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Security report for bgsu.edu

Bowling Green State University · Education · United States

Low risk. 3 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

77/100

Risk levelLow

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

Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a large public university located in Bowling Green, Ohio, recognized for its strong student experience and research programs. The website reflects a mature digital presence with comprehensive content targeting prospective and current students, alumni, faculty, and community partners. BGSU emphasizes innovative educational approaches such as Life Design and maintains a strong market position as a top-ranked public university in Ohio and the Midwest. The site integrates modern marketing and analytics technologies, including HubSpot, Google Tag Manager, and multiple social media pixels, supporting extensive user engagement and data collection. Technically, the website is built on Adobe Experience Manager CMS with Bootstrap 5 framework, ensuring responsive design and good accessibility. The performance is moderate with a well-structured navigation system and SEO optimization. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforced and no visible vulnerabilities, although explicit security headers could be better documented. Privacy and cookie policies are present and GDPR compliance is indicated, enhancing user trust. Overall, BGSU's website demonstrates a professional, secure, and user-friendly platform that supports its educational mission and community engagement. The absence of WHOIS data is typical for .edu domains and does not detract from the site's legitimacy. Strategic recommendations include enhancing security header transparency, publishing a security policy, and adding vulnerability disclosure mechanisms to further strengthen trust and compliance.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
68/ 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

3 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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

  2. GDPR outside view

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

    • 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

  3. 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

Need hands-on remediation? Email guard@offseq.com

Keep watching bgsu.edu

This scan found 19 issues across 6 checks. Monitoring re-runs those checks daily, emails you when something material changes and records each fix, so you can show progress.

Daily monitoring

Recommended

€25per month

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

Email alerts on material changes and an exportable JSON history of every change.

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Full report

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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
67
Security headers
55
Email security
85
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
68
Average
77

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 bgsu.edu, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
7,978
Employees
276
Customers
4,250
Third parties
3,452
Weak passwords
8%

Latest record dated 2026-06-18 · 80 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 bgsu.edu.

Select it in the checkout above.

Masked preview

  • –login.bgsu.edu2026-06-18
  • –sts.bgsu.edu2026-06-18
  • –lists.bgsu.edu2026-06-16
  • –login.bgsu.edu2026-06-13
  • –login.bgsu.edu2026-06-12

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

Open in Breach(opens in a new tab)Monitor on Breach(opens in a new tab)

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

BGSU operates as a public university providing higher education and research services primarily in the education sector. Its market positioning is strong regionally and nationally, supported by rankings and Carnegie Foundation recognition. The university's business model focuses on delivering undergraduate, graduate, and online education, supplemented by research and community partnerships. Revenue streams likely include tuition, grants, and donations. The target customer segments include traditional and nontraditional students, international students, and alumni. The partnership ecosystem includes athletics, scholarship platforms, and student engagement networks. Growth indicators include innovative programs like Life Design and expanding online offerings. The university maintains a consistent brand and leverages digital marketing tools effectively.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and no exposed sensitive data. Multiple security best practices are observed, including cookie consent mechanisms and the absence of vulnerable libraries. However, explicit security headers such as X-Frame-Options and X-Content-Type-Options are not clearly documented in the HTML content, representing an area for improvement. There is no visible security or incident response policy published on the site, nor a security.txt file for vulnerability disclosure. The extensive use of third-party tracking and marketing scripts necessitates ongoing audits to mitigate supply chain risks. Overall, the security maturity is good but could be enhanced with formalized policies and transparency.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and document explicit security headers like X-Frame-Options and X-Content-Type-Options to improve protection against clickjacking and MIME sniffing.
  2. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response plan on the website to enhance transparency and preparedness.
  3. Add a security.txt file to facilitate responsible vulnerability disclosure and improve security communication.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and tracking pixels to minimize risks from vulnerable dependencies.
  5. Enhance GDPR compliance disclosures and provide clear contact information for the Data Protection Officer or privacy team.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Bowling Green State University
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Bowling Green State University
Description
Located in northwest Ohio, BGSU offers students an excellent educational experience with an emphasis on preparing the engaged citizens of tomorrow. BGSU is ranked the #1 university in all of Ohio for student experience and offers undergraduate, graduate, and fully online programs. It emphasizes Life Design, research, and community engagement.
Key services
Undergraduate education, Graduate education, Online education, Research and innovation, Student support services, Community engagement
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Google Custom Search Engine, HubSpot (analytics, messaging, banners), Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, TikTok Pixel, StackAdapt, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Flickity Carousel, jQuery, Adobe Launch (Tag Manager), Siteimprove Analytics, Rezync, Snapchat Pixel, Spotify Pixel, Lity.js (lightbox), Bootstrap 5
Frameworks
Bootstrap 5
Platforms
YouTube (embedded videos)
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of secure cookies and consent banners
  • No vulnerable libraries detected in scripts

Analytics and tracking

Services
HubSpot Analytics, Google Analytics (via GTM), Facebook Pixel, TikTok Analytics, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Siteimprove Analytics, StackAdapt
Tracking level
extensive
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Google Adsense, StackAdapt, AppNexus (secure.adnxs.com)
Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel, TikTok Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Snapchat Pixel, Spotify Pixel, Rezync Pixel
Marketing tools
HubSpot, Siteimprove Analytics
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professionally designed university site with extensive content and resources.
  2. Strong emphasis on student experience, research, and community engagement.
  3. Multiple modern tracking and marketing technologies are in use.
  4. Privacy and cookie policies are present and clearly communicated.
  5. No evidence of WAF or content blocking.
  6. WHOIS data for .edu domain is not publicly available, which is standard for .edu domains.
  7. Site uses Adobe Experience Manager CMS and Bootstrap 5 framework.
  8. Good accessibility and SEO practices observed.
  9. No visible security vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on Adobe Experience Manager CMS with Bootstrap 5, ensuring a modern, responsive design. It integrates numerous third-party analytics and marketing technologies including HubSpot, Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, TikTok Pixel, and LinkedIn Insight Tag, enabling extensive user tracking and engagement analysis. The site uses Google Custom Search Engine for internal search functionality and embeds YouTube videos for multimedia content. Performance is moderate with good mobile optimization and accessibility features. The technical infrastructure supports a large, content-rich site with complex navigation and dynamic content elements such as carousels and video players. Opportunities exist to optimize loading speed and reduce third-party script overhead.
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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