Skip to main content

Security report for ifsda.org

IFSDA · Other · Switzerland

High risk. 8 critical or high findings in Network security, Security headers and 2 other checks.

Security score

46/100

Risk levelHigh

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

IFSDA (International Federation of Stamp Dealers Associations) is a non-profit organization established in 2000, headquartered in Switzerland, dedicated to promoting safe and honest trade of philatelic materials worldwide. The website serves as an informational platform for stamp dealers and collectors, providing event listings, membership information, and a contact portal. The organization positions itself as a reputable international federation with a focus on community and trust within the philatelic trade. Technically, the website is built on WordPress 5.7.12, utilizing common plugins such as ProfileGrid and The Events Calendar. It is hosted on Tophost.ch with HTTPS enabled, ensuring secure communications. The site demonstrates moderate performance and good mobile optimization, though accessibility and SEO optimizations are basic. The technical stack is modern but could benefit from enhanced security headers and DNSSEC implementation. From a security perspective, the site uses HTTPS and has domain transfer protections in place. However, it lacks DNSSEC and security headers that could mitigate common web vulnerabilities. There is no evidence of a formal security policy, incident response contacts, or vulnerability disclosure mechanisms. Privacy compliance is partial, with a privacy policy present but no cookie consent or terms of service pages, which are recommended for GDPR compliance. Overall, the website is trustworthy and professional, with a clear business purpose and consistent WHOIS data supporting legitimacy. The site is safe for general audiences, with no adult or questionable content. Strategic improvements in privacy compliance, security hardening, and user engagement features would enhance its digital maturity and trustworthiness.

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

8 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Network security

    Services reachable from the internet are the first thing attackers probe. Anything open that does not need to be should be closed.

    • Critical

      Critical Service Exposed: MySQL

      Port 3306 (MySQL) is publicly accessible - MySQL - Database server

      What to do: Immediately restrict access to MySQL using firewall or VPN

      • NIS2 21(2)(e)
      • IR 2024/2690 6.7.2(f): Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690, Annex point 6.7.2(f): Network security
      • NIST CM-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CM-7: Least Functionality
      • NIST SC-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SC-7: Boundary Protection

  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 Strict-Transport-Security header

      Forces HTTPS connections

      What to do: Add "Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload"

      • CWE-319
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V3.4.1
    • High

      Missing X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

      What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"

    • 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

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

Keep watching ifsda.org

This scan found 30 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.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. The full timeline opens with your unlock code.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • 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
62
Security headers
15
Email security
70
DNS health
75
Network security
0
GDPR outside view
53
Average
46

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 · found on this site
  • 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

IFSDA operates in the niche philatelic market, serving both dealers and collectors globally. Its business model is non-commercial, focusing on federation services such as promoting ethical trade and providing a platform for members. The organization benefits from a long-established domain and consistent branding, which supports its credibility. The website's content and event listings indicate active engagement with the philatelic community. The absence of direct contact emails or phone numbers suggests a preference for controlled communication via contact forms, possibly to reduce spam. The federation's partnerships or subsidiaries are not explicitly listed, indicating a focused organizational structure. Growth indicators include regular event updates and active content posting. The site’s market position is that of a trusted international federation within the philatelic sector.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate security posture with HTTPS enforced and domain transfer protections enabled. However, the absence of DNSSEC and security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options leaves it vulnerable to certain DNS and web-based attacks. There is no visible security policy or incident response information, which limits transparency and preparedness for security incidents. The lack of a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file further reduces the site's security maturity. Forms appear to be standard WordPress contact forms without advanced security features like CAPTCHA visible in the source. Overall, while no critical vulnerabilities are evident, the site would benefit from enhanced security controls and compliance documentation to improve resilience and trust.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to protect against DNS spoofing and cache poisoning attacks.
  2. Implement standard security headers (Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, X-XSS-Protection) to mitigate common web vulnerabilities.
  3. Add a cookie policy and consent mechanism to comply with GDPR and other privacy regulations.
  4. Publish terms of service and a formal security policy to improve transparency and legal compliance.
  5. Establish an incident response contact channel (e.g., security@ifsda.org) and consider a vulnerability disclosure program.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
IFSDA
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
IFSDA
Description
The International Federation of Stamp Dealers Associations promotes and ensures a safe and honest trade of philatelic material among dealers and between dealers and collectors worldwide.
Key services
Promotion of safe and honest philatelic trade, Providing a platform for reputable stamp dealers, Listing philatelic events, Membership services for affiliated national associations
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress 5.7.12, jQuery 3.5.1, MediaElement.js, ProfileGrid plugin, The Events Calendar plugin, Ajax Search Lite, The Post Grid Pro
Frameworks
WordPress
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
70/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • Domain status clientTransferProhibited
  • Auto renew enabled

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a WordPress-based informational site for an international non-profit federation.
  2. Content is well-structured and relevant to philatelic trade and events.
  3. No signs of malicious or suspicious activity detected.
  4. Lacks cookie consent and terms of service pages which are recommended for compliance.
  5. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found on the homepage; contact form is primary contact method.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a stable WordPress platform with a variety of plugins supporting user profiles, event management, and search functionality. The use of jQuery and MediaElement.js is standard for multimedia and UI enhancements. Hosting on Tophost.ch with nameservers ns1.tophost.ch and ns2.tophost.ch indicates a Swiss hosting provider consistent with the registrant country. Performance is moderate, with no major issues detected, but could be improved with optimization and caching strategies. Mobile responsiveness is good, ensuring accessibility across devices. SEO is basic with standard meta tags but lacks advanced optimization features. Accessibility is basic, with some ARIA roles and skip links present but could be enhanced. Overall, the technical infrastructure is solid but has room for modernization and security improvements.
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

Reviews of this site

Share your experience with ifsda.org. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review ifsda.org.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.