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Security report for intercultura-afs.pt

Intercultura-AFS Portugal · Education · Portugal

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in Security headers and SSL/TLS.

Security score

66/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Intercultura-AFS Portugal is a well-established non-profit organization dedicated to promoting intercultural learning and global education through international student exchange programs. The website serves as a comprehensive portal for students, families, and volunteers interested in participating in or supporting these programs. It offers detailed information about program destinations, application processes, scholarships, and testimonials, positioning itself as a trusted resource in the education sector in Portugal. Technically, the website is built on WordPress with modern SEO and security practices, including HTTPS and Google reCAPTCHA Enterprise integration, ensuring a secure and user-friendly experience. While the site lacks a dedicated security policy or incident response page, it maintains strong privacy and cookie compliance aligned with GDPR standards. Overall, the site demonstrates a high level of professionalism, trustworthiness, and technical maturity, supporting its mission effectively.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
95/ 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

5 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 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';…

  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
    • High

      Weak SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

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

Keep watching intercultura-afs.pt

This scan found 25 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
47
Security headers
15
Email security
75
DNS health
65
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
95
Average
66

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 organization targets secondary school students aged 14-18 and their families, offering annual and quarterly international exchange programs across multiple continents. Its business model is non-profit, focusing on volunteer engagement, scholarships, and educational outreach. The website reflects a medium-sized entity with a long history since 1956, leveraging partnerships and a strong social media presence to maintain market position. Revenue streams likely include program fees and donations, with a focus on inclusivity through scholarship offerings. The comprehensive content and active community engagement indicate a mature operational model with strategic emphasis on intercultural education and youth development.

Security posture

The website exhibits a good security posture with enforced HTTPS, use of Google reCAPTCHA Enterprise to protect forms, and a cookie consent mechanism compliant with GDPR. However, it lacks explicit security headers and a published security or incident response policy, which are recommended best practices. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the content. The absence of a security.txt file and incident response contact limits transparency for vulnerability reporting. Overall, the security maturity is solid but could be enhanced by formalizing security policies and improving header configurations.

Recommendations

  1. Implement HTTP security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security to enhance protection against common web attacks.
  2. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response page to improve transparency and readiness for security incidents.
  3. Add a security.txt file to facilitate responsible vulnerability disclosure and improve communication with security researchers.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and plugins to mitigate risks from vulnerable libraries.
  5. Enhance monitoring and validation of form inputs to prevent injection attacks and ensure data integrity.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Intercultura-AFS Portugal
Description
A non-profit youth volunteer association promoting intercultural learning and global education through international student exchange programs.
Key services
International student exchange programs, Volunteer opportunities, Scholarships (Bolsas AFS), Orientation and support for participants
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Yoast SEO, Google reCAPTCHA Enterprise, jQuery, Google Fonts, Typekit Fonts
Platforms
WordPress CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Google reCAPTCHA Enterprise for forms
  • Privacy banner with consent mechanism

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Pardot
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Google Analytics (G-GJ7Y5PDN9J), AddToAny
Marketing tools
Google Tag Manager (GTM-T2LK9C9), Pardot
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich content and no blocking mechanisms.
  2. Strong focus on intercultural education and youth exchange programs.
  3. Comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms.
  4. Use of modern web technologies and security best practices like HTTPS and reCAPTCHA.
  5. Clear contact information including physical address, phone, and email.
  6. Active social media presence across multiple platforms.
  7. No evidence of security policy or incident response page.
  8. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt found.
  9. Good SEO and accessibility features implemented.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is powered by WordPress CMS with Yoast SEO plugin, Google Fonts, and Typekit for typography, and uses jQuery for client-side scripting. It leverages Amazon Cloudfront CDN for hosting static assets, improving load times globally. Google reCAPTCHA Enterprise is integrated for bot protection on forms. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and accessibility features. SEO is well addressed with meta tags, Open Graph, and JSON-LD structured data. Performance is moderate, with potential improvements in caching and script optimization. The technical stack is modern and appropriate for the organization's needs, though some security header implementations could be improved to reduce technical risk.
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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