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Is realness.institute a Scam? Security Check Results - Realness Institute

realness.institute Security Report Summary

realness.institute received a security score of 63 out of 100 in Guard's comprehensive security analysis, classified as "Moderate Risk". This report covers Realness Institute's website security posture. Realness Institute operates in the Media industry in South Africa.

Realness Institute is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting independent Pan-African storytellers in cinema and television. The organization offers programs such as the AuthenticA Series Lab, Creative Producer Indaba, and African Screenwriters Residency to nurture African voices in film and TV. The website is built on Squarespace, leveraging modern web technologies and providing a professional, well-structured user experience. Social media integration and a donation mechanism via PayPal support community engagement and funding. Security posture is adequate with HTTPS enabled, though improvements such as HSTS and enhanced security headers are recommended. Privacy compliance is partial, with a privacy policy present but lacking cookie consent mechanisms. Overall, the website presents a credible and trustworthy digital presence for a cultural non-profit entity.

The security scan identified 32 findings across security headers, SSL/TLS, DNS health, email security, GDPR compliance, and NIS2 compliance analysis modules.

Technologies detected: Squarespace, Typekit fonts, Google Fonts, Plyr video player.

About this security scan

Guard performs automated security assessments of websites by analyzing SSL/TLS certificates, HTTP security headers, DNS configuration, email authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), GDPR compliance indicators, NIS2 directive compliance, network exposure, and AI-powered business intelligence. Each report provides domain-specific findings, risk scores, and actionable recommendations.

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Is realness.institute Safe? Security Analysis for Realness Institute

https://realness.institute

Check if realness.institute is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.

MediaSouth Africasmall
SquarespaceTypekit fontsGoogle FontsPlyr video player
Analyzed 10/23/2025Completed 5:23:40 AM5mo ago
63
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

Above Media avg (58)

10,000+

Domains scanned

500+

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SEQ SIA

Lastadijas 12 k-3, Riga, Latvia, LV-1050

Reg. No. 40203410806 • VAT LV40203410806

Support: guard@offseq.com+371 2256 5353

AI Summary

Realness Institute is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting independent Pan-African storytellers in cinema and television. The organization offers programs such as the AuthenticA Series Lab, Creative Producer Indaba, and African Screenwriters Residency to nurture African voices in film and TV. The website is built on Squarespace, leveraging modern web technologies and providing a professional, well-structured user experience. Social media integration and a donation mechanism via PayPal support community engagement and funding. Security posture is adequate with HTTPS enabled, though improvements such as HSTS and enhanced security headers are recommended. Privacy compliance is partial, with a privacy policy present but lacking cookie consent mechanisms. Overall, the website presents a credible and trustworthy digital presence for a cultural non-profit entity.

Detected Technologies

SquarespaceTypekit fontsGoogle FontsPlyr video player

9 urgent findings need attention

9 high

  • + 1 more findings in the full report below
Continuous monitoring

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Guard tracks your live infrastructure daily: certificate expiry, DNS & mail authentication drift, uptime changes, subdomain inventory, and unexpected tracker or content shifts. A full timeline captures every diff so you can prove remediation and spot regressions instantly.

Security drift alerts

Risk score drops, new high-severity issues, and header hardening gaps

Compliance watch

GDPR / NIS2 posture changes with governance evidence snapshots

Infrastructure surface

Unexpected open services, SSL expiry, DNS & email authentication changes

Content & tracker intelligence

Marketing tech shifts, analytics drift, and AI recommendation updates

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Security Headers

7 findings

35/100

GDPR Compliance

4 findings

53/100

NIS2 Compliance

8 findings

17/100

Email Security

3 findings

85/100

🧠AI Business Intelligence

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

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

The Realness Institute occupies a niche position in the African media development sector, focusing on independent filmmakers and screenwriters. Its business model revolves around programmatic support and community building rather than commercial sales. The organization targets creatives and industry professionals interested in African storytelling. The website's content and structure reflect a focused mission with clear program offerings and news updates. Partnerships and payment processing are handled via external trusted platforms like PayPal. The absence of direct company contact emails or phone numbers suggests a preference for controlled communication channels via forms and social media. The organization demonstrates consistent branding and a growing digital footprint.

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The website employs HTTPS, ensuring encrypted communications. However, the absence of HSTS and advanced security headers like CSP reduces protection against certain attack vectors. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. The lack of a security policy, incident response contact, or vulnerability disclosure page indicates room for maturity in security governance. Forms appear standard without visible security weaknesses. Overall, the security posture is moderate but could benefit from implementing recommended best practices to enhance trust and resilience.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Enable HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) header to enforce HTTPS and prevent downgrade attacks.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

Realness Institute

Description:

Supports independent Pan-African storytellers in cinema and television, nurturing development of African voices in film and TV.

Key Services:
AuthenticA Series LabCreative Producer IndabaRealness African Screenwriters ResidencyPast partnerships and industry news
Content Quality:

good

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
SquarespaceTypekit fontsGoogle FontsPlyr video player
Platforms:
Squarespace CMS
Performance:

moderate

Mobile:

good

Accessibility:

basic

SEO:

basic

Security Assessment

Security Score:
70/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics & Tracking

Tracking Level:minimal
Privacy Compliance:basic

Advertising & Marketing

Marketing Tools:
Squarespace marketing automationsSquarespace campaigns
Transparency Level:basic

Website Quality Assessment

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

Key Observations

1

Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenges.

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🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

35/100
Score

Weak Strict-Transport-Security configuration

LOW

Current value: "max-age=0"

Missing X-Frame-Options header

HIGH

Prevents clickjacking attacks

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
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

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📧Email Security

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

Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation

85/100
Score

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 mx ip4:81.95.98.219 ~all
DNS Lookups:2/10
Policy:~all
DKIM Selectors Found
Selector:google(1416-bit rsa)

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

62/100
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 79 days

Mixed Content Detected

MEDIUM

1 resources loaded over insecure HTTP

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

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

DNS Records

A Records:198.49.23.145, 198.185.159.144, 198.185.159.145, 198.49.23.144
Name Servers:
ns31.domaincontrol.comDNS only
ns32.domaincontrol.comDNS only
MX Records:
10: alt4.aspmx.l.google.com
5: alt2.aspmx.l.google.com
10: alt3.aspmx.l.google.com
5: alt1.aspmx.l.google.com
1: aspmx.l.google.com
SOA:Serial: 2025091702, TTL: 600s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:114ms

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 a mx ip4:81.95.98.219 ~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

How does realness.institute compare?

See how realness.institute stacks up against similar websites in the same industry.

🔧Technical Analysis

Detailed technical findings and analysis from AI assessment.

Technical Analysis

Comprehensive security assessment findings

Additional Findings

The website is hosted on Squarespace, utilizing its built-in CMS and infrastructure. It uses Typekit and Google Fonts for typography and Plyr for video playback. The site loads multiple compressed JavaScript bundles from Squarespace's CDN, indicating a modern and optimized delivery approach. Performance is moderate with good mobile responsiveness and basic accessibility features. SEO is supported by canonical tags and Open Graph metadata, though meta descriptions are minimal. No major technical debt or deprecated technologies were observed. Opportunities exist to enhance accessibility and SEO further.
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PDF Report & Export

PDF download, email delivery, unlock code

39.90 €one-time • Incl. 21% VAT

Marketing Intelligence

Contact emails, phone numbers & warm leads

49.90 €one-time • Incl. 21% VAT

Plan Comparison

FeaturePDF ReportMarketing+
Full security analysis
Professional PDF export
Email delivery
Lifetime access + unlock code
Contact emails & phones
Marketing outreach data

Already purchased?

Order summary

Domainrealness.institute
Access tierFull report or marketing add-on

Digital reports are delivered immediately after payment. By continuing you acknowledge the withdrawal waiver described in our Returns & Refunds policy.

VisaMastercardApple PayGoogle Pay

Secure payments processed via EveryPay. Prices in EUR; Incl. 21% VAT.

SEQ SIA

Lastadijas 12 k-3, Riga, Latvia, LV-1050

Reg. No. 40203410806 • VAT LV40203410806

Support: guard@offseq.com+371 2256 5353

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