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Security report for bafoeg-digital.de

BAföG Digital · Government · Germany

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and SSL/TLS.

Security score

71/100

Risk levelMedium

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

BAföG Digital is the official German government platform enabling students and trainees to apply online for BAföG educational funding. It is a joint offering by the federal government and the German states, providing a secure, accessible, and user-friendly digital service. The platform supports application submission, status tracking, and offers additional services such as a BAföG calculator and a dedicated mobile app. The website is well-branded with official logos and consistent messaging, targeting students and their families in Germany.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
60/ 100 · Medium
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

4 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

  2. SSL/TLS

    TLS encrypts the connection and proves the site is really yours. Weak or expiring certificates trigger browser warnings and put traffic at risk.

    • High

      Weak Protocols Supported

      Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

      What to do: Disable TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, and all SSL versions

      • CWE-327
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V12.1.1
    • High

      Weak SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

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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
57
Security headers
80
Email security
70
DNS health
60
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
60
Average
71

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 bafoeg-digital.de, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
5,834
Employees
0
Customers
5,834
Third parties
0
Weak passwords
4%

7 subdomains affected

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

A one-off add-on to this report that lists the most recent identifier and password pairs OffSeq Breach holds for bafoeg-digital.de.

Select it in the checkout above.

Breach keeps ingesting new leaks, so these numbers can grow between scans.

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

The platform holds a strong market position as the official government portal for BAföG applications, serving a large user base of students and trainees. Its business model is service-oriented, focusing on digital transformation of government services. The site integrates with national identity systems like BundID for secure authentication. Partnerships with federal and state entities are evident through displayed logos and linked domains. The platform emphasizes accessibility and compliance, reflecting government standards and regulations.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enforcement, secure cookie handling, and integration of SAML-based authentication. Privacy and cookie consent mechanisms are implemented in compliance with GDPR. However, explicit incident response contacts and vulnerability disclosure policies are not found, representing an area for improvement. Security headers could be enhanced further to strengthen protection against common web threats. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the analysis.

Recommendations

  1. Add explicit incident response and abuse contact information on the website.
  2. Publish a security.txt file to facilitate vulnerability reporting.
  3. Implement additional HTTP security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party libraries to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance transparency around data retention policies and analytics data handling.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
BAföG Digital
Description
Official German government platform to apply online for BAföG educational funding, a joint offering by the federal government and German states.
Key services
Online BAföG application, BAföG status tracking, BAföG calculator, Studienstarthilfe application, BAföG Digital app
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaServer Faces (javax.faces), PrimeFaces 8.0.27-LTS, jQuery, Modernizr, Slick Carousel, qTip, Deltaspike, Matomo Analytics
Frameworks
JavaServer Faces, PrimeFaces
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Secure cookie attributes
  • Session management with sessionId
  • SAML login integration
  • Cookie consent mechanism

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Matomo
Marketing tools
Matomo Analytics
Transparency
excellent

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is an official German government portal for BAföG digital applications.
  2. Content is comprehensive, professional, and well-structured.
  3. Strong privacy and cookie consent mechanisms are implemented.
  4. Secure login options including SAML and BundID integration.
  5. No signs of malicious or suspicious content.
  6. Good accessibility and mobile optimization.
  7. Use of modern Java web frameworks and libraries.
  8. No explicit incident response or vulnerability disclosure information found.
  9. No social media links detected.
  10. Contact information is provided clearly in footer and forms.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a JavaServer Faces framework using PrimeFaces components, supported by jQuery and modern JavaScript libraries like Modernizr and Slick Carousel. The platform is optimized for mobile devices and accessibility, with good SEO practices evident in meta tags and structured navigation. Performance is moderate, with potential for improvement in loading times. Hosting details are not explicit, but the domain uses stable name servers. The site integrates Matomo analytics with user consent, reflecting a privacy-conscious approach.
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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