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Is programminghistorian.org a Scam? Security Check Results - ProgHist Ltd Reviews

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Is programminghistorian.org Safe? Security Analysis for ProgHist Ltd

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

EducationUnited Kingdomsmall
jQuery 3.2.1Bootstrap 4.0.0-alpha.6FontAwesome 5.0.12Google FontsGoogle Analytics+1 more
Analyzed 9/7/2025Completed 5:48:22 AM
60
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

AI Summary

Programming Historian is a well-established non-profit educational platform founded in 2012 and operated by ProgHist Ltd, a UK-registered charity and company. The website offers peer-reviewed, novice-friendly tutorials in multiple languages aimed at humanists and educators interested in digital tools and workflows to support research and teaching. The platform holds ISSN registrations for its multilingual content and publishes under a Creative Commons license, reinforcing its open-access educational mission. The business model is focused on providing free educational resources supported by donations and institutional partnerships.

Detected Technologies

jQuery 3.2.1Bootstrap 4.0.0-alpha.6FontAwesome 5.0.12Google FontsGoogle AnalyticsGoogle Tag Manager

🧠AI Business Intelligence

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

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

The organization occupies a niche in the digital humanities education sector, leveraging a community-driven, peer-reviewed content model to maintain high-quality tutorials. Its multilingual approach broadens its global reach. The use of GitHub for hosting and version control indicates a transparent and collaborative development process. The absence of commercial advertising and the presence of donation appeals suggest a funding model reliant on community and institutional support. The charity and company registrations enhance credibility and trust among users and partners.

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The website enforces HTTPS with a valid SSL configuration and uses domain status locks to prevent unauthorized domain transfers or deletions. However, it lacks DNSSEC and security headers such as Content-Security-Policy or X-Frame-Options, which could improve protection against common web attacks. No security policy, incident response contacts, or vulnerability disclosure mechanisms are published, indicating room for improvement in transparency and readiness. The use of Google Analytics without a cookie consent banner may pose GDPR compliance risks. Overall, the security posture is solid but could be enhanced with additional best practices.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Enable DNSSEC to strengthen DNS security and prevent spoofing.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

ProgHist Ltd

Description:

Publishes novice-friendly, peer-reviewed tutorials that help humanists learn a wide range of digital tools, techniques, and workflows to facilitate research and teaching.

Key Services:
Peer-reviewed tutorialsMultilingual educational contentResearch facilitation tools
Content Quality:

excellent

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
jQuery 3.2.1Bootstrap 4.0.0-alpha.6FontAwesome 5.0.12Google FontsGoogle AnalyticsGoogle Tag Manager
Frameworks:
Bootstrap
Performance:

fast

Mobile:

good

Accessibility:

good

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
85/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Domain status clientDeleteProhibited and clientTransferProhibited
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • No vulnerable libraries detected

Analytics & Tracking

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

Advertising & Marketing

Transparency Level:basic

Website Quality Assessment

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

Key Observations

1

Website is a multilingual educational platform focused on digital humanities.

🛡️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)

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

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

40/100
Score

No SPF record found

HIGH

SPF helps prevent email spoofing

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

No email authentication configured

CRITICAL

Domain is vulnerable to email spoofing

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

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

95/100
Score

SSL Certificate Expires Within 90 Days

MEDIUM

SSL certificate expires in 78 days

Partial SSL/TLS Assessment

LOW

Completed 2 of 4 security checks due to time constraints

Certificate Details

Subject:programminghistorian.org
Issuer:R13
Valid Until:11/24/2025 (78 days)
SANs:programminghistorian.org

OCSP Status

OCSP Stapling Disabled

📊DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment.

DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment

75/100
Score

DNSSEC Not Enabled

MEDIUM

DNSSEC is not configured for this domain

CAA Records Not Configured

LOW

Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA) records not found

No DMARC Record

MEDIUM

DMARC policy not configured

Domain Registration Details

Domain Age
13 years(mature)
Expiry Risk
low(292 days)
Protection Level
moderateDNSSEC OFF

DNS Records

A Records:185.199.109.153, 185.199.110.153, 185.199.111.153, 185.199.108.153
AAAA Records:2606:50c0:8002::153, 2606:50c0:8003::153, 2606:50c0:8000::153, 2606:50c0:8001::153
Name Servers:
ns-cloud-e1.googledomains.com
ns-cloud-e2.googledomains.com
ns-cloud-e3.googledomains.com
ns-cloud-e4.googledomains.com
MX Records:
5: alt2.aspmx.l.google.com
10: alt3.aspmx.l.google.com
1: aspmx.l.google.com
5: alt1.aspmx.l.google.com
10: alt4.aspmx.l.google.com
SOA:Serial: 8, TTL: 300s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:147ms

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 site is built using a modern static site generator (Jekyll) and leverages Bootstrap 4 and FontAwesome for responsive design and iconography. It uses Google Fonts for typography and includes jQuery and Tether for UI interactions. Hosting is managed via Squarespace Domains with Google Cloud DNS name servers. Performance is likely fast due to static content delivery and minimal external dependencies. The site is mobile optimized and accessible, with clear navigation and multilingual support. SEO is supported by proper meta tags and structured navigation. No CMS vulnerabilities or outdated libraries were detected.
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