Skip to main content

Security report for shakeout.org

Statewide California Earthquake Center (SCEC) · Government · United States

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

69/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drills website is a globally recognized platform dedicated to earthquake preparedness and safety education. It facilitates registration and participation in earthquake drills across multiple regions worldwide, targeting individuals, schools, organizations, and emergency management agencies. The site is affiliated with reputable institutions such as the Statewide California Earthquake Center (SCEC) and the University of Southern California (USC), enhancing its credibility and market position as a leading non-profit public safety initiative. Technically, the website employs standard web technologies including jQuery and Google Analytics, with a moderate performance profile and basic mobile optimization. While the site is well-structured with clear navigation and professional design, there is room for improvement in accessibility and security best practices, such as implementing security headers and cookie consent mechanisms to enhance privacy compliance. From a security perspective, the site uses HTTPS (implied by URLs) and does not expose sensitive data in its HTML content. However, the absence of WHOIS registration details and security headers slightly reduces trustworthiness. No critical vulnerabilities or adult content were detected, and the site maintains a high level of content safety suitable for general audiences. Overall, the website presents a trustworthy and professional front for earthquake preparedness education but would benefit from enhanced privacy and security measures to align with modern compliance standards and improve user trust.

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

5 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 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

  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

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

Keep watching shakeout.org

This scan found 23 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.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. See sample alerts.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

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
30
Email security
85
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
69

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

The Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drills program operates as a non-profit initiative primarily in the government and emergency management sectors. Its business model focuses on public safety awareness through coordinated earthquake drills and educational resources. The platform boasts a large global user base with over 52 million participants, indicating strong market penetration and community engagement. Strategic partnerships with federal agencies (FEMA, USGS), academic institutions (USC, SCEC), and international organizations reinforce its authoritative position. Revenue streams likely derive from grants, sponsorships, and institutional support rather than commercial sales. The program's growth is supported by regional coordinators and a broad ecosystem of partners, positioning it as a critical player in disaster preparedness education worldwide.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate security maturity level. HTTPS is enforced, and no sensitive data leakage is evident. However, the lack of security headers such as Content Security Policy (CSP), HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS), and X-Frame-Options represents a gap in defense-in-depth strategies. The absence of a published vulnerability disclosure policy and incident response contacts limits transparency and preparedness for security incidents. Privacy compliance is partial, with no cookie consent mechanism detected, which may expose the organization to regulatory risks under GDPR or similar frameworks. Overall, the security posture is adequate for informational content but requires enhancements to meet best practices and regulatory expectations.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive security headers including CSP, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options to strengthen site security.
  2. Deploy a cookie consent banner and update privacy policies to explicitly address GDPR and other privacy regulations.
  3. Publish a vulnerability disclosure policy and provide clear incident response contact information to improve transparency and security readiness.
  4. Enhance mobile responsiveness and accessibility features to improve user experience across devices and for users with disabilities.
  5. Regularly review and update WHOIS registration information to maintain domain trustworthiness and compliance.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Statewide California Earthquake Center (SCEC)
Description
Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drills help people in homes, schools, and organizations worldwide improve preparedness and practice how to be safe during earthquakes. The site facilitates registration and participation in earthquake drills globally.
Key services
Earthquake drill registration, Educational resources, Regional coordination, Public awareness campaigns
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery, Google Analytics, JavaScript, CSS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
basic
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
70/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced (implied by URLs)
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a well-established earthquake preparedness drill platform with global reach.
  2. No WHOIS data available, limiting domain registration trust analysis.
  3. No explicit privacy or cookie consent banners detected, GDPR compliance partial.
  4. No visible security headers in HTML source; HTTPS usage implied but not confirmed.
  5. Site uses standard JavaScript libraries and Google Analytics for tracking.
  6. No forms collecting sensitive personal data detected on main page.
  7. Social media presence is active with official Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube links.
  8. Content is safe and suitable for general audiences.
  9. Site navigation and content structure are clear and user-friendly.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built using traditional web technologies such as jQuery and standard JavaScript, with CSS for styling. Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager are used for user tracking and analytics. The site lacks modern JavaScript frameworks or CMS indications, suggesting a custom or legacy build. Performance is moderate with basic mobile optimization detected. Accessibility features are minimal but present. The absence of security headers and cookie consent mechanisms indicates technical debt in security and privacy compliance. Hosting provider details are not discernible from the content. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports the site's functional requirements but would benefit from modernization and enhanced security controls.
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

Reviews of this site

Share your experience with shakeout.org. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review shakeout.org.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.