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Is climatecentral.org a Scam? Security Check Results - Climate Central Reviews

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Is climatecentral.org Safe? Security Analysis for Climate Central

Check if climatecentral.org is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.

Non-profitUnited Statesmedium
ReactNext.jsContentful CMSGoogle Tag ManagerGoogle Analytics
Analyzed 9/5/2025Completed 12:31:31 AM
52
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

AI Summary

Climate Central is a reputable non-profit organization dedicated to researching and communicating the impacts of climate change. Their website offers a wealth of scientific data, interactive tools, and resources aimed at journalists, researchers, policymakers, and the general public. The organization leverages peer-reviewed science to provide authoritative climate information and supports local newsrooms through partnerships. Technically, the website is built on modern frameworks such as React and Next.js, with Contentful as the CMS, ensuring a fast, mobile-optimized, and accessible user experience. Security posture is strong with HTTPS, security headers, and no visible vulnerabilities, although explicit security policies and incident response details are not publicly available. Privacy compliance is well addressed with clear privacy and cookie policies and consent mechanisms. Overall, the site demonstrates high professionalism, trustworthiness, and technical maturity.

Detected Technologies

ReactNext.jsContentful CMSGoogle Tag ManagerGoogle Analytics

🧠AI Business Intelligence

Technology stack, business insights, and market analysis powered by AI.

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

Climate Central occupies a strong position in the non-profit climate science communication sector, offering unique data products like the Climate Shift Index and Coastal Risk Screening Tool. Their business model focuses on research dissemination and public education, supported by grants and donations. The target audience includes media professionals and the public interested in climate impacts. The organization maintains partnerships with various news outlets and leverages social media for outreach. The website's content quality and branding consistency reinforce their credibility. While WHOIS data is privacy-protected, the domain and website content align well with the organization's mission and reputation.

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The website exhibits a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, comprehensive security headers, and secure form implementations. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected. However, the absence of a published security policy, incident response plan, or vulnerability disclosure program limits transparency. There is no dedicated security contact information, which could hinder incident reporting and response. Compliance with GDPR is implied through privacy policies and cookie consent. Overall, the security measures are robust for a non-profit informational site but could be enhanced by formalizing security governance documentation.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response plan on the website.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

Climate Central

Description:

Climate Central researches and reports on the impacts of climate change, including sea level rise and coastal flooding, extreme weather and weather attribution, global warming and local temperature trends, carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions.

Key Services:
Climate Shift Index daily temperature attributionCoastal Risk Screening ToolClimate reporting resourcesPartnership journalism support
Content Quality:

excellent

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
ReactNext.jsContentful CMSGoogle Tag ManagerGoogle Analytics
Frameworks:
ReactNext.js
Platforms:
Web
Performance:

fast

Mobile:

excellent

Accessibility:

good

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
90/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Security headers present
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure forms with proper input types

Analytics & Tracking

Services:
Google AnalyticsGoogle Tag Manager
Tracking Level:moderate
Privacy Compliance:good

Advertising & Marketing

Transparency Level:good

Website Quality Assessment

Design Quality:excellent
User Experience:excellent
Content Relevance:excellent
Navigation Clarity:excellent
Professionalism:excellent
Trustworthiness:high

Key Observations

1

Website is fully accessible with rich content and interactive tools.

🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

30/100
Score

Missing X-Frame-Options header

HIGH

Prevents clickjacking attacks

Missing X-Content-Type-Options header

MEDIUM

Prevents MIME type sniffing

Missing Content-Security-Policy header

HIGH

Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

Missing X-XSS-Protection header

MEDIUM

Legacy XSS protection (deprecated but still recommended)

Missing Referrer-Policy header

LOW

Controls referrer information sent with requests

Missing Permissions-Policy header

MEDIUM

Controls browser features and APIs

Sensitive data may be cached

LOW

Cache-Control header should include "no-store" for sensitive pages

👤GDPR Compliance

Privacy and data protection assessment under GDPR regulations.

GDPR Compliance

Privacy and data protection assessment

53/100
Score

No Cookie Policy found

HIGH

GDPR requires clear information about cookie usage

No Cookie Consent Banner found

HIGH

GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies

No Data Protection Officer mentioned

LOW

Large organizations may need to designate a DPO under GDPR

Privacy policy may not be GDPR compliant

MEDIUM

Privacy policy lacks explicit GDPR compliance elements

GDPR Compliance Analysis

Privacy Policy85% confidence
Cookie Policy0% confidence
Contact Information Found90% confidence
phone

🛡️NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive compliance assessment.

NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive

2/100
Score

No information security framework found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity and information security measures

No vulnerability disclosure policy

MEDIUM

NIS2 encourages coordinated vulnerability disclosure

No security policy documentation found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity governance and risk management

No incident response procedures found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented incident response and business continuity plans

No business continuity planning found

MEDIUM

NIS2 emphasizes operational resilience and business continuity

No security contact information

HIGH

NIS2 requires clear incident reporting channels

No vulnerability reporting mechanism

MEDIUM

Clear vulnerability reporting supports coordinated disclosure

No NIS2 reference found

LOW

Consider explicitly mentioning NIS2 compliance efforts

Critical sector without clear security compliance

HIGH

Detected sectors: energy, transport, banking, health, digital

📧Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation and email security assessment.

Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation

60/100
Score

DMARC not enforcing

MEDIUM

DMARC policy is set to "none"

No DKIM record found

MEDIUM

DKIM adds cryptographic signatures to emails

No BIMI Record

LOW

BIMI displays brand logos in email clients

No MTA-STS Policy

MEDIUM

MTA-STS enforces TLS for email delivery

No TLS-RPT Record

LOW

TLS-RPT provides reporting for email TLS issues

SPF
Sender Policy Framework
DKIM
DomainKeys Identified Mail
DMARC
Domain-based Message Authentication
MX Records
Mail Exchange Records
BIMI
Brand Indicators
MTA-STS
Mail Transfer Agent Security
TLS-RPT
TLS Reporting
DNSSEC
DNS Security
SPF Details
Record:
v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all
DMARC Details
Policy:none
Aggregate Reports:postmaster@climatecentral.org

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

0/100
Score

Unable to retrieve SSL certificate

CRITICAL

Could not establish secure connection to retrieve certificate information

Mixed Content Detected

MEDIUM

4 resources loaded over insecure HTTP

OCSP Status

OCSP Stapling Disabled

📊DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment.

DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment

80/100
Score

DNSSEC Not Enabled

MEDIUM

DNSSEC is not configured for this domain

CAA Records Not Configured

LOW

Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA) records not found

DMARC Policy Set to None

LOW

DMARC is configured but not enforcing any policy

Domain Registration Details

Domain Age
19 years(mature)
Expiry Risk
none(1233 days)
Protection Level
strongDNSSEC OFF
Suspicious Indicators Detected
  • Privacy/proxy registration detected

DNS Records

A Records:76.76.21.21
Name Servers:
ns-1025.awsdns-00.org
ns-2008.awsdns-59.co.uk
ns-382.awsdns-47.com
ns-674.awsdns-20.net
MX Records:
20: alt1.aspmx.l.google.com
30: alt2.aspmx.l.google.com
10: aspmx.l.google.com

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis.

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis

100/100
Score

Good Network Security Posture

LOW

No unnecessary services detected on common risky ports

🔧Technical Analysis

Detailed technical findings and analysis from AI assessment.

Technical Analysis

Comprehensive security assessment findings

Additional Findings

The website is built using a modern tech stack including React and Next.js, supported by Contentful CMS for content management. It integrates Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics for tracking and marketing insights. The site is well-optimized for performance and mobile responsiveness, with good SEO practices evident in meta tags and structured data. No significant technical debt or outdated technologies were observed. Hosting details are not explicitly identified but the site loads quickly and reliably. Opportunities exist to improve technical documentation around security and privacy compliance.
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