Skip to main content

Security report for saasoa.com

SAASOA · Government · South Africa

High risk. 7 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

SAASOA is a regional socio-economic consultative council focused on facilitating and coordinating development programs and policies for socio-economic growth in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The organization operates on a membership model serving government agencies and socio-economic stakeholders. The website reflects a professional and consistent brand presence with clear navigation and relevant content tailored to its target audience. Technically, the website employs standard web technologies such as HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, jQuery, and Bootstrap. It demonstrates moderate performance and good mobile optimization but lacks advanced accessibility features and SEO enhancements. The cookie consent mechanism is implemented with an opt-in model, reflecting a commitment to privacy compliance. From a security perspective, the site lacks visible HTTP security headers and dedicated security or incident response policies. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected, but the absence of WHOIS registration data raises concerns about domain legitimacy and ownership transparency. Overall, the security posture is moderate but could benefit from improvements in headers, policies, and domain registration clarity. The overall risk assessment indicates a functional and professional website with moderate trustworthiness. Strategic recommendations include enhancing security headers, publishing security policies, improving accessibility and SEO, and resolving domain registration transparency issues to strengthen trust and compliance.

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

7 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: MSSQL

      Port 1433 (MSSQL) is publicly accessible - MSSQL - Database server

      What to do: Immediately restrict access to MSSQL 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 saasoa.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.

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

Email alerts on material changes and an exportable JSON history of every change.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. The full timeline opens with your unlock code.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

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
72
Security headers
15
Email security
70
DNS health
70
Network security
0
GDPR outside view
68
Average
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

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 saasoa.com, from OffSeq Breach.

No leaked records found

Breach holds no records for saasoa.com right now. New leaks arrive continuously, so monitoring on Breach alerts you if that changes.

Monitor on Breach (opens in a new tab)

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

SAASOA occupies a niche position as a government-affiliated non-profit organization focused on socio-economic development in the Eastern Cape region. Its competitive advantage lies in its regional focus and membership-based model that facilitates coordination among stakeholders. Revenue streams likely derive from membership fees and government funding. The target customer segments include government bodies, local businesses, and socio-economic development partners. Growth indicators are not explicit but the presence of a membership area and calls to join suggest ongoing engagement efforts. The partnership ecosystem is not detailed, and no related or subsidiary domains were identified. Operationally, the organization maintains a straightforward web presence emphasizing information dissemination and member services.

Security posture

The current security maturity level is moderate. The website uses HTTPS (assumed from URL), and a cookie consent mechanism with opt-in is implemented, supporting privacy compliance. However, the absence of HTTP security headers such as Content Security Policy, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options reduces protection against common web attacks. No incident response or security policy pages are present, indicating limited formal security governance transparency. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. The missing WHOIS registration data is a significant concern, potentially impacting trust and domain ownership verification. Compliance with GDPR is supported by cookie consent and privacy policy presence but could be enhanced with clearer data retention and incident response disclosures.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive HTTP security headers including CSP, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options to mitigate common web vulnerabilities.
  2. Publish dedicated security and incident response policy pages to improve transparency and compliance posture.
  3. Enhance accessibility features to meet WCAG standards and improve user experience for all visitors.
  4. Improve SEO by adding structured data (JSON-LD) and optimizing meta tags for better search engine visibility.
  5. Resolve WHOIS registration transparency issues by ensuring domain registration data is publicly available and accurate.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
SAASOA
Description
SAASOA was established to facilitate and coordinate the implementation of development programmes, policies and strategies for socio economic growth in the Eastern Cape.
Key services
Coordination of development programmes, Policy facilitation, Membership services
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, jQuery, Bootstrap
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
65/100
Good practices seen
  • Cookie consent with opt-in mechanism
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking mechanisms.
  2. Content is focused on socio-economic development in Eastern Cape, South Africa.
  3. Cookie consent is implemented with opt-in mechanism.
  4. No visible security headers or advanced security policies.
  5. WHOIS data is missing, indicating possible domain registration issues.
  6. No explicit contact emails found in HTML; phone contact present in footer.
  7. No social media links detected in the HTML content.
  8. No forms detected on the homepage; contact form likely on Contact Us page.
  9. No terms of service or security policy pages found.
  10. Website uses standard web technologies including Bootstrap and jQuery.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a standard technology stack including HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, jQuery, and Bootstrap framework. The design is responsive and mobile-friendly with moderate performance. The site lacks advanced CMS indicators and appears to be custom or static HTML-based. No modern JavaScript frameworks or server-side technologies are evident. The cookie consent plugin is a third-party solution with a comprehensive opt-in mechanism. The absence of security headers and limited SEO optimization indicate technical debt and opportunities for modernization. Hosting provider details are not discernible from the HTML content. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports basic functionality but would benefit from modernization and enhanced security configurations.
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

Reviews of this site

Share your experience with saasoa.com. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review saasoa.com.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.