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Security report for giswatch.org

Association for Progressive Communications (APC) · Non-profit · N/a

Medium risk. 7 critical or high findings in Email security, Security headers and 3 other checks.

Security score

63/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch) is a reputable non-profit initiative supported by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and Sida. It focuses on publishing comprehensive reports and fostering civil society advocacy around digital rights, internet governance, and information society issues globally. The website is multilingual and provides extensive resources and author profiles, targeting civil society, researchers, and policy makers. Technically, the website is built on Drupal 10, uses modern JavaScript libraries such as Leaflet.js for mapping, and employs Matomo analytics with privacy-conscious settings (no cookies, Do Not Track respected). The site is mobile-optimized and accessible, with good SEO practices. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced and domain registration locked against unauthorized changes. However, DNSSEC is not enabled, and there is no published security or incident response policy. Privacy compliance is basic, lacking a cookie consent mechanism. Contact information is limited to a contact form, with no explicit emails or phone numbers. Overall, the website presents a trustworthy and professional platform for its non-profit mission, with recommendations to enhance privacy compliance, security transparency, and contact accessibility.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 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

7 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. 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 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';…

  3. 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

  4. 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 giswatch.org

This scan found 26 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
52
Security headers
50
Email security
60
DNS health
60
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
63

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 giswatch.org, from OffSeq Breach.

No leaked records found

Breach holds no records for giswatch.org right now. New leaks arrive continuously, so monitoring on Breach alerts you if that changes.

Monitor on Breach (opens in a new tab)

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

GISWatch holds a strong market position as a collaborative global non-profit platform with a history since 2007. Its competitive advantage lies in its extensive annual and special reports, multilingual content, and association with APC and Sida. The business model is focused on advocacy and knowledge dissemination rather than commercial revenue. The target audience includes civil society organizations, academics, and policy makers interested in digital rights. Growth indicators include continuous publication of reports and active author engagement. Partnerships with APC and Sida strengthen its credibility and resource base.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and domain registration protections in place. The use of Matomo analytics with cookies disabled and Do Not Track respected indicates privacy-conscious data handling. However, the absence of DNSSEC and lack of published security policies or incident response plans represent gaps. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. The site would benefit from publishing a security policy, incident response contacts, and implementing DNSSEC to further harden domain security.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC to protect against DNS spoofing and improve domain security.
  2. Implement a cookie consent mechanism to comply with privacy regulations and improve user trust.
  3. Publish a comprehensive security policy and incident response information to enhance transparency and preparedness.
  4. Provide explicit contact emails and phone numbers for support and security reporting to improve communication channels.
  5. Consider adding a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
Description
Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch) is a collaborative community committed to building an open, inclusive and sustainable information society. It publishes annual reports on digital rights, internet governance, and related themes.
Key services
Publishing annual and special reports on information society issues, Providing a platform for civil society advocacy, Offering multilingual content and resources
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Drupal 10, Leaflet.js, Matomo Analytics, Modernizr
Frameworks
Drupal CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No cookies set by Matomo (disableCookies enabled)
  • Do Not Track respected
  • Domain locked with clientDeleteProhibited and transfer/update prohibitions

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Matomo
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a well-established non-profit platform focused on digital rights and information society issues.
  2. Content is multilingual and includes extensive reports and author profiles.
  3. No signs of malicious or suspicious activity detected.
  4. Security posture is good but could be improved with DNSSEC and published security policies.
  5. Privacy compliance is basic; lacks cookie consent mechanism.
  6. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly found; contact is via form only.
  7. No terms of service or incident response information published.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses Drupal 10 CMS, a modern and secure platform, combined with JavaScript libraries like Leaflet.js for interactive maps and Matomo for privacy-focused analytics. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible, with good SEO metadata. Performance is moderate, with deferred and async loading of scripts. The domain is registered with Total Web Solutions Limited and has been active since 2008, indicating technical stability. There is no evidence of outdated or vulnerable libraries. Opportunities exist to improve technical security by enabling DNSSEC and enhancing privacy compliance mechanisms.
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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