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Security report for scripps.edu

The Scripps Research Institute · Healthcare · United States

High risk. 9 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, SSL/TLS and 1 other check.

Security score

42/100

Risk levelHigh

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

The Scripps Research Institute is a well-established nonprofit research organization focused on pioneering scientific discovery and translational medicine to address major health challenges. With a century-long history and a strong reputation in the life sciences, it combines fundamental research with drug discovery and education. The website reflects a professional and content-rich platform targeting researchers, donors, and students. Technically, the site uses modern frameworks like Vue.js and integrates analytics and marketing tools such as Google Tag Manager and Klaviyo. However, the lack of a valid SSL certificate significantly impacts the security posture, exposing visitors to risks and undermining trust. No explicit privacy or cookie policies were found, and security policies or incident response contacts are absent, indicating compliance gaps. Overall, the site is credible and authoritative but requires urgent security improvements to protect user data and enhance trust.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
0/ 100 · Critical
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. GDPR outside view

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

    • Critical

      No HTTPS encryption

      GDPR requires appropriate security measures for personal data

      What to do: Implement SSL/TLS certificate for HTTPS

  2. 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

      No HTTPS Encryption

      Website does not use HTTPS encryption, making all data transmission vulnerable to interception

      What to do: Implement SSL/TLS certificate and redirect all HTTP traffic to HTTPS

  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';…

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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
50
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
0
Average
42

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

Scripps Research holds a top-tier position in the global research community, recognized for innovation and excellence. Its business model leverages licensing revenues from drug discoveries to sustain and amplify research efforts, creating a self-renewing funding mechanism. The organization targets scientific professionals, students, and healthcare partners, supported by a comprehensive educational arm and translational institutes. The website's extensive content and structured navigation support these goals, while social media presence across major platforms enhances outreach. Partnerships and subsidiaries like Calibr-Skaggs and the Skaggs Graduate School reinforce its ecosystem. The domain registration and WHOIS data align with the organization's profile, confirming legitimacy and consistency.

Security posture

The website currently lacks a valid SSL certificate, resulting in no HTTPS protection, which is a critical security flaw. No HSTS or advanced SSL features are enabled, and security headers are minimal. While no known vulnerabilities or subdomain takeover risks were detected, the absence of secure transport and security policies exposes the site and its users to potential threats. The use of third-party scripts and marketing tools without clear privacy or security disclosures further complicates the risk profile. Incident response mechanisms and security contact information are not provided, limiting the organization's ability to respond to security events effectively. Immediate remediation of SSL and security policy implementation is recommended.

Recommendations

  1. Obtain and deploy a valid SSL/TLS certificate to enable HTTPS across the entire site.
  2. Implement HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) with includeSubDomains and preload directives.
  3. Add comprehensive security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  4. Publish clear privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms to comply with GDPR and other regulations.
  5. Establish and publicize incident response and vulnerability disclosure policies with dedicated contact channels.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
The Scripps Research Institute
Technical notes

Notes

The website is hosted on an Apache server with a single IPv4 address and uses Outlook for email services. It employs Vue.js for frontend interactivity and Google Fonts for typography. Analytics and marketing integrations include Google Tag Manager and Klaviyo. The site lacks a CMS indication but uses custom scripts and stylesheets. Performance metrics are missing, but the site appears content-rich and mobile-optimized. DNS records show multiple authoritative nameservers, but DNSSEC and CAA are not enabled, which could be improved. The absence of SSL and modern security configurations represents a technical risk. Overall, the infrastructure is standard but requires modernization in security and performance monitoring.
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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