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Security report for iucnacademy.org

IUCN Academy · Education · N/a

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

54/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The IUCN Academy website is a professionally developed online education platform specializing in environmental conservation and sustainability training. It offers a range of courses including professional certificates, delivered in hybrid and self-paced formats, targeting individuals and professionals seeking recognized environmental education. The platform leverages modern WordPress technologies including BuddyBoss and Learndash LMS to provide a structured and engaging learning experience. The website is well-branded and consistent, with clear navigation and relevant content that supports its educational mission. From a technical perspective, the site uses a modern tech stack with WordPress CMS, Elementor page builder, and integrates Google Tag Manager for analytics. Hosting and DNS management involve Cloudflare and GoDaddy, with domain registration locked against unauthorized changes. Performance and mobile optimization are good, though accessibility features are basic. SEO practices appear adequate with proper meta tags and structured content. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced and domain locking, but there are gaps such as the absence of DNSSEC and lack of published privacy and cookie policies, which impact compliance with GDPR and related regulations. No explicit incident response or vulnerability disclosure mechanisms are found, which could be improved to enhance trust and security readiness. Overall, the website presents a trustworthy and professional front for the IUCN Academy's educational offerings. Strategic improvements in privacy compliance, DNS security, and incident response transparency would further strengthen its security posture and regulatory adherence.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
58/ 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

6 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

  2. 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

    • 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. 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"

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

Keep watching iucnacademy.org

This scan found 26 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.

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Full report

€39.90one-time

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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
15
Email security
70
DNS health
80
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
58
Average
54

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 IUCN Academy positions itself as a niche global provider of environmental education and conservation training, leveraging recognized standards such as the IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions™. Its business model centers on offering paid and free online courses with professional certification, targeting learners worldwide interested in sustainability and conservation. The platform's use of hybrid and self-paced formats caters to diverse learner needs, enhancing accessibility and engagement. The absence of explicit parent or subsidiary companies suggests an independent or standalone initiative. The website's content and offerings indicate a medium-sized operation with a focus on quality education and global reach. The use of professional certificates and structured courses supports revenue generation and market differentiation. Partnerships or related domains are not explicitly identified, but the use of Cloudflare and GoDaddy indicates reliance on established service providers.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate to good security maturity level. HTTPS is enforced, and the domain is protected with multiple client prohibitions to prevent unauthorized transfers or deletions. However, the lack of DNSSEC leaves the DNS layer vulnerable to certain attacks. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure page is present, limiting transparency and readiness for security incident reporting. Privacy and cookie policies are missing, which is a compliance gap and a potential risk for GDPR enforcement. The use of Google Tag Manager introduces moderate user tracking, but no explicit cookie consent mechanism is detected. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were identified in the analysis. Overall, the security posture is adequate for an educational platform but would benefit from enhanced DNS security, published policies, and incident response mechanisms.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC to secure DNS queries and prevent spoofing.
  2. Publish comprehensive privacy and cookie policies to ensure GDPR and global privacy compliance.
  3. Implement a cookie consent mechanism to obtain user consent for tracking and cookies.
  4. Create and publish a security.txt file or vulnerability disclosure policy to facilitate responsible reporting.
  5. Add explicit security incident response contact information to improve transparency and readiness.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
IUCN Academy
Description
Training in conservation and sustainability for real-world impact. The IUCN Academy offers globally recognised environmental education and conservation training that empowers learners to create real impact.
Key services
Online courses in conservation and sustainability, Professional certificates, Hybrid and self-paced learning formats
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, BuddyBoss Theme, Elementor, Gravity Forms, Google Tag Manager, Cloudflare DNS
Frameworks
BuddyBoss Platform, Learndash LMS
Platforms
WordPress CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
70/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • Domain locked with multiple client prohibitions
  • Use of Cloudflare DNS for DNS management

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professionally designed educational platform focused on environmental conservation.
  2. No privacy or cookie policies found, indicating compliance gaps.
  3. No explicit contact emails or phone numbers found in the content.
  4. Uses modern WordPress-based LMS and community plugins.
  5. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure found.
  6. No signs of adult or questionable content.
  7. Uses Google Tag Manager for analytics and tracking.
  8. Domain is registered with GoDaddy and uses Cloudflare DNS but lacks DNSSEC.
  9. No WAF or blocking mechanisms detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern WordPress infrastructure using the BuddyBoss theme and Learndash LMS plugin, supported by Elementor for page building. It integrates Google Tag Manager for analytics and uses Cloudflare for DNS management. The domain is registered with GoDaddy and is locked with multiple client prohibitions, enhancing domain security. Performance is moderate with good mobile optimization and basic accessibility features. SEO is supported by proper meta tags and structured content. The site uses minified CSS and JS assets for performance optimization. However, DNSSEC is not enabled, and privacy compliance features are lacking. The technical stack is well-chosen for an educational platform but could be improved with enhanced security and compliance features.
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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