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Security report for horizoneurope.ie

Ireland's National Support Network for Horizon Europe · Government · Ireland

Low risk. 2 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and SSL/TLS.

Security score

81/100

Risk levelLow

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

HorizonEurope.ie serves as Ireland's National Support Network for the EU's Horizon Europe research and innovation funding programme. The website provides comprehensive information about the programme's pillars, funding opportunities, success stories, and advisory services to researchers and innovators in Ireland. It is positioned as a trusted government-supported resource to facilitate access to EU funding and promote Irish participation in Horizon Europe. Technically, the site is built on WordPress with common plugins and uses Google Tag Manager for analytics. The site is well-structured, mobile-optimized, and provides a good user experience with clear navigation and relevant content. Security posture is adequate with HTTPS enabled, but lacks some security headers and explicit privacy and cookie policies, which are areas for improvement. The domain registration is consistent with the website's purpose and geographic focus, supporting its legitimacy. Overall, the site is professional, trustworthy, and safe for general audiences, but could enhance privacy compliance and security best practices.

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

2 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 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

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Keep watching horizoneurope.ie

This scan found 18 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
72
Security headers
80
Email security
85
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
80
Average
81

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 website targets Irish researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs, and academic institutions seeking EU research funding. It acts as a national facilitator and information hub, supported by Enterprise Ireland and aligned with EU Horizon Europe objectives. The business model is service-oriented, focusing on advisory and informational support rather than direct commercial transactions. The site highlights Irish success stories and funding achievements, indicating a strong market position within the Irish research funding ecosystem. Partnerships with Enterprise Ireland and links to official EU portals strengthen its credibility. Growth indicators include active news updates, events, and career support initiatives. The site leverages social media channels to extend reach and engagement.

Security posture

The website employs HTTPS with a valid SSL certificate, ensuring encrypted communications. However, it lacks visible security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and others that enhance protection against common web attacks. No security or incident response policies are published, and no vulnerability disclosure or security.txt files are present. The use of third-party scripts like Google Tag Manager introduces moderate tracking but no apparent vulnerabilities. No exposed sensitive data or credentials were detected in the HTML content. Overall, the security posture is moderate but could be improved by implementing recommended headers, publishing security policies, and enabling DNSSEC for the domain.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie policy with explicit user consent mechanisms to improve GDPR compliance.
  2. Implement security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Content-Type-Options, and X-Frame-Options to enhance web security.
  3. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  4. Add a security.txt file and vulnerability disclosure policy to facilitate responsible security reporting.
  5. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and plugins to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Ireland's National Support Network for Horizon Europe
Description
Horizon Europe is the EU's key funding programme for research and innovation (2021-2027) with a budget of over €93.5 billion. The website serves as Ireland's national support network to help researchers, innovators, and entrepreneurs compete for and win Horizon Europe funding. It provides information on programme areas, success stories, financial supports, news, events, and career-fit initiatives.
Key services
Information dissemination on Horizon Europe programme areas, Advisory and support services via European Advisors, News and updates on funding and projects, Promotion of Irish success stories, Event organization and career support initiatives
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, jQuery, Google Tag Manager, LiteSpeed Cache, Mega Menu plugin, Fancybox
Frameworks
WordPress Theme Extra, Event Calendar plugin
Platforms
WordPress CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of Google Tag Manager for analytics

Analytics and tracking

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

Advertising

Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a government-supported national support network for Horizon Europe funding in Ireland.
  2. Content is rich with news, success stories, and detailed programme information.
  3. No explicit privacy, cookie, or terms of service policies found on the homepage or main navigation.
  4. Social media presence is active on Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
  5. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly found in the visible content or forms.
  6. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure information found.
  7. Uses WordPress CMS with common plugins and Google Tag Manager for analytics.
  8. No WAF or blocking mechanisms detected; content fully accessible.
  9. No adult or questionable content detected; content is safe for general audiences.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress CMS using the Extra theme and child theme, with plugins for event calendars and mega menus. It uses jQuery and Google Tag Manager for analytics and tracking. Hosting is provided by Hosting Ireland/Team Blue Internet Services IE Ltd. The site is moderately performant with good mobile optimization and basic accessibility features. SEO is supported by proper meta tags and structured navigation. There is room for improvement in accessibility and performance optimization. The technical stack is modern and widely supported, but reliance on third-party scripts requires ongoing security vigilance.
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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