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Security report for openaire.eu

OpenAIRE · Education · N/a

Medium risk. 2 critical or high findings in Security headers and SSL/TLS.

Security score

75/100

Risk levelMedium

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

OpenAIRE is a well-established non-profit initiative providing open science infrastructure and services primarily in Europe. It supports researchers, institutions, and funders with tools and platforms that enable open access, data sharing, and scholarly communication. The organization holds a strong market position as a key contributor to the European Open Science Cloud and offers a comprehensive suite of services that cover the full research lifecycle. Technically, the website is built on Joomla! CMS with modern frameworks like UIkit and integrates analytics tools such as Matomo and Google Analytics. The site is mobile-optimized, accessible, and performs moderately well. Security measures include HTTPS enforcement, reCAPTCHA on forms, and cookie consent management, though some security headers could be improved. The security posture is solid with no visible vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data. Privacy compliance is strong, with clear policies and consent mechanisms. The WHOIS data is privacy protected under EURid policy, which is typical for EU domains and does not raise suspicion. Overall, the website demonstrates high professionalism, trustworthiness, and a strong commitment to open science principles. Strategic recommendations include enhancing security headers, publishing a security policy and incident response contacts, and maintaining regular audits of third-party components to sustain security and compliance.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
83/ 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

2 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

  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

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

Keep watching openaire.eu

This scan found 21 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
62
Security headers
55
Email security
70
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
83
Average
75

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 openaire.eu, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
507
Employees
1
Customers
506
Third parties
0
Weak passwords
15%

Latest record dated 2026-04-14 · 11 subdomains affected

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

A one-off add-on to this report that lists the most recent identifier and password pairs OffSeq Breach holds for openaire.eu.

Select it in the checkout above.

Masked preview

  • –www.openaire.eu2026-04-14

Breach keeps ingesting new leaks, so these numbers can grow between scans.

Open in Breach(opens in a new tab)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

OpenAIRE operates in the education and technology sectors as a non-profit entity focused on open science infrastructure. Its business model revolves around community-driven service provision and policy shaping. The organization targets a broad audience including researchers, institutions, funders, and infrastructure providers. It has a strong partnership ecosystem with entities like Zenodo and Episciences. The website content and service offerings indicate a mature organization with a large footprint in European open science initiatives. Growth indicators include active community engagement, training resources, and continuous platform enhancements.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and use of Google reCAPTCHA to protect forms. Cookie consent management aligns with GDPR requirements. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive information were detected. However, the absence of certain security headers like Content-Security-Policy and a published security policy or incident response contact reduces the overall security maturity. The lack of a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file is a gap. Overall, the security culture appears proactive but could benefit from formalized policies and enhanced header configurations.

Recommendations

  1. Implement security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to enhance protection against common web attacks.
  2. Publish a clear security policy and incident response contact information on the website to improve transparency and readiness.
  3. Establish and publicize a vulnerability disclosure policy and security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting of security issues.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party libraries and dependencies to mitigate risks from known vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance monitoring and logging of security events to detect and respond to incidents promptly.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
OpenAIRE
Description
OpenAIRE is a non-profit, community-driven initiative shaping the policies, infrastructures, and services for Open Science in Europe and beyond. It supports global research excellence through trusted infrastructure for open access, data sharing, and scholarly communication. OpenAIRE provides a wide range of services supporting the full research lifecycle, making research actionable, measurable, and trusted.
Key services
OpenAIRE Graph, ARGOS (Data and Software Management Plans), CONNECT (Community research gateways), MONITOR (Research impact analytics), PROVIDE (Metadata aggregation and validation), AMNESIA (Data anonymization tool), OpenOrgs (Research organization disambiguation), Zenodo (Trusted repository), Episciences (Overlay journals), OpenPlato (Training materials)
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Joomla! CMS, jQuery, UIkit framework, Matomo Analytics, Google Analytics, Google reCAPTCHA, PHP (inferred from Joomla!)
Frameworks
UIkit, Joomla!
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of Google reCAPTCHA for forms
  • Cookie consent management with opt-in/out
  • No exposed sensitive data detected

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo, Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Matomo
Marketing tools
Matomo Analytics
Transparency
good

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 detected
  2. Strong focus on open science infrastructure and community services
  3. Comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with consent management
  4. Use of reputable analytics and security technologies
  5. No exposed sensitive data or security misconfigurations detected
  6. WHOIS data is privacy protected as per EURid policy
  7. Multiple social media and community engagement channels present
  8. Professional and consistent branding and design
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on Joomla! CMS with UIkit framework and uses jQuery and other modern JavaScript libraries. It integrates Matomo and Google Analytics for user tracking and employs Google reCAPTCHA for bot protection. The site is mobile responsive and accessible, with good SEO practices including meta tags and structured data (JSON-LD). Performance is moderate, with room for optimization. The technical stack is modern and well-maintained, supporting a professional and user-friendly experience. Opportunities exist to improve security headers and streamline analytics for enhanced privacy compliance.
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

Earlier scans of this domain

  1. 75/100 +9Medium29 findingsView report
  2. 66/100Medium27 findingsView report
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