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Security report for postcarbon.org

Post Carbon Institute · Non-profit · United States

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

71/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Post Carbon Institute is a small US-based non-profit organization focused on leading the transition to a more resilient, sustainable, and equitable world. It provides educational content, reports, podcasts, online courses, and events targeting individuals and organizations interested in sustainability and resilience. The website is professionally designed using WordPress CMS and integrates modern analytics and tracking tools such as Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, Hotjar, and Microsoft Clarity. The site is well-structured with clear navigation and good mobile optimization. From a security perspective, the website uses HTTPS with an excellent SSL configuration but lacks explicit security headers and a vulnerability disclosure policy. Privacy compliance is partially addressed with a privacy policy present, but no cookie consent mechanism is detected. Contact information including phone and physical address is clearly provided, enhancing business credibility. WHOIS data is unavailable or privacy protected, which is common for non-profits and does not raise immediate concerns. Overall, the website presents a trustworthy and professional online presence with moderate technical maturity and a good security posture. Strategic improvements in privacy compliance and security headers would further enhance its security and trustworthiness.

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

5 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
    • 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';…

  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. 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 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

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

Keep watching postcarbon.org

This scan found 20 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

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Full report

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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
65
Security headers
55
Email security
75
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
71

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 Post Carbon Institute occupies a niche in the sustainability and resilience education sector as a thought leader and content provider. Its business model relies on disseminating knowledge through multiple channels including a news site (Resilience.org), podcasts, online courses, and publications. The organization targets environmentally conscious individuals, educators, and community leaders. The presence of a speakers bureau and events indicates active community engagement. Partnerships with related domains like resilience.org strengthen its ecosystem. The organization appears stable with consistent branding and a clear mission, though no financial or founding year data is publicly available.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate to good security posture with HTTPS enforced and no visible exposure of sensitive data. However, the absence of security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options is a gap. The lack of a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file limits transparency in incident response. Privacy compliance is partial; while a privacy policy exists, cookie consent mechanisms are missing, which may pose GDPR compliance risks. The use of multiple third-party analytics and tracking tools increases the attack surface and privacy considerations. Overall, the site is secure but could benefit from enhanced security best practices and compliance measures.

Recommendations

  1. Implement HTTP security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Content-Type-Options, and X-Frame-Options to mitigate common web attacks.
  2. Add a cookie consent banner or mechanism to comply with GDPR and other privacy regulations.
  3. Publish a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to improve transparency and incident response readiness.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and plugins to reduce vulnerability risks.
  5. Enhance accessibility features and conduct periodic security assessments to maintain a strong security posture.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Post Carbon Institute
Description
Leading the transition to a more resilient, sustainable, and equitable world.
Key services
News articles and analysis via Resilience.org, Podcasts, Online courses, Books and reports, Webinars and events, Speakers bureau
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress 6.8.2, Easy Digital Downloads plugin, Yoast SEO plugin, Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, Hotjar, Microsoft Clarity, GTranslate
Platforms
WordPress
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of security and analytics scripts loaded asynchronously

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (via GTM), Microsoft Clarity, Hotjar
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel, Microsoft Clarity, Hotjar
Marketing tools
Facebook Pixel, Hotjar, Microsoft Clarity
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenge.
  2. WHOIS data is unavailable due to malformed request or privacy protection.
  3. Website uses HTTPS and modern tracking and analytics tools.
  4. No explicit privacy or cookie consent banner found, though privacy policy exists.
  5. Contact information is clearly provided including phone and physical address.
  6. Website content is relevant to sustainability and non-profit education.
  7. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure policy found.
  8. No explicit security headers detected in HTML source.
  9. Social media presence is strong with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn.
  10. Website uses WordPress CMS with common plugins like Yoast SEO and Easy Digital Downloads.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress 6.8.2 with common plugins such as Easy Digital Downloads and Yoast SEO, indicating a mature CMS environment. It uses Google Tag Manager for analytics deployment and integrates Facebook Pixel, Hotjar, and Microsoft Clarity for user behavior tracking. The site loads resources asynchronously and uses modern fonts from Google Fonts. Mobile optimization is good with responsive design elements. Performance is moderate, with potential improvements in caching and resource optimization. No hosting provider details are evident from the HTML. The site lacks advanced security headers and cookie consent mechanisms, which are technical debt areas. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports the business needs but has room for modernization and security enhancements.
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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