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Security report for scec.org

Statewide California Earthquake Center · Education · United States

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in Security headers and GDPR outside view.

Security score

70/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Statewide California Earthquake Center (SCEC) is a reputable research and educational organization focused on earthquake science and preparedness in California. The website serves as a comprehensive portal for scientific research, community earth models, educational programs, and event information. It targets researchers, educators, students, policymakers, and the general public interested in seismic hazards and risk reduction. The organization maintains a professional online presence with clear navigation and consistent branding. Technically, the website is built on WordPress with Elementor and uses modern web technologies including Bootstrap and jQuery. It integrates Google Analytics and New Relic for performance and usage monitoring. The site is mobile-optimized and performs moderately well, though there is room for improvement in accessibility and security headers. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and uses monitoring tools but lacks explicit security headers and a cookie consent mechanism. No WHOIS data is available, likely due to privacy protection, which limits domain registration trust analysis. No vulnerability disclosure or incident response information is published, which could be improved to enhance transparency and security posture. Overall, the website is trustworthy and professional, with a solid foundation for further enhancements in privacy compliance and security best practices. The absence of WHOIS data is mitigated by the site's quality and social presence, indicating legitimate operation.

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

4 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 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';…

  2. 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

    • 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 scec.org

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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
95
Security headers
25
Email security
70
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
58
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

SCEC holds a strong position as a specialized research center in earthquake science within California. Its business model is non-profit and education-focused, providing scientific data, community models, and training resources. The organization collaborates with academic and governmental partners, as evidenced by its partner domain central.scec.org. Revenue streams likely include grants and educational funding. The target audience spans academia, government, and the public. The website's content and structure reflect a mature digital presence with consistent branding and trust signals such as privacy policies and social media engagement. Growth opportunities include expanding digital outreach and enhancing compliance features.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate security maturity level with HTTPS enforced and use of monitoring tools like New Relic. However, it lacks several security best practices such as security headers (CSP, X-Frame-Options), a cookie consent mechanism, and published incident response contacts. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the analysis. The absence of WHOIS data limits domain trust verification but is common for privacy-conscious organizations. Compliance with GDPR is partially indicated by the privacy policy but could be strengthened with explicit cookie consent and data protection officer contact information. Overall, the security posture is adequate but could benefit from targeted improvements to reduce risk and enhance user trust.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  2. Add a cookie consent banner/mechanism to comply with GDPR and other privacy regulations.
  3. Publish a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting.
  4. Provide clear incident response contact information, including security or abuse email addresses.
  5. Enhance accessibility features to meet WCAG standards and improve user experience for all visitors.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Statewide California Earthquake Center
Description
The Statewide California Earthquake Center (SCEC) is a research organization focused on earthquake science and preparedness in California. It provides scientific research, community earth models, computing resources, and educational programs related to earthquake hazards and risk reduction.
Key services
Earthquake research, Community Earth Models, Data management, Educational internships and travel awards, Workshops and trainings, Preparedness information
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Elementor, jQuery, Google Fonts, Google Analytics, New Relic Browser monitoring
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Platforms
WordPress CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data detected
  • Use of security monitoring scripts (New Relic)

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, New Relic
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 no blocking or WAF challenge.
  2. WHOIS data is unavailable or protected, limiting domain registration analysis.
  3. Privacy policy is present and comprehensive; cookie consent mechanism is missing.
  4. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly found on the homepage or header.
  5. Social media links are present for major platforms.
  6. Website uses modern technologies and monitoring tools.
  7. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure found.
  8. No explicit security policy or incident response information found.
  9. Content is safe and appropriate for general audiences.
  10. Navigation menus are clear and well-structured.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a WordPress CMS platform using the Elementor page builder and Bootstrap framework, supported by jQuery and Google Fonts. It integrates Google Analytics and New Relic for analytics and performance monitoring. The site uses HTTPS with a valid SSL certificate, ensuring encrypted communications. Performance is moderate with some optimization potential. Mobile responsiveness is good, but accessibility features are basic and could be improved. No outdated or vulnerable libraries were detected in the scripts loaded. The technical infrastructure supports a professional and functional user experience but would benefit from enhanced security configurations and privacy compliance mechanisms.
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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