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Security report for qual-world.com

QualWorld · Healthcare · France

High risk. 8 critical or high findings in Network security, Security headers and 2 other checks.

Security score

49/100

Risk levelHigh

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

QualWorld is a specialized healthcare qualitative market research fieldwork provider with a global footprint, operating through permanent staff and a large network of freelancers and partners. The company offers a comprehensive range of qualitative methodologies tailored to client needs, positioning itself as a boutique agency with local expertise and global reach. The website is professionally designed, mobile-optimized, and includes detailed management team bios and multiple global contact points, enhancing business credibility. Technically, the site uses modern libraries such as jQuery and Bootstrap, integrates Google Analytics and Tag Manager for tracking, and employs Google reCAPTCHA for form security. However, there is a lack of visible security headers and cookie consent mechanisms, which are areas for improvement. The WHOIS data is missing or unavailable, which raises concerns about domain registration legitimacy despite the professional appearance of the site. Overall, the security posture is moderate, with recommendations to enhance HTTP security headers and privacy compliance.

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

8 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Network security

    Services reachable from the internet are the first thing attackers probe. Anything open that does not need to be should be closed.

    • Critical

      Critical Service Exposed: MySQL

      Port 3306 (MySQL) is publicly accessible - MySQL - Database server

      What to do: Immediately restrict access to MySQL using firewall or VPN

      • NIS2 21(2)(e)
      • IR 2024/2690 6.7.2(f): Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690, Annex point 6.7.2(f): Network security
      • NIST CM-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CM-7: Least Functionality
      • NIST SC-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SC-7: Boundary Protection

  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 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"

    • 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';…

  3. 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

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

Keep watching qual-world.com

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.

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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
15
Email security
80
DNS health
85
Network security
0
GDPR outside view
58
Average
50
After the cap
49

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 · found on this site
  • 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 company targets healthcare market research clients globally, leveraging a network of over 300 freelancers and local partners across 40+ countries. Its business model focuses on providing qualitative fieldwork services including interviews, focus groups, and innovative online methodologies. The firm emphasizes experienced project managers and local expertise, which is a competitive advantage in the healthcare qualitative research sector. The partnership with experts-advice.com suggests a collaborative ecosystem. The company appears medium-sized, founded in 2014, with a strong presence in Europe, Americas, and Asia. Revenue streams likely derive from project-based qualitative research services. The website content and structure support a professional and trustworthy image, aiding client acquisition and retention.

Security posture

The website employs HTTPS and uses Google reCAPTCHA to protect its inquiry form, indicating basic security awareness. However, the absence of key security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options reduces its defense against common web attacks. No explicit incident response or vulnerability disclosure policies are present, which could hinder rapid mitigation of security issues. The missing WHOIS data is a notable red flag that impacts trust. Privacy compliance is partial, with a privacy notice present but no cookie consent mechanism detected. Overall, the security maturity is moderate but could be significantly improved by implementing recommended headers, formalizing security policies, and enhancing privacy compliance.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive HTTP security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options, and HSTS.
  2. Establish and publish a cookie policy with a user consent mechanism to comply with GDPR and other privacy regulations.
  3. Clarify domain registration details and ensure WHOIS information is accurate and publicly available to improve trustworthiness.
  4. Develop and publish a vulnerability disclosure policy and incident response contact information to enhance security transparency.
  5. Regularly audit and update third-party libraries and scripts to mitigate vulnerabilities and improve overall security posture.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
QualWorld
Description
QualWorld is an independent fieldwork provider specializing in qualitative market research for the healthcare industry. They have permanent staff in 14 countries and over 300 freelancers/local partners in 40+ countries, offering global qualitative fieldwork solutions. They provide a full range of qualitative methodologies including telephone interviews, web-assisted interviews, in-person methodologies, and innovative online methods. They tailor services to client needs and emphasize expertise in healthcare qualitative research and fieldwork management.
Key services
Qualitative telephone interviews, Web-assisted interviews, In-person qualitative methodologies, Online bulletin boards and focus groups, Pilots/pre-tests, Face-to-face quantitative interviews, Sample provision, moderation, transcripts, reports
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery, Bootstrap 3.3.6, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Google reCAPTCHA v2, Typekit Fonts
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
60/100
Good practices seen
  • Use of HTTPS (implied by URL)
  • Use of Google reCAPTCHA v2 on contact form

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

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 rich content and professional design.
  2. No WAF or security challenge detected.
  3. WHOIS data is missing or domain not found, which is suspicious.
  4. No explicit cookie policy or consent mechanism found.
  5. Privacy policy is present but basic.
  6. Contact information is comprehensive and includes emails, physical addresses, and a contact form with CAPTCHA.
  7. Use of modern JavaScript libraries and Google services for analytics and tag management.
  8. No visible security headers detected in provided data.
  9. No vulnerability disclosure or security incident response information found.
  10. Business is focused on healthcare qualitative market research with global presence.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built using a combination of jQuery, Bootstrap 3.3.6, and Google services for analytics and tag management, indicating a mature but somewhat dated technology stack. The use of Typekit fonts enhances branding consistency. Performance is moderate with mobile optimization considered good. The site lacks a detected CMS, suggesting a custom or static site architecture. No hosting provider information was found. SEO is basic with meta tags present but no advanced structured data or Open Graph tags detected. Accessibility features are minimal but present. The site could benefit from modernization efforts including upgrading Bootstrap and jQuery versions and improving accessibility 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

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