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Security report for cuny.edu

The City University of New York · Education · United States

Low risk. 1 critical or high finding in GDPR outside view.

Security score

87/100

Risk levelLow

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

The City University of New York (CUNY) is a large public university system serving New York City with 26 colleges and schools. It offers a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs, research opportunities, and community services. The website reflects its stature as the largest urban public university system in the U.S., targeting students, faculty, and the public with comprehensive educational content and resources. Technically, the site is built on WordPress with modern plugins and libraries, optimized for mobile and accessibility, and integrates multiple analytics and marketing tools. Security posture is strong with HTTPS, security headers, and no evident vulnerabilities, though a dedicated security policy and incident response information are not prominently published. Privacy and cookie policies are present with consent mechanisms, indicating good compliance practices. Overall, the site is professional, trustworthy, and well-maintained, supporting CUNY's mission and reputation effectively.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

NIS2 outside view
80/ 100 · Low
GDPR outside view
82/ 100 · Low
Checks completed
9of 9

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

The NIS2 figure counts only evidence anyone can see from the internet. 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

1 finding 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

      Tracking cookies set before consent

      Observed on the first page load as a new visitor, before any consent choice; Guard does not click the banner. A consent mechanism is present (consent banner), but these analytics or marketing cookies were already set: Google Analytics (_ga_2FC29CB2GG, _ga_DBCZ4RJZ11, _ga_322Y3QXBE3, _ga_1X8GZ19PJH); Google (_gcl_au); Reddit (_rdt_uuid); Amazon (ad-id); Snapchat (_scid, _scid_r); Pinterest (_pin_unauth) and 2 more.

      What to do: Configure the consent platform to block these tags until the visitor accepts the matching category.

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

Keep watching cuny.edu

This scan found 20 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.

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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
95
Security headers
63
Email security
92
DNS health
94
Network security
100
Website hygiene
80
GDPR outside view
82
Average
87

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.
  • Accessibility: Accessibility is a separate readout from security, so it is reported but not scored. 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 cuny.edu, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
127,193
Employees
30,866
Customers
56,725
Third parties
39,602
Weak passwords
9%

Latest record dated 2026-10-27 · 1,260 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 cuny.edu.

Select it in the checkout above.

Masked preview

  • –ssologin.cuny.edu2026-10-27
  • –managelogin.cuny.edu2026-10-27
  • –ssologin.cuny.edu2026-10-27
  • –ecsa.citytech.cuny.edu2026-10-27
  • –ssologin.cuny.edu2026-10-27

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

CUNY holds a dominant position in the education sector as a public university system with a broad portfolio of colleges. Its business model focuses on public education and research funded by government and tuition. The website supports recruitment, student services, and public engagement. The presence of multiple social media channels and marketing tools suggests active outreach and brand management. The domain age and WHOIS data align with the institution's history, reinforcing legitimacy. No suspicious or privacy-protected WHOIS data is present, which is typical for public institutions. The site’s extensive content and consistent branding indicate a mature digital presence with strong trust signals.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, comprehensive security headers, and no exposed sensitive data. The use of modern libraries and plugins is noted, with no immediate vulnerabilities detected in the provided content. However, the absence of a published security policy or incident response contacts limits transparency in security governance. The site uses multiple third-party tracking and advertising scripts, which should be regularly audited to mitigate supply chain risks. Overall, the security posture is strong but could be enhanced by publishing formal security and vulnerability disclosure policies.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security practices and commitments.
  2. Provide clear incident response contact information, including abuse and security email addresses.
  3. Implement and publish a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  4. Regularly review and update third-party scripts and plugins to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance form security by adding CAPTCHA or other anti-bot mechanisms to prevent abuse.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
The City University of New York
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
The City University of New York
Description
26 Colleges. One University. The City University of New York is a public university system in New York City offering diverse academic programs.
Key services
Undergraduate and graduate education, Research programs, Community outreach, Online resources and student services
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, PHP, jQuery, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Slider Revolution, WPBakery Page Builder
Frameworks
WordPress CMS
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of security headers
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of modern libraries and plugins

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Amazon Ads, Twitter Ads, Reddit Ads
Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Snapchat Pixel, Pinterest Tag
Marketing tools
Formstack
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is professionally designed and well maintained.
  2. Content is rich and relevant to the educational sector.
  3. Strong use of modern web technologies and analytics.
  4. Good privacy and cookie policy presence with consent mechanisms.
  5. No signs of malicious or suspicious activity.
  6. No critical security issues detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress CMS using PHP and JavaScript libraries such as jQuery. It employs popular plugins like Slider Revolution and WPBakery Page Builder for content management and presentation. Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics are integrated for tracking and marketing analytics. The site is mobile optimized and accessible, with good SEO practices including meta tags and Open Graph data. Performance is moderate, likely influenced by the use of multiple third-party scripts. Hosting details are not explicitly identified but appear stable and secure. The technical infrastructure supports a large-scale educational institution with a professional and user-friendly web presence.
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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