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Security report for akkreditierungsrat.de

Stiftung Akkreditierungsrat · Education · Germany

Medium risk. 7 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, Security headers and 2 other checks.

Security score

52/100

Risk levelMedium

0–100, higher is better. How it is calculated

The Stiftung Akkreditierungsrat website serves as the official digital presence of the German accreditation council responsible for quality assurance in higher education. It provides comprehensive information about its accreditation system, current news, events, and procedural details for institutions. The site targets educational institutions, policymakers, and students within Germany, positioning itself as a key national authority in the education sector. The business model is non-profit and government-related, focusing on maintaining academic standards and transparency in higher education. Technically, the website is built on Drupal 8, a robust and widely used content management system, hosted on taenzer.hosting with multiple name servers indicating reliable infrastructure. The site is mobile-optimized, accessible, and SEO-friendly, with a professional design and clear navigation. No blocking or WAF mechanisms interfere with content accessibility. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and avoids exposing sensitive data. However, it lacks explicit security headers and dedicated security or incident response pages. Privacy compliance is strong with a clear privacy policy and cookie policy, though no active cookie consent mechanism is detected. Social media integration is present but limited to official channels without tracking or advertising scripts. Overall, the website demonstrates a solid security posture and professional business credibility suitable for a government-affiliated educational institution. Recommendations include enhancing security headers, adding incident response information, and implementing cookie consent mechanisms to improve compliance and trust.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
28/ 100 · High
Checks completed
7of 7

NIS2 Art. 21(2)

  1. (a) Risk analysis and security policies: Not visible from outside
  2. (b) Incident handling: One indicator
  3. (c) Business continuity, backups and crisis management: Not visible from outside
  4. (d) Supply chain security: Not visible from outside
  5. (e) Secure acquisition, development and maintenance, including vulnerability handling: Partly checked
  6. (f) Assessing the effectiveness of security measures: Not visible from outside
  7. (g) Cyber hygiene and security training: Not visible from outside
  8. (h) Cryptography and encryption: Partly checked
  9. (i) HR security, access control and asset management: One indicator
  10. (j) Multi-factor authentication and secured communications: Not visible from outside

This scan rated NIS2 with an earlier keyword method that is no longer shown; rescan for the per-article view. Risk management, continuity, supply chain, training, MFA, management oversight (Art. 20) and incident reporting (Art. 23) need internal evidence, and Guard cannot tell whether NIS2 applies to this organisation.

GDPR is indicative only, based on publicly visible signals: Articles 7, 12, 13 and 32 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive. Not a certification or legal assessment.

Priority findings

7 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • Critical

      EU business without adequate privacy measures

      EU businesses are subject to strict GDPR requirements

      What to do: Implement comprehensive GDPR compliance including privacy policy, cookie consent, and data protection measures

    • High

      No Cookie Policy found

      GDPR requires clear information about cookie usage

      What to do: Add a dedicated cookie policy explaining cookie usage and purposes

    • High

      No Cookie Consent Banner found

      GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies

      What to do: Implement a cookie consent banner that appears on first visit

  2. Security headers

    Security headers are instructions your web server sends to every visitor’s browser. Missing ones leave visitors more exposed to attacks such as clickjacking and injected scripts.

    • High

      Missing Strict-Transport-Security header

      Forces HTTPS connections

      What to do: Add "Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload"

      • CWE-319
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V3.4.1
    • High

      Missing Content-Security-Policy header

      Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

      What to do: Implement a Content-Security-Policy appropriate for your application

      • ASVS V3.4.3
      • OWASP Secure Headers: OWASP Secure Headers Project recommends Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'; form-action 'self'; base-uri 'self'; object-src 'none';…

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Keep watching akkreditierungsrat.de

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  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
  • SPF, DKIM and DMARC
  • Security headers
  • GDPR and NIS2 posture
  • Exposed services
  • Third-party trackers
  • Security score drift

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Results by check

Each check with its score, findings and the evidence it collected.

How this score is calculated

The security score runs 0–100, higher is better. It is the plain average of the security checks that completed in this scan, each counted equally. A check that could not run is left out: it counts neither as a pass nor as a fail.

Counted in this score

SSL/TLS
72
Security headers
40
Email security
83
DNS health
70
Network security
20
GDPR outside view
28
Average
52

Not counted

  • NIS2 outside view: Re-weights evidence from the TLS, email, DNS, network and hygiene checks, so counting it would count that evidence twice. Shown on its own.
  • OffSeq Observations: An AI reading of the site, useful context but not reproducible evidence. Shown on its own.

Findings that cap the score at 49

Each of these is serious on its own, so while any is present the site cannot rate better than high risk, however good the other checks are.

  • The certificate is not trusted by browsers
  • The website is not served over HTTPS
  • A database, remote desktop, file-sharing or Telnet service is reachable from the internet
  • The page loads a script from a compromised source
  • The domain registration has expired
  • SPF authorises every server to send mail as the domain

Partial scans

When the site blocks Guard or most checks cannot run, the score covers only the checks that ran (usually DNS and email), is capped at 75 and is shown as partial, without a risk level.

Risk levels

  • Critical0–25
  • High26–49
  • Medium50–75
  • Low76–100

Breach exposure

Leaked credentials and lookalike domains from OffSeq Breach. The counts are free; the detailed lists are paid add-ons.

Dark web exposure

Add-on

Leaked records that mention akkreditierungsrat.de, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
4
Employees
0
Customers
4
Third parties
0
Weak passwords
0%

1 subdomain affected

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

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Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

The Stiftung Akkreditierungsrat holds a prominent position as the central accreditation authority in Germany's higher education landscape. Its competitive advantage lies in its official mandate and government backing, ensuring trust and authority in quality assurance. The organization operates a non-profit model focused on regulatory and oversight functions rather than commercial revenue streams. Its target customers include universities, colleges, and education policymakers. Growth indicators include regular updates, events, and publications reflecting active engagement. The partnership ecosystem includes hosting providers and social media platforms but no commercial partners are evident. Strategic observations highlight a focus on transparency, quality assurance, and stakeholder communication.

Security posture

The website exhibits a moderate to good security maturity level. HTTPS is enforced, and no sensitive data leakage is observed. However, the absence of key security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options reduces protection against common web attacks. There is no public vulnerability disclosure or incident response information, which could hinder timely reporting and mitigation of security issues. GDPR compliance is well addressed through privacy and cookie policies, though the lack of a cookie consent mechanism is a minor gap. Overall, the security culture appears cautious but could benefit from formalized policies and enhanced technical controls.

Recommendations

  1. Implement security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to strengthen browser security.
  2. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response page to improve transparency and readiness.
  3. Add a cookie consent banner or mechanism to comply fully with GDPR cookie requirements.
  4. Consider publishing a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting.
  5. Regularly audit and update third-party libraries and scripts to avoid vulnerabilities.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Stiftung Akkreditierungsrat
Description
Die Stiftung Akkreditierungsrat ist eine gemeinsame Einrichtung der Länder für die Qualitätssicherung in Studium und Lehre an deutschen Hochschulen.
Key services
Qualitätssicherung in Studium und Lehre, Akkreditierung von Studiengängen und Hochschulen, Veröffentlichung von Berichten und Beschlüssen, Organisation von Sitzungen und Veranstaltungen
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Drupal 8, JavaScript
Frameworks
Drupal
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • No visible vulnerable libraries

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

Design
good
User experience
good
Content relevance
good
Navigation
good
Professionalism
good
Trustworthiness
high

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenges.
  2. Content is professional, relevant, and well-structured for an educational accreditation authority.
  3. No explicit security policies or incident response pages found.
  4. No visible tracking or advertising scripts detected.
  5. Social media presence includes Twitter (X), Mastodon, Bluesky, and LinkedIn.
  6. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found in the HTML content; contact is via a contact page.
  7. Drupal 8 CMS is used, indicating a mature and supported platform.
  8. No signs of adult or questionable content.
  9. Cookie consent mechanism is not explicitly present despite cookie policy availability.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses Drupal 8 CMS, a mature and secure platform with a modular architecture. Hosting is provided by taenzer.hosting with multiple name servers, indicating a stable infrastructure. The site includes responsive design and accessibility features, enhancing user experience across devices. Performance is moderate, with no major issues detected. SEO is supported by proper meta tags and structured navigation. There is no evidence of heavy third-party tracking or advertising scripts, reducing privacy risks. Technical risks include the absence of security headers and limited visible security policies, which could be addressed to reduce attack surface and improve compliance.
Standards and sources

Reference chips under each finding point to the standard, regulation or specification the finding relates to. They are taken from the official datasets below and mapped conservatively: a finding with no defensible link shows none. NIS2 and GDPR references mark where a finding is relevant evidence, not a compliance verdict. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690 binds digital infrastructure and digital service providers; for other entities it is the most detailed public reading of the Article 21 measures. WCAG, EN 301 549, European Accessibility Act and Web Accessibility Directive references name the requirement an automated accessibility rule relates to; they are not a conformance verdict.

Retrieved 2026-10-25

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