Is sciprofiles.com Safe? Security Analysis for SciProfiles
Check if sciprofiles.com is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.
AI Summary
SciProfiles is an established online platform founded in 2012 that serves the academic and scientific community by providing comprehensive profiles for researchers to showcase their achievements and network globally. The platform is positioned as a niche academic networking service with over one million profiles and extensive visitor traffic, supported by its parent company MDPI. It offers key services such as academic profile management, personalized research updates, and community engagement tools. The website demonstrates a high level of professionalism, excellent content quality, and consistent branding, making it a trusted resource for its target audience. Technically, SciProfiles employs a modern web infrastructure including jQuery, Google Tag Manager, Usercentrics for consent management, and Akamai CDN for hosting and performance optimization. The site is mobile-optimized, accessible, and SEO-friendly, with structured data enhancing search visibility. Security measures include HTTPS enforcement, reCAPTCHA on forms, and privacy compliance mechanisms, although some advanced security policies like DNSSEC and explicit security headers could be improved. The security posture is strong with no detected vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data. Privacy compliance is well addressed with clear privacy and cookie policies and GDPR consent mechanisms. However, the site lacks published incident response and vulnerability disclosure policies, which are recommended for enhanced trust and security readiness. Overall, SciProfiles presents a low-risk profile with a mature domain, consistent WHOIS data, and a secure, user-friendly platform. Strategic recommendations include enabling DNSSEC, publishing security and incident response policies, and enhancing security headers to further strengthen the security posture.
Detected Technologies
🧠AI Business Intelligence
Technology stack, business insights, and market analysis powered by AI.
Business Intelligence
Market & Strategic Analysis
SciProfiles operates in the education sector, focusing on academic networking and profile management. Its business model revolves around providing a free-to-access platform for researchers to manage their academic achievements and connect with peers. The platform benefits from its association with MDPI, a recognized academic publisher, which enhances its credibility and market reach. The presence of over 1 million profiles and 177 million visitors indicates significant market penetration and user engagement. The platform's competitive advantage lies in its comprehensive profile features beyond publications, personalized academic feeds, and active community participation. Growth indicators include active blog content and integration with ORCID for publication imports. Partnerships with social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook support its networking capabilities. The company targets researchers, academics, and scientific authors globally, positioning itself as an essential tool for scholarly communication and collaboration.
Security Posture Analysis
Comprehensive Security Assessment
SciProfiles demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced site-wide, use of Google reCAPTCHA to prevent automated abuse, and integration of a consent management platform (Usercentrics) to comply with privacy regulations. The site does not expose sensitive data in its HTML content and uses CSRF tokens in forms to protect against cross-site request forgery. However, DNSSEC is not enabled, which could improve DNS security. There is no explicit security policy or incident response contact information published, which could be a gap in transparency and readiness. No known vulnerabilities or outdated libraries were detected in the analysis. The security headers appear to be present but could be explicitly confirmed and enhanced with a Content-Security-Policy header. Overall, the platform follows good security best practices but could improve in formalizing and publishing its security governance documentation.
Strategic Recommendations
Priority Actions for Security Improvement
Enable DNSSEC to enhance domain name system security.
✨Observations
AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.
AI-Enhanced Website Analysis
Business Insights
SciProfiles
SciProfiles provides open access to the scholarly community, offering comprehensive profiles where researchers can highlight their academic life, contributions, and share ideas freely.
excellent
consistent
Technical Stack
fast
excellent
good
good
Security Assessment
- HTTPS enforced
- Use of reCAPTCHA on registration form
- Consent management platform (Usercentrics)
- No exposed sensitive data in HTML
- Secure form inputs with CSRF token
Analytics & Tracking
Advertising & Marketing
Website Quality Assessment
Key Observations
Website is a professional academic networking platform.
🛡️Security Headers
HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.
Security Headers
HTTP security headers analysis
Missing X-Frame-Options header
HIGHPrevents clickjacking attacks
Missing X-Content-Type-Options header
MEDIUMPrevents MIME type sniffing
Missing Content-Security-Policy header
HIGHControls resources the browser is allowed to load
Missing X-XSS-Protection header
MEDIUMLegacy XSS protection (deprecated but still recommended)
Missing Referrer-Policy header
LOWControls referrer information sent with requests
Missing Permissions-Policy header
MEDIUMControls browser features and APIs
👤GDPR Compliance
Privacy and data protection assessment under GDPR regulations.
GDPR Compliance
Privacy and data protection assessment
No Cookie Policy found
HIGHGDPR requires clear information about cookie usage
No Cookie Consent Banner found
HIGHGDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies
Privacy policy may not be GDPR compliant
MEDIUMPrivacy policy lacks explicit GDPR compliance elements
GDPR Compliance Analysis
🛡️NIS2 Compliance
Network & Information Security Directive compliance assessment.
NIS2 Compliance
Network & Information Security Directive
No information security framework found
HIGHNIS2 requires documented cybersecurity and information security measures
No vulnerability disclosure policy
MEDIUMNIS2 encourages coordinated vulnerability disclosure
No security policy documentation found
HIGHNIS2 requires documented cybersecurity governance and risk management
No incident response procedures found
HIGHNIS2 requires documented incident response and business continuity plans
No business continuity planning found
MEDIUMNIS2 emphasizes operational resilience and business continuity
No security contact information
HIGHNIS2 requires clear incident reporting channels
No vulnerability reporting mechanism
MEDIUMClear vulnerability reporting supports coordinated disclosure
No NIS2 reference found
LOWConsider explicitly mentioning NIS2 compliance efforts
📧Email Security
SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation and email security assessment.
Email Security
SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation
No DKIM record found
MEDIUMDKIM adds cryptographic signatures to emails
DMARC Partial Enforcement
LOWDMARC only applies to 25% of messages
No BIMI Record
LOWBIMI displays brand logos in email clients
No MTA-STS Policy
MEDIUMMTA-STS enforces TLS for email delivery
No TLS-RPT Record
LOWTLS-RPT provides reporting for email TLS issues
SPF Details
DMARC Details
🏆SSL/TLS Security
Certificate validity and encryption analysis.
SSL/TLS Security
Certificate validity and encryption analysis
SSL Certificate Expires Within 90 Days
MEDIUMSSL certificate expires in 78 days
Partial SSL/TLS Assessment
LOWCompleted 2 of 4 security checks due to time constraints
Certificate Details
OCSP Status
📊DNS Health
DNS configuration and security assessment.
DNS Health
DNS configuration and security assessment
DNSSEC Not Enabled
MEDIUMDNSSEC is not configured for this domain
CAA Records Not Configured
LOWCertificate Authority Authorization (CAA) records not found
Domain Delete Lock Not Enabled
LOWDomain can be deleted without additional verification
Domain Registration Details
DNS Records
DNSSEC Status
DNS Performance
SPF Analysis
⚡Network Security
Port scanning and network exposure analysis.
Network Security
Port scanning and network exposure analysis
Good Network Security Posture
LOWNo unnecessary services detected on common risky ports
🔧Technical Analysis
Detailed technical findings and analysis from AI assessment.
Technical Analysis
Comprehensive security assessment findings