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Security report for preprints.org

MDPI AG · Education · Switzerland

Low risk. 4 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and Security headers.

Security score

76/100

Risk levelLow

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

Preprints.org is a multidisciplinary preprint platform operated by MDPI AG, a reputable academic publisher based in Switzerland. The platform enables researchers to share their manuscripts openly prior to peer review, supporting the academic community with rapid dissemination of scientific knowledge. The website is professionally designed, mobile-optimized, and provides comprehensive privacy and cookie policies, reflecting a mature digital presence. Technically, the site uses modern frameworks such as Tailwind CSS and implements strong security headers and HTTPS, ensuring a secure user experience. However, explicit security policies and incident response contacts are not publicly detailed, representing an area for improvement. Overall, the domain and website exhibit high legitimacy and trustworthiness consistent with an established academic publisher.

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

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. 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 X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

      What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"

    • 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 preprints.org

This scan found 17 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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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
95
Security headers
35
Email security
85
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
58
Average
76

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

Preprints.org holds a strong market position within the academic publishing sector, leveraging the reputation of its parent company MDPI AG. Its business model focuses on open-access preprint hosting, targeting researchers and academics globally. The platform benefits from MDPI's established infrastructure and brand recognition, facilitating growth and trust in the scholarly community. The absence of direct phone contacts but presence of contact forms and emails aligns with typical academic service models. The platform integrates with social media channels to enhance outreach and engagement. Strategic partnerships and parent company affiliation strengthen its competitive advantage.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a solid security posture with enforced HTTPS, comprehensive security headers, and no visible vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data. The use of modern web technologies and secure form handling further enhance security. However, the lack of a dedicated security policy page and incident response contact information limits transparency and preparedness perception. No vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file was found, which could be beneficial for coordinated vulnerability management. Overall, the security maturity is good but could be improved with formalized policies and disclosure mechanisms.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response page to improve transparency and user trust.
  2. Implement a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting of security issues.
  3. Enhance contact information with explicit security and abuse contacts.
  4. Regularly review and update privacy and cookie policies to maintain GDPR compliance and user trust.
  5. Continue monitoring and updating security headers and SSL configurations to maintain high security standards.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
MDPI AG
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
MDPI AG
Description
Preprints.org is a multidisciplinary preprint platform that allows researchers to share their manuscripts prior to peer review. It is operated by MDPI AG, a well-known academic publisher.
Key services
Preprint hosting, Manuscript dissemination, Open access publishing
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Tailwind CSS, JavaScript, HTML5, CSS3
Frameworks
Tailwind CSS
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Security headers implemented
  • No exposed sensitive data detected
  • Secure forms with validation

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

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 no blocking or WAF challenges.
  2. Content is professional, academic, and well-structured.
  3. Strong privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms.
  4. No direct contact phone numbers found; contact via form and email only.
  5. No explicit security policy or incident response page found.
  6. WHOIS data is privacy protected or unavailable, common for academic publishers.
  7. Use of modern CSS framework (Tailwind) and good technical implementation.
  8. Good security headers and HTTPS enforced.
  9. No adult or questionable content detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website employs a modern and efficient technical stack, including Tailwind CSS for styling and standard web technologies (HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript). The site is mobile-optimized and accessible, with good SEO practices evident from meta tags and structured data. Performance is fast with no significant technical debt observed. The hosting provider is not explicitly identified but the site uses secure HTTPS and strong security headers. There is an opportunity to improve technical documentation and transparency around CMS or backend technologies. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a robust and user-friendly platform.
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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