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Security report for rsf.org

Reporters Without Borders · Media · France

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

Security score

70/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is a well-established international non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and defending press freedom worldwide. The website serves as a comprehensive platform for news, reports, advocacy, and resources related to media freedom. RSF maintains a strong global presence with offices in multiple countries and a network of over 150 correspondents. The site is professionally designed, multilingual, and regularly updated, reflecting a mature digital presence. Technically, the website is built on Drupal 10, leveraging modern web technologies and hosted behind Cloudflare DNS services. It includes cookie consent management and uses analytics tools responsibly with privacy considerations. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible, with good SEO practices. From a security perspective, the website enforces HTTPS and employs domain transfer protections. However, DNSSEC is not enabled, and explicit security headers are not clearly visible. There is no publicly available security policy or incident response contact, which could be improved. The WHOIS data aligns well with the organization's profile, showing a long-standing domain registration without privacy protection, enhancing trust. Overall, RSF's website demonstrates a high level of professionalism, security, and compliance suitable for a reputable NGO. Strategic improvements in security headers, DNSSEC, and publishing security policies would further strengthen its posture.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
68/ 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 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 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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Keep watching rsf.org

This scan found 22 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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Recommended

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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
47
Security headers
40
Email security
85
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
68
Average
70

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

RSF occupies a leading position in the media freedom advocacy sector, leveraging its international network and recognized press freedom index to influence global discourse. Its business model is non-profit, relying on donations, memberships, and merchandise sales. The organization targets a broad audience including journalists, policymakers, activists, and the general public interested in media rights. The website supports multiple languages and regions, enhancing global reach. Partnerships and subdomains for donations and merchandise indicate diversified revenue streams. The organization's transparency and consistent branding reinforce its credibility and market position.

Security posture

The website exhibits a solid security foundation with HTTPS enforcement and domain transfer lock status. The absence of DNSSEC is a minor gap that could be addressed to prevent DNS spoofing. Cookie consent is managed via a recognized tool (Tarteaucitron), supporting GDPR compliance. No direct contact emails for security or incident response are published, which is a common gap in NGO websites but recommended for improved readiness. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the content. Security headers are not explicitly confirmed but likely present given the mature platform. Overall, the security posture is good but could benefit from enhanced transparency and DNS security.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response contact information on the website.
  3. Implement and explicitly confirm security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  4. Consider adding a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  5. Maintain and regularly audit cookie consent mechanisms to ensure ongoing GDPR compliance.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Reporters Without Borders
Description
Reporters Without Borders promotes and defends the freedom to be informed and to inform others throughout the world. Based in Paris, it has international offices and more than 150 correspondents worldwide.
Key services
Press freedom ranking, Investigation reports, Publications, Advocacy and campaigns, Support for journalists
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Drupal 10, Cloudflare DNS, Chart.js, Tarteaucitron (cookie consent)
Frameworks
Drupal
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • ClientTransferProhibited domain status
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented

Analytics and tracking

Services
Cloudflare Insights
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Cloudflare Insights
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professionally maintained NGO site focused on press freedom.
  2. Content is rich, multilingual, and regularly updated with news and reports.
  3. Strong social media presence with official accounts linked.
  4. Cookie consent and privacy policies are implemented and accessible.
  5. No signs of malicious or suspicious activity.
  6. WHOIS data supports legitimacy and transparency.
  7. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found on the homepage; contact is via form.
  8. No explicit security or incident response policies published.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on Drupal 10, a modern and secure CMS platform, indicating good technical infrastructure. It uses Cloudflare for DNS and likely CDN services, enhancing performance and security. The site includes JavaScript libraries such as Chart.js for data visualization and Tarteaucitron for cookie management. The design is responsive and accessible, with multiple language support. Performance is moderate, likely due to rich content and media. The site uses external services for analytics and social media integration but maintains user privacy through consent mechanisms. Overall, the technical implementation is robust with opportunities for minor 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

Earlier scans of this domain

  1. 73/100Medium28 findingsView report
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