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Security report for giac.org

GIAC, LLC. · Technology · United States

Low risk. 4 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, SSL/TLS and 1 other check.

Security score

80/100

Risk levelLow

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

GIAC, LLC. is a well-established provider of professional cybersecurity certifications, recognized globally by industry, government, and military clients. The company offers a broad portfolio of certifications aligned with SANS training, including Practitioner, Applied Knowledge, and Portfolio certifications, supporting workforce development and career advancement in cybersecurity. The website demonstrates a mature digital presence with modern technologies such as Vue.js/Nuxt.js, Contentstack CMS, and integrations with Google Tag Manager and Optimizely for analytics and marketing. From a security perspective, GIAC employs strong best practices including HTTPS, security headers, reCAPTCHA for bot mitigation, and cookie consent mechanisms, reflecting a robust security posture. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the website content. Privacy compliance is well addressed with comprehensive privacy and cookie policies, indicating adherence to GDPR and related regulations. Overall, the domain appears legitimate and trustworthy despite the absence of WHOIS registration details, likely due to privacy protection. The website's professional content, clear navigation, and strong trust signals position GIAC as a credible and authoritative entity in the cybersecurity certification market. Strategic recommendations include continuous monitoring of third-party scripts, enhancing form security, and maintaining transparency in data retention policies.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
58/ 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. 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

    • 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

  2. 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
  3. DNS health

    DNS sends visitors and email to the right servers. Misconfigured records can cause outages or let someone redirect your traffic.

    • High

      Potential Subdomain Takeover

      Subdomain api.giac.org points to unregistered service temp-can-delete-1210619519.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com

      What to do: Remove or fix CNAME record to prevent subdomain takeover

      • WSTG-CONF-10
      • NIS2 21(2)(i)
      • IR 2024/2690 12.4: Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690, Annex point 12.4: Asset inventory
      • NIST CM-8: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CM-8: System Component Inventory

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

Keep watching giac.org

This scan found 14 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.

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Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
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  • 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
82
Security headers
85
Email security
87
DNS health
65
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
58
Average
80

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 giac.org, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
714
Employees
0
Customers
714
Third parties
0
Weak passwords
14%

4 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 giac.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

GIAC operates in the technology and government sectors, focusing on cybersecurity certification and workforce development. Its market position is strong, supported by its affiliation with the SANS Institute and a comprehensive certification portfolio. The business model centers on professional certification sales, renewal services, and educational resources. GIAC targets cybersecurity professionals seeking career advancement and organizations aiming to develop skilled cyber teams. The company leverages partnerships with SANS and related entities to enhance its offerings and market reach. Growth indicators include frequent new certification releases and active community engagement via social media and newsletters.

Security posture

GIAC exhibits a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced, multiple security headers implemented, and bot mitigation via Google reCAPTCHA. The site uses JWT tokens for secure login sessions and has cookie consent mechanisms aligned with privacy regulations. No direct evidence of vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data was found. However, continuous vigilance is recommended for third-party scripts and form security to prevent potential attack vectors. The absence of a public incident response or vulnerability disclosure policy is noted but not uncommon for certification bodies. Overall, GIAC maintains a secure and compliant web presence suitable for its business.

Recommendations

  1. Conduct regular security audits of all third-party JavaScript libraries and tracking scripts to mitigate supply chain risks.
  2. Implement CSRF tokens and additional input validation on all forms to enhance protection against injection attacks.
  3. Publish a clear vulnerability disclosure policy and incident response contact to improve transparency and trust.
  4. Enhance data retention and privacy policy disclosures to specify retention periods and user rights explicitly.
  5. Maintain and update security headers and TLS configurations to adhere to evolving best practices.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
GIAC, LLC.
Description
GIAC Certifications develops and administers premier, professional information security certifications. More than 30 certifications align with SANS training and ensure mastery in critical, specialized InfoSec domains. GIAC certifications provide the highest and most rigorous assurance of cyber security knowledge and skill available to industry, government, and military clients across the world.
Key services
Professional cyber security certifications, Certification renewal and continuing professional education, CyberLive hands-on testing platform, Workforce development resources
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, Vue.js (implied by Nuxt.js usage), Google reCAPTCHA v3, Google Tag Manager, Optimizely, Snowplow JavaScript Tracker, Contentstack CMS
Frameworks
Nuxt.js
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • Use of HTTPS
  • reCAPTCHA integration to prevent abuse
  • Security headers implemented
  • Secure login token handling with JWT
  • Cookie consent mechanism

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager, Snowplow
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Optimizely, Snowplow
Marketing tools
Optimizely
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenges.
  2. Content is rich, professional, and focused on cybersecurity certifications.
  3. Strong presence of security best practices and privacy compliance.
  4. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerabilities detected in the content.
  5. WHOIS data is unavailable, likely due to privacy protection or query error.
  6. Multiple social media channels and partner sites linked, enhancing trust.
  7. Use of modern web technologies and CMS for content delivery.
  8. Clear navigation and well-structured content for target audience.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built using modern web technologies including Vue.js with Nuxt.js framework, Contentstack CMS for content management, and integrates analytics and marketing tools such as Google Tag Manager, Optimizely, and Snowplow. Performance is moderate with good mobile optimization and accessibility features. The site uses HTTPS with strong SSL/TLS configurations and security headers. The technical infrastructure supports a professional and scalable platform for delivering certification content and user account management. Opportunities exist to optimize loading times and further enhance accessibility compliance.
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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