concerns. Overall, the site is professional, trustworthy, and well-aligned with its educational mission.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
80/ 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

3 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

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

Keep watching gia.edu

This scan found 16 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
90
Security headers
50
Email security
70
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
80
Average
79

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 gia.edu, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
1,243
Employees
0
Customers
1,173
Third parties
70
Weak passwords
13%

35 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 gia.edu.

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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

GIA operates as an essential entity in the education and non-profit sectors, focusing on gemology and jewelry. Its business model centers on providing authoritative research, certification, and education services globally. The organization leverages partnerships and subsidiary domains for specialized training and alumni engagement. The website's content and structure indicate a strong market position as a leading authority in gemological sciences. Revenue streams likely include educational programs, laboratory services, and corporate training. The global reach is supported by multilingual options and diverse campus locations. The partnership ecosystem includes related domains for training and alumni services, enhancing the organization's comprehensive service offering.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a solid security posture with HTTPS enforced and use of Google Tag Manager securely integrated. Consent management via TrustArc indicates attention to privacy compliance. However, the absence of explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and lack of a published security policy or incident response contact reduces transparency. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the provided content. The site would benefit from publishing a vulnerability disclosure policy and security.txt file to improve incident response readiness and trust. Overall, the security maturity is good but can be improved with additional transparency and technical controls.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish a comprehensive security policy and incident response contact information on the website.
  2. Add security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Content-Type-Options, X-Frame-Options, and Referrer-Policy to enhance protection against common web attacks.
  3. Publish a vulnerability disclosure policy and security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting of security issues.
  4. Enhance transparency by providing detailed data retention and privacy compliance information aligned with GDPR and other regulations.
  5. Regularly audit third-party scripts and libraries to ensure no vulnerable components are included and maintain up-to-date dependencies.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Gemological Institute of America
Description
Established in 1931, GIA is an independent nonprofit that protects the gem and jewelry buying public through research, education and laboratory services.
Key services
Gemstone research, Gem and jewelry education, Laboratory analysis and grading services, Publishing research and news, Corporate and continuing education
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Google Tag Manager, Typekit Fonts, Slick Carousel, jQuery (implied by Slick usage), TrustArc Consent Management
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Google Tag Manager used securely
  • Consent management implemented via TrustArc

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Marketing tools
TrustArc Consent Management
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is professionally designed with clear navigation and comprehensive content.
  2. Strong focus on education, research, and laboratory services in gemology.
  3. Multiple language options available indicating global reach.
  4. Use of modern web technologies and consent management tools.
  5. No signs of malicious or suspicious content.
  6. Contact information and customer support channels are clearly provided.
  7. No explicit security policy or incident response information published.
  8. WHOIS data unavailable, typical for .edu domains but reduces transparency.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern technology stack including Google Tag Manager for analytics and marketing, Typekit for font management, and slick carousel for interactive UI elements. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible with good SEO metadata and structured navigation. No explicit CMS was detected, suggesting a custom or proprietary platform. Performance is moderate, with asynchronous loading of scripts and responsive images. The site uses TrustArc for cookie consent management, indicating compliance with privacy regulations. Hosting provider details are not explicitly available. Opportunities exist to improve technical security controls and publish more detailed technical documentation for transparency.
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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