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Security report for ionispharma.com

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc · Healthcare · United States

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS and Security headers.

Security score

69/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a well-established biopharmaceutical company specializing in RNA- and DNA-targeted medicines aimed at treating serious diseases. The company holds a strong market position with a comprehensive pipeline and a focus on innovation, patient advocacy, and corporate responsibility. The website reflects a mature digital presence with professional design, clear navigation, and relevant content targeting patients, medical professionals, investors, and healthcare stakeholders. Technically, the site is built on Drupal 11, uses Cloudflare DNS, and integrates Google Tag Manager for analytics, indicating a modern infrastructure with moderate performance and excellent mobile optimization. Security posture is good with HTTPS enabled and domain transfer protections, though DNSSEC is not enabled and security headers are not evident. Privacy compliance is moderate due to the presence of cookie consent but absence of explicit privacy and terms of service pages. Overall, the domain registration data supports the legitimacy and trustworthiness of the business.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
88/ 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

4 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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
  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 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';…

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Keep watching ionispharma.com

This scan found 22 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
37
Security headers
40
Email security
75
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
88
Average
69

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

Breach exposure

Leaked credentials and lookalike domains from OffSeq Breach. The counts are free; the detailed lists are paid add-ons.

Dark web exposure

Add-on

Leaked records that mention ionispharma.com, from OffSeq Breach.

No leaked records found

Breach holds no records for ionispharma.com right now. New leaks arrive continuously, so monitoring on Breach alerts you if that changes.

Monitor on Breach (opens in a new tab)

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

Ionis operates in the healthcare sector with a focus on RNA therapeutics, targeting a broad spectrum of diseases. Their business model centers on drug discovery, clinical trials, and patient engagement. The company demonstrates strong growth indicators through active investor relations and clinical trial initiatives. Partnerships and related domains support their operational ecosystem. The website content and structure reinforce their market leadership and commitment to corporate responsibility, positioning them as a trusted innovator in biotechnology.

Security posture

The website employs HTTPS and has domain transfer protections, which are positive security indicators. However, the lack of DNSSEC and absence of visible security headers such as CSP, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options represent areas for improvement. No vulnerability disclosure or incident response information is provided, which could enhance transparency and trust. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected. Overall, the security posture is solid but could benefit from additional best practices and published policies.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement and configure security headers (CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options) to mitigate common web vulnerabilities.
  3. Publish a comprehensive privacy policy and terms of service accessible from the homepage footer.
  4. Add a security policy or vulnerability disclosure page, including a security.txt file to improve incident response readiness.
  5. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and libraries to avoid vulnerabilities and improve performance.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc
Description
Ionis Pharmaceuticals is pioneering RNA- and DNA-targeted medicines to transform treatment and improve lives for people living with serious diseases.
Key services
Drug discovery, Clinical trials, Patient advocacy, Corporate responsibility
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Drupal 11, Google Tag Manager, Cloudflare DNS
Frameworks
Drupal CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • ClientTransferProhibited domain status

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Marketing tools
OneTrust Cookie Consent
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is professionally designed and well-structured with clear navigation.
  2. Content is comprehensive and focused on healthcare and pharmaceutical innovation.
  3. Use of modern CMS (Drupal 11) and integration of Google Tag Manager for analytics.
  4. Cookie consent mechanism is implemented via OneTrust.
  5. No explicit privacy policy or terms of service links found in the provided content.
  6. Contact information includes a verified phone number and contact page link.
  7. No visible security.txt or vulnerability disclosure information.
  8. No suspicious or malicious content detected.
  9. Domain registration details align with the business profile.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on Drupal 11, a modern and secure CMS platform, indicating a commitment to up-to-date technology. Integration with Google Tag Manager and OneTrust for cookie consent shows awareness of analytics and privacy compliance needs. Hosting and DNS are managed via reputable providers (Cloudflare and GoDaddy). The site is mobile-optimized with good accessibility features and SEO meta tags. Performance is moderate, likely due to rich media content and slider components. There is an opportunity to enhance security configurations and improve privacy documentation to reduce technical risks.
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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