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Is ifes.at a Scam? Security Check Results - Institut für empirische Sozialforschung Reviews

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Is ifes.at Safe? Security Analysis for Institut für empirische Sozialforschung

Check if ifes.at is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.

EducationAustriasmall
JavaScriptjQuery (custom implementation)
Analyzed 8/1/2025Completed 8:32:00 PM
54
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

AI Summary

Institut für empirische Sozialforschung (IFES) is an Austrian research institute specializing in empirical social research. The website serves as an informational platform primarily targeting academic and research audiences interested in social science studies. The business model appears to focus on providing research and consultancy services in the social sciences sector. The website is built on WordPress using the Divi theme, indicating a moderate level of digital maturity with basic mobile optimization and SEO features. However, the site lacks comprehensive privacy, cookie, and terms of service policies, which are critical for compliance and user trust. Security posture is minimal with no detected security headers or incident response information, suggesting room for improvement in protecting user data and ensuring regulatory compliance. Overall, the website is functional but basic in design and content quality, with moderate trustworthiness based on WHOIS data and domain legitimacy.

Detected Technologies

JavaScriptjQuery (custom implementation)

🧠AI Business Intelligence

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

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

The IFES website positions the institute as a niche player in the education sector focused on social research. Its competitive advantage lies in specialized empirical research services. The business model likely relies on academic partnerships and consultancy projects. The absence of detailed business information, certifications, or trust signals limits the ability to fully assess market positioning and growth indicators. No evident partnerships or subsidiaries are linked from the website. The target customer segments are likely academic institutions, government bodies, and social scientists. The website's content and structure suggest a small-sized organization with a focused operational scope.

Extracted Contact Information

Marketing Intelligence Data

Email Addresses (1)

t*****@ifes.at

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The website currently exhibits a low security maturity level. There are no visible security headers such as Content Security Policy, HSTS, or X-Frame-Options, which are standard best practices. SSL/TLS configuration details are not provided, but HTTPS is assumed given the URL. There is no evidence of vulnerability disclosure policies or incident response contacts, which are important for transparency and rapid mitigation of security incidents. The lack of privacy and cookie policies also indicates compliance gaps with GDPR and related regulations. No analytics or tracking scripts were detected, which reduces privacy risks but also limits user behavior insights. Overall, the security posture is basic and requires enhancements to meet modern standards and regulatory requirements.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Implement and publish comprehensive privacy and cookie policies to ensure GDPR compliance and build user trust.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

Institut für empirische Sozialforschung

Description:

Institut für empirische Sozialforschung (IFES) is an institute focused on empirical social research, likely providing research services and studies in social sciences.

Key Services:
empirical social researchdata analysissocial studies
Content Quality:

basic

Branding:

moderate

Technical Stack

Technologies:
JavaScriptjQuery (custom implementation)
Frameworks:
Divi Theme (WordPress)
Platforms:
WordPress
Performance:

moderate

Mobile:

basic

Accessibility:

basic

SEO:

basic

Security Assessment

0

Analytics & Tracking

Tracking Level:minimal
Privacy Compliance:poor

Advertising & Marketing

Transparency Level:poor

Website Quality Assessment

Design Quality:basic
User Experience:basic
Content Relevance:basic
Navigation Clarity:basic
Professionalism:basic
Trustworthiness:moderate

Key Observations

1

Website is built on WordPress using Divi theme

🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

15/100
Score

Missing Strict-Transport-Security header

HIGH

Forces HTTPS connections

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)

Weak Referrer-Policy configuration

LOW

Current value: "no-referrer-when-downgrade"

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

28/100
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

EU business without adequate privacy measures

CRITICAL

EU businesses are subject to strict GDPR requirements

GDPR Compliance Analysis

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

🛡️NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive compliance assessment.

NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive

17/100
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

📧Email Security

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

Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation

70/100
Score

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 a:mailrelay.ifes.at a:mail.vie-its.at a:mail1.vie-its.at ip4:213.208.158.131 ip4:188.40.30.18 include:spf.w4ymail.at include:spf.protection.outlook.com -all
DNS Lookups:5/10
Policy:-all

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

72/100
Score

Weak Protocols Supported

HIGH

Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

OCSP Stapling Not Enabled

LOW

OCSP stapling improves performance and privacy

Certificate Transparency Not Implemented

LOW

Certificate is not logged in Certificate Transparency logs

SSL Certificate Expires Within 90 Days

MEDIUM

SSL certificate expires in 39 days

Partial SSL/TLS Assessment

LOW

Completed 3 of 4 security checks due to time constraints

Protocol Support

TLSv1.3TLSv1.2TLSv1.1

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

No DMARC Record

MEDIUM

DMARC policy not configured

DNS Records

A Records:81.19.159.23
Name Servers:
ns.inwx.deDNS only
ns2.inwx.deDNS only
ns3.inwx.euDNS only
MX Records:
0: ifes-at.mail.protection.outlook.com
SOA:Serial: 2025060519, TTL: 3600s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:131ms

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 a:mailrelay.ifes.at a:mail.vie-its.at a:mail1.vie-its.at ip4:213.208.158.131 ip4:188.40.30.18 include:spf.w4ymail.at include:spf.protection.outlook.com -all

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 on WordPress using the Divi theme, a popular and flexible CMS platform. The tech stack includes custom JavaScript and a custom jQuery implementation. The site uses standard HTML and CSS with inline styles and responsive design elements, but mobile optimization is basic. No advanced frameworks or modern JavaScript libraries were detected. Performance appears moderate but could benefit from optimization. There is no evidence of CDN usage or advanced caching mechanisms beyond the mention of W3 Total Cache plugin scripts. Accessibility features are minimal, and SEO optimization is basic with meta tags present but no structured data or Open Graph tags detected. Technical risks include outdated libraries and lack of security headers, which could expose the site to common web vulnerabilities.
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