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Security report for istem.eu

Institut des cellules Souches pour le Traitement et l'Étude des maladies Monogéniques · Healthcare · France

High risk. 9 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, Email security and 3 other checks.

Security score

46/100

Risk levelHigh

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

I-Stem is a French research institute specializing in stem cell therapy and the study of rare and ultra-rare monogenic diseases. It operates as a medium-sized organization with approximately 80 staff members, including scientists and support personnel. The institute is well-positioned in the European healthcare research sector, collaborating with notable partners such as AFM-Telethon and Genethon. Their key services include fundamental and clinical research, clinical trial sponsorship, and providing advanced technological platforms to support their scientific endeavors. Technically, the website is built on WordPress with modern plugins for SEO, search, and form management. It employs Google reCAPTCHA for security and Tarteaucitron for cookie consent management, reflecting a mature digital infrastructure. The site is optimized for mobile and accessibility, with good SEO practices and moderate performance. From a security perspective, the site uses HTTPS with strong SSL configuration and includes security headers. It integrates anti-bot measures and cookie consent mechanisms, but lacks a dedicated security policy or incident response contact details. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected, indicating a solid security posture. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and compliant with GDPR requirements. The absence of direct contact emails or phone numbers suggests a preference for controlled communication via contact forms. Strategic recommendations include publishing explicit security and incident response policies and considering a vulnerability disclosure program to enhance transparency and trust.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
28/ 100 · High
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

9 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • Critical

      EU business without adequate privacy measures

      EU businesses are subject to strict GDPR requirements

      What to do: Implement comprehensive GDPR compliance including privacy policy, cookie consent, and data protection measures

    • 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

  2. Email security

    SPF, DKIM and DMARC stop others sending email that looks like it comes from your domain, a common route to phishing and invoice fraud.

    • Critical

      No email authentication configured

      Domain is vulnerable to email spoofing

      What to do: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC immediately

  3. 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';…

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

Keep watching istem.eu

This scan found 27 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
72
Security headers
40
Email security
40
DNS health
75
Network security
20
GDPR outside view
28
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
  • 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

I-Stem occupies a specialized niche in healthcare research focused on monogenic diseases and stem cell therapies. Its competitive advantage lies in its integration with prominent French and European research entities and its comprehensive technological platforms. The business model centers on research and development, clinical trial sponsorship, and partnerships with biotech companies. Revenue streams likely include public and private research funding, grants, and collaborative projects. The target audience includes researchers, clinicians, and biotech partners. Growth indicators include recent news about new alliances and platform labeling. The partnership ecosystem is robust, enhancing credibility and resource sharing. Operationally, the institute demonstrates a strong commitment to scientific excellence and innovation.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enforcement, use of Google reCAPTCHA to prevent automated abuse, and cookie consent management compliant with GDPR. Security headers are likely implemented, and no sensitive data leakage was observed. However, the absence of a published security policy or incident response contact limits transparency and preparedness communication. There is no evidence of a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file. Overall, the security maturity is good but could be improved by formalizing policies and providing clear security contacts.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security practices and commitments.
  2. Provide explicit incident response contact information (e.g., security@ or abuse@ email).
  3. Implement and publish a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party plugins to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance security headers with explicit reporting and monitoring mechanisms.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Institut des cellules Souches pour le Traitement et l'Étude des maladies Monogéniques
Description
Institut des cellules Souches pour le Traitement et l'Étude des maladies Monogéniques. Centre d’Étude des Cellules Souches - INSERM UMR861
Key services
Stem cell research, Clinical trials sponsorship and support, Technological platforms for research, Collaboration with partner companies and institutions
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress 6.7.1, Yoast SEO plugin, Contact Form 7, Autocomplete for Relevanssi, Relevanssi Live Ajax Search, Google reCAPTCHA v3, Awesomplete (autocomplete library), Tarteaucitron (cookie consent management)
Frameworks
WordPress
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • Use of HTTPS
  • Google reCAPTCHA integration on forms
  • Cookie consent management via Tarteaucitron
  • No exposed sensitive data detected in HTML
  • No vulnerable libraries detected

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (GA4)
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Google Analytics (GA4)
Marketing tools
Yoast SEO, Google reCAPTCHA
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professionally maintained research institute site focused on stem cell therapy and monogenic diseases.
  2. Content is rich, well-structured, and multilingual (English and French).
  3. Strong emphasis on scientific research, clinical trials, and partnerships.
  4. Good privacy and cookie compliance with visible consent mechanisms.
  5. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found; contact via form only.
  6. No explicit security or incident response policies published.
  7. Use of modern WordPress plugins and SEO tools.
  8. No advertising networks detected beyond Google Analytics.
  9. No suspicious or malicious content detected.
  10. Site hosted in France with eco-design considerations.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern WordPress CMS with up-to-date plugins for SEO, search, and form handling. It uses Google Fonts and integrates Google reCAPTCHA v3 for bot protection. The site employs Tarteaucitron for cookie consent, reflecting compliance with privacy regulations. Performance is moderate, with good mobile optimization and accessibility features. The technical stack is well-maintained with no deprecated or vulnerable libraries detected. Hosting is in France, supporting data sovereignty and eco-design principles. Opportunities exist to improve performance further and enhance security transparency.
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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