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Security report for msdaccessibility.com

Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA · Healthcare · United States

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and SSL/TLS.

Security score

72/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Merck & Co., Inc., operating under the MSD brand outside the United States and Canada, maintains this accessibility microsite to demonstrate its commitment to digital accessibility and compliance with WCAG 2.2 standards. The site provides information on accessibility policies, tools, and resources, targeting a broad audience including persons with disabilities. The company leverages partnerships with accessibility service providers such as Level Access to enhance user experience and compliance. Technically, the website is built on WordPress with modern SEO and accessibility plugins, supported by Google Tag Manager and OneTrust for privacy and cookie consent management. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforced and no visible vulnerabilities, though security headers could be improved. The absence of WHOIS data suggests privacy protection or recent registration but does not detract from the site's legitimacy given the strong brand presence and trust indicators. Overall, the site is professional, accessible, and compliant with relevant privacy regulations.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 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

4 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.

    • 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

  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

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  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
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  • 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
42
Security headers
80
Email security
70
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
72

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 website reflects Merck & Co., Inc.'s global presence in the healthcare sector, emphasizing accessibility as a key component of its digital strategy. The microsite serves as a centralized resource for accessibility information and regional MSD sites, indicating a well-structured partnership and subsidiary ecosystem. The business model focuses on pharmaceutical and healthcare products with a strong compliance and corporate responsibility posture. The site supports customer engagement through contact forms and provides multilingual accessibility statements, enhancing global reach. The use of trusted privacy certifications and cookie consent mechanisms aligns with regulatory requirements and builds user trust. The partnership with Level Access highlights a strategic investment in accessibility technology, positioning MSD as a leader in inclusive digital experiences.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and no exposed sensitive data in the HTML content. Cookie consent is managed via OneTrust, indicating compliance with privacy regulations. However, the absence of explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options suggests room for improvement. No security.txt or incident response contacts were found, which could enhance transparency and vulnerability management. The site uses trusted third-party scripts and analytics tools, with no detected vulnerable libraries. Overall, the security posture is strong but could benefit from additional hardening and published security policies.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  2. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response contact information to improve transparency and trust.
  3. Add a security.txt file to facilitate responsible vulnerability disclosure.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and plugins to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance monitoring and validation of form inputs to prevent injection attacks and ensure data integrity.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA
Description
Merck & Co., Inc., known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, is committed to ensuring accessibility of its websites and mobile apps for people with disabilities, conforming to WCAG 2.2 Level A and AA standards.
Key services
Digital accessibility services, Information dissemination, Customer support via contact forms
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Yoast SEO plugin, Google Tag Manager, Level Access Accessibility as a Service, OneTrust Cookie Consent, MicroModal JS
Frameworks
WordPress CMS
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
excellent
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent mechanism
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • No vulnerable libraries detected

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible and not blocked by WAF or security mechanisms.
  2. Strong focus on digital accessibility and compliance with WCAG 2.2 standards.
  3. Use of recognized third-party accessibility partner (Level Access).
  4. Comprehensive cookie consent and privacy policy mechanisms in place.
  5. No exposed sensitive data or security vulnerabilities detected in HTML content.
  6. WHOIS data unavailable, but website legitimacy supported by branding and trust signals.
  7. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found; contact via form only.
  8. Multiple external domains linked, mostly regional MSD sites and trusted partners.
  9. Use of modern web technologies and SEO best practices.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a WordPress CMS platform with a modern tech stack including Yoast SEO for optimization, Google Tag Manager for analytics, and OneTrust for cookie consent management. Accessibility is prioritized through partnership with Level Access and adherence to WCAG 2.2 standards. The site is mobile optimized with responsive design and uses modern web fonts and CSS variables for theming. Performance is moderate with deferred script loading and preloading of fonts. No hosting provider details were detected from the HTML content. The site architecture supports multilingual content and regional site linking, indicating a scalable and well-maintained infrastructure. Opportunities exist to improve security headers and publish additional compliance documentation.
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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