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Security report for iacr.org

International Association for Cryptologic Research · Technology · N/a

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

Security score

62/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The International Association for Cryptologic Research (IACR) operates as a well-established non-profit scientific organization dedicated to advancing research in cryptology and related fields. The website serves as a central hub for disseminating information about cryptology conferences, publications, news, awards, and membership services. The organization has a strong market position supported by a domain registered since 1995 and a professional online presence. The target audience primarily includes researchers, academics, and professionals in cryptology. Technically, the website employs a modern and stable technology stack including Bootstrap and jQuery, hosted via Gandi SAS. The site is mobile-optimized and features good navigation and content structure. However, some modern security practices such as DNSSEC and security headers are not implemented, and no cookie consent mechanism is present, indicating room for improvement in privacy compliance. From a security perspective, the site uses HTTPS and has domain transfer protections in place, but lacks advanced security headers and explicit vulnerability disclosure policies. No signs of blocking or WAF interference were detected, and no sensitive data exposure or vulnerabilities were found in the analyzed content. Overall, the security posture is solid but could be enhanced with additional measures. The overall risk assessment is low given the organization's reputable status and the website's professional presentation. Strategic recommendations include enabling DNSSEC, adding security headers, implementing cookie consent, and publishing a vulnerability disclosure policy to further strengthen security and privacy compliance.

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

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 iacr.org

This scan found 21 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
72
Security headers
50
Email security
70
DNS health
85
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
53
Average
62

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

IACR holds a prominent position in the cryptologic research community, organizing major conferences such as Crypto, Eurocrypt, and Asiacrypt, and publishing respected journals and archives. Its non-profit model focuses on knowledge dissemination and community building rather than commercial revenue. The organization benefits from partnerships with reputable publishers like Springer-Verlag and maintains a strong digital presence with social media channels. Growth indicators include regular events and awards, and the website reflects a mature, stable operation with consistent branding and high-quality content. The absence of direct contact information on the homepage suggests a focus on community and membership portals for engagement. The organization’s ecosystem includes multiple specialized publication platforms and event sites, indicating a broad and well-integrated service offering within the cryptology domain.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate to good security maturity level with HTTPS enforced and domain transfer protections active. However, the lack of DNSSEC, security headers, and a vulnerability disclosure policy indicates gaps in defense-in-depth and transparency. No incident response or security contact information is provided, which could hinder timely reporting and mitigation of security issues. The absence of cookie consent mechanisms may also pose compliance risks under GDPR and similar regulations. No vulnerable libraries or exposed sensitive data were detected, and no signs of malware or phishing were found. Overall, the security posture is adequate for an academic non-profit but would benefit from enhancements to align with best practices and regulatory expectations.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement standard security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to mitigate common web attacks.
  3. Add a cookie consent banner or mechanism to comply with privacy regulations and improve user transparency.
  4. Publish a formal vulnerability disclosure policy and provide security contact information to facilitate responsible reporting.
  5. Consider adding terms of service and enhancing privacy policy details to cover data processing and user rights comprehensively.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
International Association for Cryptologic Research
Description
The International Association for Cryptologic Research (IACR) is a non-profit scientific organization whose purpose is to further research in cryptology and related fields. Cryptology is the science and practice of designing computation and communication systems which are secure in the presence of adversaries.
Key services
Organization of cryptology conferences and events, Publication of journals and conference proceedings, Maintenance of cryptology ePrint archive and artifact archive, Providing news and awards related to cryptology, Membership services
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Bootstrap CSS, jQuery 3.3.1, EasyAutocomplete jQuery plugin
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Domain status clientTransferProhibited to prevent unauthorized transfers

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

Design
excellent
User experience
good
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 professionally presented and relevant to cryptologic research.
  3. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly listed on the homepage or footer.
  4. Privacy policy is present but cookie policy and terms of service are missing.
  5. No visible security.txt or vulnerability disclosure information.
  6. No analytics or tracking scripts detected beyond jQuery and Bootstrap dependencies.
  7. Social media links to Twitter and YouTube official channels are present.
  8. No advertising or marketing scripts detected.
  9. No forms collecting personal data except search forms with a single search query input.
  10. No explicit security headers detected in the provided data.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a stable and widely supported technology stack including Bootstrap for responsive design and jQuery for DOM manipulation and autocomplete functionality. The site is hosted with Gandi SAS, a reputable registrar and hosting provider. Performance is moderate with no evident heavy scripts or third-party trackers. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible with clear navigation menus and structured content. However, no CMS or advanced platform was detected, indicating a likely custom or static site architecture. SEO is supported by proper meta tags and structured navigation. Technical debt appears low, but modernization opportunities include adding security headers, DNSSEC, and privacy compliance features to enhance robustness and trust.
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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