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Security report for wordsonthewaves.com.au

Words on the Waves Writers Festival · Non-profit · Australia

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

Security score

54/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Words on the Waves Writers Festival is a small non-profit organization hosting an annual literary festival on the Central Coast of NSW, Australia. The festival features a diverse range of literary events including author talks, workshops, book launches, and family programs, targeting local communities and visitors. The website is professionally designed using WordPress with a modern tech stack and integrates ticketing through a partner domain. The digital infrastructure is mature with good SEO and mobile optimization. Security posture is solid with HTTPS and no exposed sensitive data, though improvements are needed in security headers and privacy compliance. Overall, the website reflects a trustworthy and credible organization with room to enhance privacy and security transparency.

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.

    • Critical

      Unable to retrieve SSL certificate

      Could not establish secure connection to retrieve certificate information

      What to do: Check if the server is accessible and SSL/TLS is properly configured

  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 wordsonthewaves.com.au

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.

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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
0
Security headers
15
Email security
70
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
58
Average
54

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 festival has established a strong regional presence since its founding in 2020, growing to its fifth year in 2025. Its business model revolves around event ticket sales and donations, supported by partnerships and community engagement. The website supports this with clear program information, author lineups, and ticket purchase links. The use of Mailchimp and social media indicates active marketing efforts. The partnership with a dedicated ticketing subdomain suggests a focused approach to event management. The organization benefits from trust signals such as registered charity status and tax-deductible donations, positioning it well within the non-profit cultural sector.

Security posture

The website employs HTTPS with valid SSL certificates, ensuring encrypted communications. However, the absence of key security headers like Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options reduces defense-in-depth. No explicit security or incident response policies are published, which could impact user trust and regulatory compliance. The use of third-party analytics and marketing scripts without visible cookie consent mechanisms may expose the organization to privacy compliance risks, especially under GDPR. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. Overall, the security posture is adequate but could be strengthened by implementing recommended headers and privacy controls.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive cookie consent and privacy banners to enhance GDPR compliance.
  2. Add security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Content-Type-Options, and X-Frame-Options to improve security posture.
  3. Publish a clear security policy and incident response contact information on the website.
  4. Regularly audit third-party scripts and plugins for vulnerabilities and privacy impact.
  5. Enhance transparency by providing data retention policies and user privacy information.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Words on the Waves Writers Festival
Description
Words on the Waves Writers Festival is a celebration of words and ideas set on the scenic Central Coast, NSW, Australia. It features author talks, panels, evening conversation events, writing workshops, local book launches, a literary cruise, family fun day, schools program and more. The 2025 festival runs from May 28 to June 1 with the theme 'burning bright'.
Key services
Writers festival events, Author talks and panels, Workshops, Book launches, Family and schools programs, Ticket sales
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, WooCommerce, WPBakery Page Builder, Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, Mailchimp, jQuery, SiteGround Optimizer
Frameworks
Jupiter WordPress Theme
Platforms
WordPress
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel with async loading

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel
Marketing tools
Mailchimp
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a well-established literary festival site with clear event information and ticketing links.
  2. No direct contact emails or phone numbers visible on homepage; contact form is primary contact method.
  3. No cookie consent banner or explicit cookie policy found, which may affect GDPR compliance.
  4. Use of multiple third-party analytics and marketing tools without explicit user consent.
  5. Good use of structured data (JSON-LD) for SEO and rich snippets.
  6. No visible security headers detected in HTML content; potential area for improvement.
  7. Website uses HTTPS with valid SSL certificates.
  8. Social media presence on Facebook and Instagram is prominently linked.
  9. No visible security or incident response policies published.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress using the Jupiter theme and WPBakery Page Builder, supported by WooCommerce for ticketing integration. It leverages modern web fonts, asynchronous loading of analytics and marketing scripts, and SiteGround hosting optimizations. Performance is moderate with good mobile responsiveness and SEO optimization. Accessibility features are basic and could be improved. The technical stack is standard for event-based non-profit organizations, providing a balance of functionality and ease of management. Opportunities exist to modernize accessibility and security features to align with best practices.
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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