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Security report for belspo.be

Federal Public Planning Service Science Policy · Government · Belgium

Partial score · DNS & email only

75/100

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

The Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO) operates as the Federal Public Planning Service Science Policy, providing coordination and support for scientific research and federal scientific institutions in Belgium. The website serves as an official government portal offering multilingual content in Dutch, French, and English, targeting government stakeholders, researchers, and the public interested in science policy. Key services include support for federal museums, participation in European and international scientific organizations, research funding, and management of the Belnet telematics network. Technically, the website uses basic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript without advanced frameworks or CMS detected. The site is moderately optimized for performance and mobile use but lacks advanced accessibility and SEO features. No analytics or tracking scripts were detected, indicating a privacy-conscious approach. Security headers and SSL configuration details are not visible in the provided data, suggesting room for improvement in security hardening. From a security perspective, the site shows no signs of vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data but lacks explicit security policies, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms. Privacy and cookie policies are present, though cookie consent mechanisms are not implemented. WHOIS data is restricted by DNS Belgium policy, which is typical for government domains, and does not raise legitimacy concerns. Overall, the site is trustworthy and professional but could enhance its security posture and privacy compliance. The overall risk is low given the official nature and content safety, but strategic improvements in security headers, HTTPS enforcement, and transparency in incident response would strengthen the security and trust profile.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
68/ 100 · Medium
Checks completed
6of 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

2 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.

    • 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. 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

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Keep watching belspo.be

This scan found 14 issues across 5 checks. Monitoring re-runs those checks daily, emails you when something material changes and records each fix, so you can show progress.

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  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
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  • 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
Email security
85
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
68
Average
80
After the cap
75

Not counted

  • Security headers: did not complete in this scan.
  • 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 belspo.be, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
36
Employees
0
Customers
36
Third parties
0
Weak passwords
0%

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 belspo.be.

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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

BELSPO holds a strong position as the official Belgian federal science policy agency, operating within the government sector. Its competitive advantage lies in its authoritative role in coordinating federal scientific research, managing key scientific infrastructure, and representing Belgium in international scientific organizations. The business model is government-funded, focusing on policy coordination, funding allocation, and scientific support services. The target customers include federal institutions, researchers, and the scientific community. Growth indicators are stable, aligned with government mandates. The partnership ecosystem includes European Space Agency and other international bodies. The website reflects a stable, mature operation with consistent branding and official government trust signals.

Security posture

The current security maturity level is basic to moderate. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. However, the absence of security headers, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure policies indicates gaps in security best practices. GDPR compliance is supported by the presence of privacy and cookie policies, but lack of cookie consent mechanisms is a minor compliance gap. Incident response readiness and security culture indicators are not visible. Overall, the security posture is adequate for a government informational site but could benefit from enhanced security controls and transparency.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive security headers including Content Security Policy (CSP), Strict-Transport-Security (HSTS), X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  2. Ensure HTTPS is enforced site-wide with strong SSL/TLS configuration and regularly audited certificates.
  3. Add explicit incident response and security contact information to improve transparency and readiness.
  4. Introduce a cookie consent mechanism to comply fully with GDPR and enhance user privacy control.
  5. Develop and publish a vulnerability disclosure policy to encourage responsible reporting and improve security posture.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Federal Public Planning Service Science Policy
Description
The Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO) supports the Federal museums and scientific institutes, the Belgian participation to the European Space Agency (ESA) and to other national or international organizations, finances research actions and grants, the Belgian telematics network Belnet, manages the coordination of science policy, the production of R&D indicators and the Federal competences in education matters.
Key services
Support to federal museums and scientific institutes, Belgian participation in ESA and other organizations, Research funding and grants, Management of Belnet telematics network, Coordination of science policy, Production of R&D indicators, Federal education competences
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
HTML5, CSS, JavaScript
Performance
moderate
Mobile
basic
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
50/100

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is official Belgian federal science policy office
  2. Content is multilingual (Dutch, French, English)
  3. No forms or email addresses visible on homepage
  4. No visible phone numbers or physical addresses on homepage
  5. Social media links are official and consistent
  6. No visible security headers or advanced security features detected
  7. No analytics or tracking scripts detected in provided HTML
  8. No advertising or marketing scripts detected
  9. No vulnerability disclosure or security contact info found
  10. Privacy and cookie policies are present but lack explicit consent mechanisms
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a simple technology stack using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript without modern frameworks or CMS platforms detected. The site is multilingual and uses static pages with basic navigation. Performance is moderate with no advanced optimization techniques evident. Mobile optimization and accessibility are basic but functional. SEO is supported by meta tags but could be improved with structured data and richer metadata. No analytics or tracking scripts were found, indicating minimal data collection. Hosting provider and infrastructure details are not disclosed. Technical risks are low but modernization opportunities exist to improve user experience and security.
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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