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Security report for thetownofcicero.com

Town of Cicero · Government · United States

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS, Security headers and 1 other check.

Security score

55/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Town of Cicero website serves as the official digital presence for the municipal government of Cicero, Illinois. It provides residents and visitors with comprehensive information about town officials, departments, public notices, news, events, and community services. The site emphasizes transparency and accessibility, featuring clear contact information, social media integration, and online service portals. The business model is that of a local government authority focused on public service delivery and community engagement. The website targets local residents and stakeholders, positioning itself as a trusted source for municipal information and services. Technically, the website is built on WordPress 7.0, utilizing modern plugins such as Breakdance for design and EventON for event management. It employs standard web technologies including jQuery and Google Fonts, and integrates third-party services like Vimeo for video content and GTranslate for language translation. The site is mobile-optimized with good navigation and accessibility features, though some improvements in accessibility could be made. Performance is moderate, with room for optimization. From a security perspective, the site benefits from HTTPS encryption and domain transfer protection. However, it lacks DNSSEC and explicit security headers, which are recommended to enhance security posture. Privacy compliance is basic; while a privacy policy is linked, it points externally to Google's policies rather than hosting its own. There is no visible cookie consent mechanism or terms of service page. Incident response and vulnerability disclosure information are absent, which could be improved to bolster trust and compliance. Overall, the website is a well-maintained municipal portal with good content quality and business credibility. Security and privacy practices are adequate but could be enhanced to meet higher standards. The site is safe for general audiences, with no adult or questionable content…

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. 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

  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 thetownofcicero.com

This scan found 24 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
57
Security headers
15
Email security
80
DNS health
80
Network security
40
GDPR outside view
58
Average
55

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 Town of Cicero operates as a local government entity providing essential municipal services to its community. Its market position is that of a trusted public authority with a stable presence since 2003. The website supports multiple departments and community programs, indicating a broad service portfolio. The business model is non-commercial, focused on governance, public safety, community welfare, and civic engagement. Revenue streams are typical of municipal governments, including taxes, fees, and grants. The target customer segment is local residents and businesses. Growth indicators include active news updates, event management, and digital service offerings. The partnership with the Cicero Health Department and integration of social media channels reflect a connected ecosystem. Operationally, the site demonstrates a commitment to transparency and accessibility, though there is opportunity to enhance digital maturity and security compliance.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate security maturity level. HTTPS is properly implemented, ensuring encrypted communications. The domain is protected against unauthorized transfers, which is a positive indicator. However, the absence of DNSSEC leaves the domain vulnerable to DNS spoofing attacks. The lack of security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-XSS-Protection reduces defense-in-depth capabilities. No sensitive data exposure or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. Forms appear standard without advanced security controls visible. Privacy compliance is minimal, with no cookie consent mechanism or dedicated privacy policy hosted on the domain. Incident response readiness and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms are not present, which could hinder timely response to security incidents. Overall, the site is secure enough for its purpose but would benefit from implementing recommended security best practices to reduce risk and improve compliance.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to protect against DNS-based attacks.
  2. Implement HTTP security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-XSS-Protection.
  3. Host a dedicated privacy policy and cookie policy on the website with a user consent mechanism.
  4. Publish a security policy and incident response contact information to improve transparency and readiness.
  5. Regularly audit and update plugins and libraries to mitigate vulnerabilities.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Town of Cicero
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Town of Cicero
Description
Official website of the Town of Cicero, providing information about town officials, departments, news, events, and public services.
Key services
Public notices, Board meetings, Online payments, Service requests, Police tips submission, Community programs, Event calendar
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress 7.0, jQuery 3.7.1, EventON plugin, Breakdance plugin, Google Fonts, Vimeo embeds, GTranslate plugin
Frameworks
WordPress
Platforms
WordPress CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
70/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • ClientTransferProhibited domain status

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Marketing tools
GTranslate
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a municipal government site for Town of Cicero, Illinois.
  2. Content is rich with news, events, and department information.
  3. No privacy or cookie policy explicitly hosted on own domain; privacy policy links to Google policies.
  4. No visible security.txt or vulnerability disclosure.
  5. No explicit security headers detected in HTML content.
  6. Uses WordPress CMS with several plugins for events and design.
  7. Social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (X), Vimeo.
  8. Contact phone and physical address clearly displayed.
  9. No adult or questionable content detected.
  10. No WAF or blocking mechanisms detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern WordPress 7.0 platform with a well-structured theme and plugins such as Breakdance for design flexibility and EventON for event management. It uses jQuery 3.7.1 and Google Fonts for UI enhancement. Video content is embedded via Vimeo, and language translation is provided by the GTranslate plugin. The site loads multiple CSS and JS assets asynchronously and uses lazy loading for images, improving performance. Mobile optimization is good with responsive design breakpoints defined. SEO is supported with canonical tags and meta descriptions. However, no advanced analytics or tracking scripts were detected, indicating minimal user tracking. The hosting provider is not explicitly identified beyond the registrar. Performance is moderate, with potential improvements in caching and asset optimization. Accessibility is basic, with some ARIA labels and screen reader text present but could be enhanced 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

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