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Security report for science.org

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) · Education · United States

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in Email security, Security headers and 1 other check.

Security score

72/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The website www.science.org is the official online presence of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), a leading global scientific publisher and association. It offers peer-reviewed journals, scientific news, expert commentary, and career resources targeted at researchers, academics, and science professionals. The site supports a subscription and membership business model, providing exclusive content and community access to members. The brand is well-established with consistent and professional presentation, reflecting its enterprise-level stature in the education and media sectors. Technically, the site employs a modern technology stack including JavaScript frameworks, Google Tag Manager, Adobe DTM, and Cloudflare Insights for performance and analytics. It is hosted likely behind Cloudflare, ensuring fast loading and robust security. The site is mobile-optimized, accessible, and SEO-friendly, with structured data enhancing search engine understanding. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS, implements multiple security headers, and uses cookie consent mechanisms aligned with GDPR compliance. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. However, explicit security policies and incident response information are not publicly detailed, representing an area for improvement. Overall, the website demonstrates a strong security posture, excellent content quality, and good privacy compliance. The lack of WHOIS data is attributed to privacy protection and does not detract from the site's legitimacy given its well-known institutional backing. Strategic recommendations include publishing detailed security policies, vulnerability disclosure mechanisms, and enhancing security contact information to further strengthen trust and compliance.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
100/ 100 · Low
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. 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

    • High

      No SPF record found

      SPF helps prevent email spoofing

      What to do: Add SPF record: "v=spf1 include:_spf.yourmailprovider.com ~all"

  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 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. 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

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

Keep watching science.org

This scan found 20 issues across 5 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.

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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
57
Security headers
65
Email security
40
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
100
Average
72

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

AAAS holds a dominant position in the academic publishing market, leveraging its flagship journal Science and several partner journals. Its business model revolves around memberships, subscriptions, and providing authoritative scientific content. The target audience includes scientists, educators, policymakers, and students globally. The organization benefits from a strong brand, extensive partnerships, and a comprehensive digital ecosystem. Growth indicators include active promotion of membership benefits and integration of career resources. The site’s partnership domains and advertising practices reflect a mature marketing and outreach strategy supporting revenue diversification.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, comprehensive security headers, and cookie consent aligned with GDPR. The use of Cloudflare and Adobe DTM indicates professional security and tag management practices. No direct vulnerabilities or sensitive data leaks were found. However, the absence of a public security policy, incident response plan, or vulnerability disclosure program limits transparency. The WHOIS privacy protection is justified for this type of organization. Overall, the security culture appears strong but could benefit from enhanced public documentation and dedicated security contact channels.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a detailed security policy and incident response plan accessible from the website footer or legal section.
  2. Implement and publicize a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  3. Add explicit security contact information such as security@ or abuse@ email addresses.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and libraries to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
  5. Maintain and update WHOIS registration data to improve transparency and trust.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Description
Science/AAAS peer-reviewed journals deliver impactful research, daily news, expert commentary, and career resources.
Key services
Scientific journals publication, News and commentary on science, Career resources for scientists, Membership benefits
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, React (likely), Google Tag Manager, Adobe DTM, OneSignal, Cloudflare Insights, Moment.js, Swiper.js
Frameworks
Bootstrap (navbar classes), Adobe Dynamic Tag Management
Platforms
Web
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of security headers
  • Cookie consent mechanism
  • No exposed sensitive data detected

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Facebook Analytics, Twitter Analytics, Cloudflare Insights
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Google DoubleClick, Semetric Media
Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel, Twitter Universal Website Tag, Google Analytics (via GTM)
Marketing tools
Adobe DTM, OneSignal Web Push
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenges.
  2. Content is professionally presented with strong academic focus.
  3. Robust privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms are implemented.
  4. WHOIS data is unavailable, likely due to privacy protection or registry restrictions.
  5. Multiple trusted third-party services and ad networks are used responsibly.
  6. No security or privacy critical issues detected in the visible content.
  7. No explicit or adult content present; site is safe for general audiences.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern, performant technology stack with extensive use of JavaScript, asynchronous loading, and third-party integrations for analytics and marketing. It uses responsive design frameworks and accessibility best practices. Hosting behind Cloudflare provides performance and security benefits. The site demonstrates good SEO practices with meta tags, Open Graph, and JSON-LD structured data. Technical debt appears low, but continuous monitoring of third-party dependencies is recommended to avoid security risks. Overall, the infrastructure supports a high-quality user experience and robust operational stability.
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. 69/100Medium29 findingsView report
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