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Security report for shadowserver.org

The Shadowserver Foundation · Non-profit · N/a

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

73/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Shadowserver Foundation is a well-established nonprofit organization dedicated to improving Internet security globally by providing free, actionable cyber threat intelligence and remediation reports. Their services target network providers, national governments, law enforcement, and industry sectors, positioning them as a key player in the cybersecurity nonprofit space. The website reflects a professional and consistent brand image with comprehensive content and strong trust indicators such as media coverage and partnerships. Technically, the website is built on WordPress 6.8.3 with modern web technologies including Google reCAPTCHA for form security and Google Fonts for typography. The site is mobile-optimized, accessible, and SEO-friendly, with moderate performance. Security best practices are observed with HTTPS enforced and GDPR-compliant cookie consent mechanisms, although explicit security headers and a dedicated security policy page are absent. The security posture is strong with no visible vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data. However, the absence of a security.txt file and incident response contact details suggests room for improvement in vulnerability disclosure and incident management transparency. WHOIS data is unavailable due to privacy protection, which is justified for this nonprofit entity. Overall, the website is trustworthy, secure, and professionally maintained. Strategic recommendations include enhancing security headers, publishing a formal security policy and incident response contacts, and implementing a security.txt file to facilitate vulnerability reporting. These steps will further strengthen the organization's security posture and stakeholder trust.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
65/ 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

6 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 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';…

  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 shadowserver.org

This scan found 20 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

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
72
Security headers
15
Email security
98
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
65
Average
73

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

Shadowserver operates as a nonprofit cybersecurity organization providing free threat intelligence and remediation services globally. Their market position is strong as the largest provider of such services, supported by partnerships with governments and law enforcement. The business model relies on sponsorships, grants, and donations, focusing on public benefit rather than commercial revenue. Their target customers include national CSIRTs, industry sectors, and law enforcement agencies. The organization demonstrates growth through active news updates and collaborative projects. The partnership ecosystem includes NGOs and cybersecurity institutes, enhancing their reach and impact.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, use of Google reCAPTCHA to protect forms, and GDPR-compliant cookie consent. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. However, the lack of explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and absence of a published security policy or incident response contacts are gaps. The missing security.txt file limits formal vulnerability disclosure channels. Overall, the security culture appears strong but could benefit from enhanced transparency and formalized security documentation.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and enforce security headers like Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  2. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response contact information on the website.
  3. Create and maintain a security.txt file to facilitate responsible vulnerability disclosure.
  4. Enhance transparency by providing direct contact emails or phone numbers for security and general inquiries.
  5. Regularly audit and update third-party libraries and plugins to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
The Shadowserver Foundation
Description
The Shadowserver Foundation is a nonprofit security organization working altruistically behind the scenes to make the Internet more secure for everyone.
Key services
Threat data collection, Daily remediation reports, Cybersecurity capacity building, Support to law enforcement, Network security reporting
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress 6.8.3, Google reCAPTCHA v3, Google Fonts, JavaScript, CSS3
Frameworks
WordPress
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of Google reCAPTCHA for forms
  • Cookie consent banner for GDPR compliance

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Transparency
basic

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 rich, professional, and focused on cybersecurity nonprofit activities
  3. No exposed sensitive data or security vulnerabilities detected in HTML content
  4. Strong GDPR compliance with cookie consent and privacy policy
  5. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found; contact via form only
  6. Social media presence on Twitter, LinkedIn, Mastodon, Bluesky, and X
  7. Use of modern web technologies and WordPress CMS
  8. No explicit security.txt or vulnerability disclosure page found
  9. WHOIS data is unavailable due to malformed request or privacy protection
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern WordPress CMS platform with version 6.8.3, leveraging Google Fonts and Google reCAPTCHA v3 for enhanced user experience and security. The site uses JavaScript and CSS3 for dynamic content and styling. Performance is moderate with good mobile optimization and accessibility features. SEO is well addressed with proper meta tags and structured navigation. No hosting provider details were identified from the HTML content. The technical implementation is solid but could be improved by adding explicit security headers and optimizing performance further.
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. 71/100Medium26 findingsView report
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