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Security report for shabellebank.com

Shabelle Bank · Finance · Ethiopia

High risk. 8 critical or high findings in Network security, Security headers and 2 other checks.

Security score

48/100

Risk levelHigh

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

Shabelle Bank is a licensed commercial bank operating in Ethiopia, specifically targeting the Somali Regional state. It offers a comprehensive range of financial services including retail, SME, corporate banking, treasury, and trade finance, all under Islamic banking principles. The bank positions itself as a leading financial institution in its region with a large branch network and significant customer base. Technically, the website is built on WordPress with modern plugins and themes, providing a good user experience and mobile optimization. Security posture is adequate with HTTPS and domain locking, but lacks advanced DNS security and visible incident response policies. Privacy compliance is basic with a privacy policy present but no cookie consent mechanism. Overall, the site is professional and trustworthy with room for improvement in security and compliance transparency.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 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

8 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: MySQL

      Port 3306 (MySQL) is publicly accessible - MySQL - Database server

      What to do: Immediately restrict access to MySQL 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 shabellebank.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

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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
62
Security headers
15
Email security
85
DNS health
75
Network security
0
GDPR outside view
53
Average
48

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 shabellebank.com, from OffSeq Breach.

No leaked records found

Breach holds no records for shabellebank.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

The bank targets retail and corporate customers in Ethiopia, leveraging Islamic banking to differentiate itself. Its business model focuses on comprehensive banking services including microfinance and mobile banking, indicating a broad market approach. The presence of annual reports and organizational structure pages suggests transparency and governance focus. Partnerships are limited publicly but include social media engagement. The domain age and registration details align with the business claims, supporting credibility. Growth indicators include a large number of branches, agents, and customers. The bank's digital presence is moderate, with opportunities to enhance marketing and compliance visibility.

Security posture

The website employs HTTPS and domain locking with multiple EPP status flags, indicating good baseline security. However, DNSSEC is not enabled, which is a recommended security enhancement. No advanced security headers or explicit security policies are published. There is no visible incident response contact or vulnerability disclosure program. The use of common WordPress plugins necessitates regular security audits to mitigate risks. Overall, the security posture is moderate but could be strengthened by implementing DNSSEC, security headers, and publishing security policies.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC to protect against DNS spoofing and improve domain security.
  2. Implement a cookie consent banner to comply with privacy regulations and enhance user trust.
  3. Publish clear security and incident response policies including contact channels for reporting issues.
  4. Regularly audit and update WordPress plugins and themes to mitigate vulnerabilities.
  5. Add security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Content-Type-Options to harden the website.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Shabelle Bank
Description
Shabelle Bank is a fully licensed commercial bank in Ethiopia, which conducts all its operations under the principles of Islamic banking. The bank offers the full spectrum of financial services, including retail banking, SME banking, corporate banking, treasury, and trade finance services.
Key services
Personal Banking, Corporate Banking, Mobile Banking, Microfinance, SME Banking, Treasury, Trade Finance
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, PHP, jQuery, Slider Revolution, Flatsome theme, Seraphinite Accelerator (performance plugin)
Frameworks
WordPress
Platforms
WordPress CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • Domain locked with multiple EPP status flags

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Site Kit
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Marketing tools
Google Site Kit
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a licensed commercial bank operating under Islamic banking principles in Ethiopia.
  2. Content is professionally presented with clear navigation and multiple service offerings.
  3. No visible cookie consent or detailed privacy compliance mechanisms.
  4. No explicit security or incident response policies published.
  5. WHOIS data shows domain is well-managed and consistent with business claims.
  6. No WAF or blocking mechanisms detected; site fully accessible.
  7. Social media presence limited but includes Facebook.
  8. Uses WordPress CMS with common plugins and themes.
  9. No suspicious or malicious content detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress 6.8.2 using the Flatsome theme and Slider Revolution plugin, supported by jQuery and Seraphinite Accelerator for performance. The site loads moderately fast and is mobile optimized with responsive design. SEO is supported by proper meta tags, Open Graph, and JSON-LD structured data. Hosting details are limited but the domain registrar is GoDaddy.com, LLC. The technical stack is modern but relies on common CMS and plugins which require ongoing maintenance to avoid technical debt and security risks.
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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