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Security report for shielded.co.nz

Women’s Refuge · Non-profit · New Zealand

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

Security score

61/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Shielded Site, operated by Women’s Refuge, is a New Zealand-based non-profit initiative focused on providing a safe and discreet way for victims of domestic violence to seek help online. The website serves as a platform to embed a shielded help tool on partner websites, enabling victims to access resources without fear of detection by abusive partners. The organization has established a broad partnership network across various sectors in New Zealand, enhancing its reach and credibility. Technically, the website employs a modern JavaScript stack including Vue.js, Bootstrap, and several libraries for UI and interactivity. Hosting is supported by Amazon AWS infrastructure, ensuring reliable availability. The site is mobile-optimized and provides a good user experience with clear navigation and relevant content. However, some areas such as accessibility and SEO could be improved. From a security perspective, the site uses HTTPS and trusted external libraries but lacks DNSSEC and security headers, which are recommended to enhance protection. No sensitive data exposure or vulnerabilities were detected. Privacy compliance is partial, with a privacy policy present but no cookie consent mechanism. Contact information is limited to an email address, with no phone or physical address provided. Overall, the website is trustworthy and professionally maintained, with a strong focus on its social mission. Strategic improvements in security headers, DNSSEC, and privacy compliance would further strengthen its posture and user trust.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
58/ 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 shielded.co.nz

This scan found 27 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.

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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
62
Security headers
15
Email security
70
DNS health
60
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
58
Average
61

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 Shielded Site operates as a social impact project under Women’s Refuge, targeting victims of domestic violence in New Zealand. Its business model is non-profit and partnership-driven, leveraging collaborations with numerous reputable companies and government agencies to embed its shielded help tool across multiple websites. This approach amplifies its reach and impact without direct revenue generation. The organization benefits from grant funding, notably from the dōTERRA Healing Hands Foundation, ensuring sustainability. The target audience includes victims seeking discreet help and businesses willing to support the cause. The extensive partner ecosystem reflects strong market positioning and community trust.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate security maturity level. HTTPS is enforced, and no sensitive data leaks were found. However, the absence of DNSSEC and security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and Strict-Transport-Security represents gaps that could be exploited. No vulnerability disclosures or incident response contacts are published, limiting transparency. Privacy compliance is partial, lacking cookie consent mechanisms. The use of reputable third-party libraries and hosting on AWS are positive indicators. Overall, the security posture is adequate for the site’s purpose but could be enhanced with recommended best practices.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to protect against DNS spoofing and improve DNS security.
  2. Implement essential security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security to harden the website against common attacks.
  3. Add a cookie consent banner and detailed cookie policy to comply with privacy regulations and improve user trust.
  4. Publish a formal security policy and incident response contact information to enhance transparency and preparedness.
  5. Regularly audit and update third-party libraries to mitigate risks from known vulnerabilities.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Women’s Refuge
Description
The Shielded Site provides support for victims of abuse, enabling them to seek help safely without their browsing history revealing their activity. It is a tool designed to help victims of domestic violence access resources and support discreetly.
Key services
Providing a shielded portal for victims of abuse, Partnering with businesses to embed support tools, Offering resources and live chat support, Raising awareness about domestic violence and technology risks
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, jQuery, Bootstrap, Vue.js, CreateJS, Slick Carousel, Clipboard.js
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of external trusted libraries

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is an official project of Women’s Refuge, a reputable New Zealand non-profit.
  2. Strong partnership network with numerous New Zealand companies and government entities.
  3. Focus on providing a shielded, safe way for victims of domestic violence to seek help online.
  4. No visible forms collecting personal data on the main page; contact is via live chat and email.
  5. No cookie consent banner or explicit cookie policy found.
  6. Use of modern JavaScript libraries and frameworks for UI and interactivity.
  7. No security headers detected in the provided data; DNSSEC not enabled.
  8. Google Analytics is used for traffic analysis.
  9. No signs of adult or explicit content; content is safe for general audiences.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern front-end technology stack with Vue.js, Bootstrap, jQuery, and CreateJS for animations. It leverages Slick Carousel for partner logos and Clipboard.js for copy functionality. Hosting is on Amazon AWS, indicated by the DNS servers. The site is mobile responsive and includes accessibility improvements, though these could be further enhanced. SEO is basic with proper meta tags and Open Graph data but lacks structured data like JSON-LD. Performance is moderate, with asynchronous loading of analytics scripts. There is no detected CMS, suggesting a custom or static site build. Technical debt appears low, but improvements in security headers and privacy mechanisms are recommended.
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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