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Security report for saarcenergy.org

SAARC Energy Centre (SEC) · Energy · Pakistan

High risk. 10 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS, Network security and 2 other checks.

Security score

34/100

Risk levelHigh

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

SAARC Energy Centre (SEC) is a regional organization established in 2005 under the SAARC framework to promote energy cooperation among South Asian countries. The website serves as an information and collaboration platform offering research publications, webinars, and resources focused on renewable energy, energy trade, and efficiency improvements. Technically, the site is built on WordPress with common plugins and moderate performance and mobile optimization. Security posture is adequate with HTTPS enabled but lacks important security headers and explicit privacy or security policies. WHOIS data is unavailable due to privacy or registry restrictions, slightly impacting trust. Overall, the site is professional and trustworthy with room for security and privacy improvements.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
35/ 100 · High
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

10 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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.

    • Critical

      Unable to retrieve SSL certificate

      Could not establish secure connection to retrieve certificate information

      What to do: Check if the server is accessible and SSL/TLS is properly configured

  2. 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
  3. 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';…

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

Keep watching saarcenergy.org

This scan found 24 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
0
Security headers
15
Email security
85
DNS health
70
Network security
0
GDPR outside view
35
Average
34

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

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 saarcenergy.org, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
20
Employees
0
Customers
11
Third parties
9
Weak passwords
0%

2 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 saarcenergy.org.

Select it in the checkout above.

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

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

The SAARC Energy Centre operates as a non-profit regional cooperation entity targeting government officials, experts, and stakeholders in the energy sector of South Asia. Its business model revolves around facilitating energy collaboration, knowledge sharing, and capacity building. The organization maintains a credible market position as a specialized SAARC body with a consistent brand and active engagement through publications and events. The partnership ecosystem includes the SAARC Secretariat and other regional bodies. Growth indicators include regular webinars and updated programmatic content. Revenue streams are likely grant and government funded, typical for intergovernmental organizations.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a basic security maturity level with HTTPS enforced but lacks critical security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and HSTS. No vulnerability disclosure or incident response information is publicly available, which limits transparency. The absence of cookie and privacy policies indicates compliance gaps with GDPR and other data protection regulations. No analytics or tracking scripts were detected, reducing privacy risks. The site would benefit from implementing security best practices, publishing security policies, and enhancing incident response readiness to improve trust and resilience.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive security headers including CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  2. Publish clear privacy and cookie policies with GDPR compliance statements.
  3. Add a vulnerability disclosure policy and incident response contact information.
  4. Regularly update WordPress core and plugins to mitigate security risks.
  5. Consider deploying a web application firewall (WAF) to protect against common attacks.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
SAARC Energy Centre (SEC)
Description
SAARC Energy Centre is a regional organization created through the Dhaka Declaration in 2005 to promote energy cooperation among SAARC countries. It focuses on energy trade, renewable energy development, technology transfer, energy conservation, and efficiency improvement in South Asia.
Key services
Energy cooperation facilitation, Research and publications, Workshops and webinars, Energy data portal and mapping, Cross-border electricity trade support
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress 5.9, jQuery 3.6.0, LayerSlider plugin, Smart Slider 3 plugin, Contact Form 7 plugin, Embed Any Document plugin, Bootstrap CSS, Font Awesome
Frameworks
WordPress
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
65/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Transparency
poor

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. Content is focused on regional energy cooperation and development
  3. No privacy or cookie policies explicitly found on homepage
  4. Contact information includes official email and social media links
  5. No phone numbers or physical addresses explicitly listed on homepage
  6. Website uses WordPress CMS with common plugins
  7. No security headers detected, opportunity for improvement
  8. No analytics or tracking scripts detected
  9. No vulnerability disclosure or incident response info found
  10. WHOIS data unavailable, likely privacy protected
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress 5.9 with plugins such as LayerSlider, Smart Slider 3, Contact Form 7, and Embed Any Document. It uses jQuery 3.6.0 and Bootstrap CSS for responsive design. Performance is moderate with good mobile optimization but basic accessibility and SEO features. No advanced analytics or tracking tools are detected, indicating minimal user tracking. The site lacks modern security headers and some SEO optimizations. Hosting provider details are not disclosed. Overall, the technical infrastructure is standard for a small regional organization but could be enhanced for better security and performance.
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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