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Security report for scale-up-vaud.ch

Innovaud · Technology · Switzerland

Medium risk. 9 critical or high findings in Email security, Security headers and 3 other checks.

Security score

50/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Scale Up Vaud is a regional initiative powered by Innovaud, the innovation and investment agency of Canton de Vaud, Switzerland. The website serves as a community and support platform for scale-up companies, focusing on fostering growth, recruitment, and internationalization. The initiative aims to strengthen the local innovation ecosystem by connecting stakeholders and catalyzing economic development. The site presents clear business information, including contact details and social media channels, enhancing its credibility. Technically, the website is built on the DotNetNuke CMS platform and utilizes common web technologies such as jQuery, Bootstrap 4, and Font Awesome. It implements HTTPS with a good SSL configuration and includes a cookie consent mechanism via tarteaucitron.js, indicating attention to privacy compliance. The site is moderately performant and mobile-optimized, with good SEO practices and basic accessibility features. From a security perspective, the website enforces HTTPS but lacks explicit security headers and published security policies or incident response contacts. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the content. The WHOIS data aligns well with the business entity and location, supporting legitimacy. Overall, the security posture is solid but could be improved by adding security headers and formal policies. The overall risk assessment is low, with no blocking or WAF detected, no suspicious domains linked, and no adult or questionable content. Strategic recommendations include enhancing security headers, publishing a security policy, and maintaining regular audits of third-party libraries to ensure ongoing security and compliance.

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

9 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Email security

    SPF, DKIM and DMARC stop others sending email that looks like it comes from your domain, a common route to phishing and invoice fraud.

    • Critical

      No email authentication configured

      Domain is vulnerable to email spoofing

      What to do: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC immediately

  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

  3. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • High

      No Privacy Policy found

      GDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy

      What to do: Add a comprehensive privacy policy page and link to it prominently

    • 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

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

Keep watching scale-up-vaud.ch

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
52
Security headers
55
Email security
60
DNS health
75
Network security
20
GDPR outside view
35
Average
50

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

Scale Up Vaud occupies a niche as a regional innovation ecosystem facilitator targeting scale-up companies in the technology sector. Its competitive advantage lies in its official backing by Innovaud and its focus on bridging the gap between startup creation and scale-up growth phases. The business model centers on ecosystem support rather than direct commercial services, relying on partnerships and regional economic development initiatives. Revenue streams are not explicit but likely involve public funding and agency budgets. The target customers are scale-up companies, investors, and ecosystem stakeholders in the Vaud region. Growth indicators include the number of scale-ups supported, jobs created, and investment raised. The partnership ecosystem includes Innovaud, vaud-economie.ch, vaud.digital, and venturelab.swiss, reflecting a strong regional collaboration network.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate to good security maturity level. HTTPS is enforced with a presumably strong SSL configuration. Cookie consent is implemented, supporting privacy compliance. However, the absence of security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options represents a gap in defense-in-depth. No incident response or security policy pages are published, which limits transparency and readiness communication. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were found in the content. The WHOIS data is consistent and trustworthy, reducing risk of domain-related fraud. Overall, the security posture is adequate for the business type but can be enhanced by adopting additional best practices and formal policies.

Recommendations

  1. Implement HTTP security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to improve protection against common web attacks.
  2. Publish a clear security policy and incident response contact information to enhance transparency and preparedness.
  3. Conduct regular security audits of third-party libraries and CMS components to identify and remediate vulnerabilities.
  4. Enhance accessibility features to meet higher standards and improve user experience for all visitors.
  5. Maintain and update privacy and cookie policies to ensure ongoing compliance with evolving regulations.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Innovaud
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Innovaud
Description
Scale Up Vaud is an initiative powered by Innovaud, the innovation and investment agency of Canton de Vaud. It supports scale-up companies by reinforcing the innovation ecosystem and catalyzing economic and entrepreneurial strengths in the region.
Key services
Support and networking for scale-ups, Promotion of innovation ecosystem, Job creation facilitation, Investment and growth catalyzation
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery, jQuery UI, Bootstrap 4, Font Awesome 4.7, CKFinder
Frameworks
DotNetNuke (DNN)
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
tarteaucitron.js
Marketing tools
tarteaucitron.js
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 no blocking or WAF challenges.
  2. Content is focused on supporting scale-up companies in the Vaud region.
  3. Clear contact information and social media presence enhance trust.
  4. Use of DotNetNuke CMS and common web libraries indicates standard technology stack.
  5. Cookie consent mechanism is implemented via tarteaucitron.js.
  6. No explicit security headers detected; opportunity for improvement.
  7. No terms of service or explicit security policy pages found.
  8. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt found.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on the DotNetNuke CMS platform, leveraging jQuery, jQuery UI, Bootstrap 4, and Font Awesome for UI and interactivity. It uses CKFinder for file management. The site loads external resources from trusted CDNs such as maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com. Performance is moderate with standard optimizations. Mobile responsiveness is good, supported by Bootstrap's grid system. SEO is supported by proper meta tags including Open Graph and Twitter cards. Accessibility is basic but could be improved. No advanced frameworks or platforms beyond DNN were detected. Hosting provider details are not explicit in the content. Overall, the technical infrastructure is stable and suitable for the site's purpose but could 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

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