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Security report for helvetas.org

Helvetas · Non-profit · Switzerland

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

Security score

71/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Helvetas is a well-established Swiss non-profit development organization focused on building capacity and providing aid in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. The organization offers key services including emergency response, water and sanitation, agriculture, climate action, democracy promotion, and vocational training. The website reflects a strong market position as a reputable NGO with a global footprint and a clear mission. Technically, the website employs modern frameworks such as Bootstrap and integrates Google Tag Manager and OneTrust for analytics and cookie consent, indicating a mature digital infrastructure. The site is mobile optimized and accessible, with good SEO practices. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforced and security headers present, though explicit security policies and incident response contacts are not publicly detailed. Overall, the domain and website present high legitimacy and trustworthiness, despite the absence of detailed WHOIS data due to privacy protection. Strategic recommendations include publishing a security policy, incident response information, and a vulnerability disclosure policy to enhance transparency and security readiness.

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. 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';…

  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

    • 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 helvetas.org

This scan found 23 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
62
Security headers
55
Email security
70
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
58
Average
71

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

Helvetas operates in the non-profit sector with a focus on international development and humanitarian aid. Its business model relies on donor funding, partnerships, and project implementation across multiple continents. The organization targets development partners, donors, NGOs, and beneficiaries in developing countries. The website's multilingual support and partner domains in Germany and the USA indicate a broad partnership ecosystem. The organization's competitive advantage lies in its Swiss origin, extensive field presence, and comprehensive service offerings. Growth indicators include digital presence expansion and adherence to international standards such as ISO certifications. The business intelligence suggests a stable and credible NGO with a strong reputation in its sector.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a good security maturity level with HTTPS enforced and multiple security headers implemented, reducing common web vulnerabilities. The use of cookie consent tools aligns with privacy regulations like GDPR. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. However, the absence of a publicly available security policy and incident response contact limits transparency and preparedness perception. There is no evidence of a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file. Overall, the security posture is solid but could be improved by formalizing security governance and incident response communication.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security practices and commitments.
  2. Provide clear incident response contact information to facilitate reporting and handling of security issues.
  3. Implement and publicize a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  4. Enhance transparency by detailing data retention policies and privacy compliance measures.
  5. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and tracking tools to minimize security risks.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Helvetas
Description
Helvetas is an independent Swiss development organization that is building capacity in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe.
Key services
Emergency response, Water and sanitation, Agriculture and food security, Climate and environment, Democracy and peacebuilding, Vocational training
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Bootstrap 4, Google Tag Manager, OneTrust Cookie Consent, Google Maps API
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent implemented
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of security headers

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (via Google Tag Manager)
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Marketing tools
OneTrust Cookie Consent
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 and well maintained.
  2. Content is comprehensive and relevant to international development.
  3. No signs of malicious or suspicious activity detected.
  4. Privacy and cookie policies are implemented with consent mechanisms.
  5. WHOIS data is privacy protected or unavailable, common for NGOs.
  6. No security policy or incident response information publicly available.
  7. Use of modern web technologies and tracking tools is evident.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern responsive design framework (Bootstrap 4) and integrates third-party services such as Google Tag Manager and OneTrust for analytics and cookie consent management. The site is mobile optimized and accessible with good SEO metadata including Open Graph and Twitter Card tags. The CMS is not explicitly identified, suggesting a custom or proprietary solution. Performance is moderate, with potential for optimization in loading speed. The technical infrastructure supports a professional and user-friendly experience but could benefit from enhanced hosting transparency and performance monitoring.
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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