The Center for Applied Energy Research e. V. (CAE) is a German non-profit research association focused on applied energy research, renewable energy, and energy efficiency. The organization collaborates with industry and research partners to develop CO2-neutral energy solutions, with key focus areas including hydrogen technology, digitalization in energy systems, and sustainability consulting. The website presents a professional and consistent brand image, targeting industry stakeholders, research institutions, and the public interested in energy transition and climate protection. Technically, the website is built using Mobirise Website Builder and Bootstrap, offering a responsive and user-friendly experience with moderate performance. Security posture is moderate, with HTTPS likely enabled but lacking explicit security headers and incident response information. Privacy compliance is basic, with privacy and cookie policies present but no active consent mechanism. Overall, the website is trustworthy and credible, though improvements in security and privacy transparency are recommended.
Scanned ·
NIS2 and GDPR posture
GDPR outside view
28/ 100 · High
Checks completed
7of 7
NIS2 Art. 21(2)
a(a) Risk analysis and security policies: Not visible from outside
b(b) Incident handling: One indicator
c(c) Business continuity, backups and crisis management: Not visible from outside
d(d) Supply chain security: Not visible from outside
e(e) Secure acquisition, development and maintenance, including vulnerability handling: Partly checked
f(f) Assessing the effectiveness of security measures: Not visible from outside
g(g) Cyber hygiene and security training: Not visible from outside
h(h) Cryptography and encryption: Partly checked
i(i) HR security, access control and asset management: One indicator
j(j) Multi-factor authentication and secured communications: Not visible from outside
Partly checked
One indicator
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
6 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.
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
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 X-Frame-Options header
Prevents clickjacking attacks
What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"
This scan found 28 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
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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
Email alerts on material changes and an exportable JSON history of every change.
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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
62
Security headers
30
Email security
70
DNS health
60
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
28
Average
58
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 cae-zerocarbon.de, from OffSeq Breach.
No leaked records found
Breach holds no records for cae-zerocarbon.de right now. New leaks arrive continuously, so monitoring on Breach alerts you if that changes.
Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.
Business context
Business profile
CAE holds a solid position in the Bavarian energy research ecosystem, evidenced by its membership in the Bavarian Climate Alliance and partnerships with related institutions such as the Energy Efficiency Center. Its business model revolves around research, innovation hubs, and supporting startups via a Makerspace. The organization targets a medium-sized audience including SMEs, startups, and public stakeholders. The website content and linked partner domains reinforce its role as a key player in energy research and sustainability in Germany. No commercial advertising or affiliate programs are detected, consistent with its non-profit status.
Security posture
The website demonstrates a moderate security maturity level. HTTPS is presumably enabled, but no security headers (CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options) were detected in the provided data. There is no visible security policy or incident response contact information, nor a vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were identified. The absence of cookie consent mechanisms and explicit privacy notices reduces privacy compliance. Overall, the security posture is adequate but could be significantly improved by implementing standard security headers, incident response contacts, and enhanced privacy controls.
Recommendations
Implement standard security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, Strict-Transport-Security, and X-Frame-Options to enhance protection against common web attacks.
Add a visible cookie consent banner to comply with GDPR and improve user privacy transparency.
Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response contact information to build trust and facilitate vulnerability reporting.
Conduct a security audit to verify SSL/TLS configuration and ensure no vulnerable libraries or scripts are in use.
Enhance accessibility features and SEO optimization to improve user experience and search engine ranking.
Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.
Business
Company
Center for Applied Energy Research e. V.
Description
Center for Applied Energy Research e. V. (CAE) implements ideas for energy efficiency and renewable energies with research partners for a CO2-neutral energy supply.
Key services
Energy research, Innovation hubs (Hydrogen technology, digitalization), Sustainability consulting, Demonstration and testing facilities, Makerspace access for startups and SMEs
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent
Technology
Stack
Bootstrap 5.1, Mobirise Website Builder v6.0.1, Animate.css, Google Fonts (Roboto, Jost), jQuery (implied by Bootstrap components), YouTube embedded video iframe
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic
Security
Observed score
50/100
Analytics and tracking
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
basic
Advertising
Transparency
poor
Site quality
Design
good
User experience
good
Content relevance
good
Navigation
good
Professionalism
good
Trustworthiness
high
Key observations
Website is professionally designed using Mobirise and Bootstrap.
Content is primarily in German with an English version available.
Focus on renewable energy research, hydrogen technology, and sustainability.
No visible forms collecting personal data on the homepage; contact form likely on contact page.
No explicit privacy or cookie consent banners detected on homepage.
Social media presence includes LinkedIn and Mastodon.
No visible security policy or incident response contact information.
No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure policy found.
WHOIS data is minimal but consistent with domain usage.
Technical notes
Notes
The website is built on a modern responsive framework (Bootstrap 5.1) and uses Mobirise Website Builder, which simplifies content management but may limit advanced customization. The use of Google Fonts and Animate.css enhances visual appeal. Embedded YouTube videos and external links to partner sites enrich content. Performance is moderate, with no major issues detected. However, the lack of detected hosting provider information and security headers suggests potential areas for infrastructure improvement. The site is mobile optimized and has clear navigation, but SEO and accessibility could be further enhanced.
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.
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