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Security report for thesignalsnetwork.org

The Signals Network · Non-profit · N/a

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in Security headers and SSL/TLS.

Security score

72/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Signals Network is a small non-profit organization dedicated to supporting whistleblowers and coordinating international media investigations focused on corporate misconduct and human rights abuses. The organization positions itself as a trusted intermediary for whistleblowers and media, emphasizing accountability and public good. The website reflects this mission with professional design and relevant content targeting whistleblowers, journalists, and the public. Technically, the website is built on WordPress using the Avada theme, hosted on DigitalOcean, and employs modern performance optimizations such as WP Rocket and lazy loading. It integrates several marketing and analytics tools including Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and LinkedIn Insight Tag. Mobile optimization and SEO practices are good, though accessibility is basic. From a security perspective, the site uses HTTPS with a good SSL configuration and enforces client transfer protection on the domain. However, DNSSEC is not enabled and security headers are minimal or absent. There is no visible security policy or vulnerability disclosure mechanism, and no explicit incident response contacts. Cookie consent is implemented via Termly with auto-blocking, indicating some privacy compliance effort. Overall, the website is trustworthy and professional with a solid business credibility score. Security posture is moderate with room for improvement in headers and disclosure policies. Privacy compliance is basic due to missing explicit privacy and terms pages. Recommendations include enabling DNSSEC, adding security headers, publishing security and privacy policies, and providing direct contact channels for security incidents.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
83/ 100 · Low
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

4 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. 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 thesignalsnetwork.org

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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
72
Security headers
15
Email security
80
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
83
Average
72

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 Signals Network operates in the non-profit sector, focusing on whistleblower support and investigative journalism coordination. Its market position is niche but important, serving whistleblowers and media organizations globally. The business model is service-oriented, relying on advocacy and support rather than commercial revenue. The organization is relatively young, founded in 2018, and maintains a consistent brand presence online. Partnerships are implied through social media and media coordination but no explicit partner domains were identified. The website content and structure support its mission effectively, targeting a specialized audience with relevant services.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate security maturity level. HTTPS is enforced with a reputable hosting provider (DigitalOcean). The domain is protected with clientTransferProhibited status and WHOIS privacy, which is justified for a non-profit. However, the absence of DNSSEC and security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options reduces the security posture. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure policy is present, limiting transparency for security researchers. Incident response contact information is missing, which could delay handling of security issues. Cookie consent is implemented, supporting privacy compliance. Overall, the site is secure enough for its purpose but could benefit from enhanced security controls and transparency.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement essential security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options, and Referrer-Policy.
  3. Publish a clear security policy and vulnerability disclosure page to encourage responsible reporting.
  4. Add explicit incident response contact channels such as security@ or abuse@ email addresses.
  5. Enhance privacy compliance by publishing a comprehensive privacy policy and terms of service pages.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
The Signals Network
Description
TSN is a whistleblower support organization that exists to help support the brave whistleblowers who come forward for the public good.
Key services
Whistleblower support, Coordination of international media investigations, Advocacy for corporate accountability and human rights
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Avada Theme, jQuery, WP Rocket, Keela Forms, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Termly Cookie Consent
Frameworks
Avada WordPress Theme
Platforms
WordPress
Performance
fast
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
70/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • ClientTransferProhibited domain status
  • Use of privacy service for WHOIS
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
LinkedIn Insight Tag
Marketing tools
Termly Cookie Consent
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professionally designed WordPress site using Avada theme.
  2. Content is focused on whistleblower support and media coordination.
  3. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found; contact via embedded form.
  4. Cookie consent is implemented via Termly with auto-blocking.
  5. No explicit privacy policy or terms of service pages detected in the provided content.
  6. Security headers are minimal; DNSSEC not enabled.
  7. Use of multiple analytics and tracking tools including Google Analytics and LinkedIn Insight.
  8. WHOIS privacy protection is enabled, typical for privacy-conscious organizations.
  9. No signs of adult or questionable content.
  10. No WAF or blocking mechanisms detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a mature WordPress CMS platform using the Avada theme, which is widely used and supported. Hosting on DigitalOcean provides reliable infrastructure. Performance is optimized with WP Rocket caching and lazy loading scripts. The site uses modern fonts and responsive design for good mobile experience. Analytics and marketing integrations are standard and well implemented. Accessibility is basic but could be improved. The lack of DNSSEC and security headers represents technical debt in security. Overall, the technical infrastructure is solid with opportunities for modernization in security and accessibility.
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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