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Security report for ine.pt

Instituto Nacional de Estatística (Statistics Portugal) · Government · Portugal

Medium risk. 3 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

75/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Instituto Nacional de Estatística (Statistics Portugal) is the official national statistics authority of Portugal, providing comprehensive statistical data, publications, and demographic, economic, and social indicators. The website serves a broad audience including researchers, policymakers, government entities, and the general public. It operates as a governmental public service with a strong market position as the primary source of official statistics in Portugal. Key services include data dissemination, interactive applications, microdata access, and thematic studies. The site is well-branded, consistent, and includes trust signals such as ISO certifications and GDPR compliance. Technically, the website uses a mature but somewhat dated technology stack including jQuery 1.11.3 and Bootstrap 3.x, with custom scripts and Matomo analytics for user tracking. The site is mobile optimized, accessible, and SEO friendly, though some modernization opportunities exist. Performance is moderate, and the hosting provider is not explicitly identified. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforced and ISO 27001 certification, but lacks explicit HTTP security headers and a published vulnerability disclosure policy. Overall, the security posture is robust with good privacy compliance and business credibility. No critical vulnerabilities or blocking mechanisms were detected. The domain WHOIS data aligns perfectly with the official entity, confirming legitimacy. The site includes cookie consent mechanisms and a comprehensive privacy policy, supporting GDPR compliance. Social media presence and multiple trusted external links enhance credibility and user engagement. The website is safe for general audiences, with no adult or questionable content. Recommendations include implementing security headers, publishing a security.txt file, and providing explicit incident response contacts to further enhance security and transparency.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
68/ 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

3 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 X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

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

  2. 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

  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

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Keep watching ine.pt

This scan found 19 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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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
45
Email security
82
DNS health
90
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
68
Average
75

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

Statistics Portugal holds a dominant position as the official statistics provider for Portugal, serving government, academia, and the public. Its business model is non-commercial, focused on public service and data transparency. The organization benefits from ISO certifications that enhance trust and quality assurance. The website supports multiple data dissemination channels including databases, publications, and interactive tools. Partnerships with related domains such as territorial information infrastructure and census sites indicate a broad ecosystem. The presence of social media channels and multimedia content supports outreach and engagement. Growth indicators include recent publications and updated statistical indicators. The organization’s strategic focus is on data quality, accessibility, and compliance with European and national regulations.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and ISO 27001 certification indicating a formal Information Security Management System. Cookie consent and privacy policies are comprehensive and GDPR compliant. However, the absence of explicit HTTP security headers such as Content Security Policy, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options represents an area for improvement. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure contacts were found, which could hinder rapid response to security issues. The use of an older jQuery version may pose some risk if not regularly patched. Overall, no critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. The security score is high but could be improved with enhanced header policies and transparency on incident handling.

Recommendations

  1. Implement HTTP security headers including Content Security Policy, HSTS, X-Frame-Options, and X-XSS-Protection to harden the site against common web attacks.
  2. Publish a security.txt file to provide clear vulnerability disclosure and incident response contact information.
  3. Provide explicit incident response contact channels (e.g., security@ or abuse@ email addresses) to improve security communication.
  4. Regularly update third-party libraries such as jQuery to the latest secure versions to mitigate known vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance transparency by publishing detailed data retention policies and privacy impact assessments to strengthen GDPR compliance.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Instituto Nacional de Estatística (Statistics Portugal)
Description
Official national statistics institute of Portugal providing statistical data, publications, studies, and demographic, economic, and social indicators.
Key services
Statistical data dissemination, Publications and press releases, Interactive applications and databases, Territorial information infrastructure, Microdata access, Statistical studies and indicators
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery 1.11.3, Bootstrap 3.x, CanvasJS, Matomo Analytics, Google Fonts (Roboto), Custom JavaScript and CSS
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent banner
  • ISO 27001 Information Security Management System
  • ISO 9001 Quality Management System
  • Secure login area for users

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Matomo
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is an official government portal for Portuguese statistics.
  2. Content is comprehensive, well-structured, and professionally presented.
  3. Strong compliance with privacy and cookie regulations including GDPR.
  4. Use of ISO certifications indicates mature quality and security management.
  5. No signs of blocking, WAF challenges, or suspicious content.
  6. Social media presence and multiple external trusted links enhance credibility.
  7. Technical stack is somewhat dated (jQuery 1.11.3) but functional and stable.
  8. Security headers are not explicitly detected; improvement possible.
  9. No explicit incident response or vulnerability disclosure information found.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a stable but somewhat dated technology stack with jQuery 1.11.3 and Bootstrap 3.x, supplemented by custom JavaScript and CSS. Matomo analytics is used for user tracking, respecting privacy with cookie consent. The site is mobile optimized and accessible, with good SEO practices including meta tags and structured navigation. Performance is moderate, with potential for improvement by updating libraries and optimizing assets. No CMS was detected, indicating a custom or proprietary platform. Hosting details are not explicit, but HTTPS is enforced with a valid SSL certificate. The site includes interactive elements such as carousels and search forms, enhancing user experience. Overall, the technical infrastructure is solid but could benefit from modernization and enhanced security headers.
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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