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Security report for datascience.ch

Swiss Data Science Center · Education · Switzerland

Medium risk. 3 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and SSL/TLS.

Security score

75/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Swiss Data Science Center (SDSC) is a reputable joint venture between EPFL and ETH Zurich, established in 2017 to advance data science and machine learning applications across academic and industrial sectors in Switzerland. The center offers a broad range of services including research projects, publications, open research initiatives, educational courses, workshops, and industry collaborations. Their website reflects a high level of professionalism, with clear navigation, comprehensive content, and strong branding consistent with their academic affiliations. Technically, the site is built on Webflow CMS, leveraging modern JavaScript libraries and privacy-respecting analytics tools, ensuring good performance and mobile optimization. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforcement and use of reCAPTCHA, though some security headers and explicit policies could be improved. Overall, the SDSC website demonstrates a mature digital presence aligned with its mission and audience.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 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. 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

    • 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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  • 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
72
Security headers
60
Email security
80
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
75

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

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

SDSC occupies a strong market position as a national center of excellence in data science, supported by leading Swiss academic institutions. Their business model focuses on research, education, and innovation services, targeting academic researchers, students, and industry partners. The center's partnerships with ETH Zurich and EPFL enhance credibility and provide access to a broad scientific community. The website indicates active engagement through events, calls for projects, and collaborations, signaling growth and a vibrant ecosystem. Revenue streams likely include government funding, academic grants, and industry partnerships. The presence of detailed contact information and social media channels supports transparent communication and outreach.

Security posture

The SDSC website exhibits a good security maturity level with HTTPS enforced and Google reCAPTCHA protecting forms. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected. However, the absence of explicit security headers like X-Frame-Options and Referrer-Policy, as well as missing published security policies or incident response contacts, indicates room for improvement. There is no visible vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file. Privacy compliance is supported by a comprehensive privacy policy and GDPR adherence, but lacks a cookie consent mechanism. Overall, the security posture is strong for an academic institution but could benefit from enhanced transparency and additional security controls.

Recommendations

  1. Implement a visible cookie consent banner to comply with privacy regulations and enhance user trust.
  2. Add explicit security headers such as X-Frame-Options, Referrer-Policy, and Content-Security-Policy for improved protection.
  3. Publish a dedicated security policy and provide clear incident response contact information to improve transparency.
  4. Consider establishing a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  5. Regularly review and update third-party libraries and scripts to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Swiss Data Science Center
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Swiss Data Science Center
Description
The Swiss Data Science Center is a joint venture between EPFL and ETH Zurich, created in 2017 to accelerate the use of data science and machine learning techniques within academic disciplines of the ETH Domain, the Swiss academic community, and the industrial sector. It enables data-driven science and innovation for societal impact.
Key services
Research projects, Publications, Open research, Collaborations with industry, Education: courses, workshops, student projects, Innovation solutions for organizations
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Webflow CMS, jQuery 3.5.1, Google reCAPTCHA, Plausible Analytics, Finsweet CMS Slider, Refokus Rich Text Enhancer
Frameworks
Webflow
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of Google reCAPTCHA on forms
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • No vulnerable libraries detected

Analytics and tracking

Services
Plausible Analytics
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Plausible Analytics
Transparency
basic

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-structured.
  2. Content is comprehensive and relevant to data science research and education.
  3. Clear contact information and multiple communication channels provided.
  4. No signs of malicious or suspicious activity.
  5. Good use of modern web technologies and analytics with privacy-respecting tools.
  6. Lacks explicit cookie consent mechanism and detailed security policy.
  7. WHOIS data supports legitimacy and transparency.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built using Webflow CMS, supported by jQuery and modern JavaScript libraries for enhanced user experience. It integrates Google reCAPTCHA for form security and Plausible Analytics for privacy-conscious user tracking. Hosting is via Webflow's CDN, ensuring fast load times and global availability. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and accessibility features such as focus-visible outlines. SEO is well addressed with proper meta tags and Open Graph data. Technical debt appears low, but adding more explicit security headers and cookie management would modernize the security posture further. Overall, the technical infrastructure is robust, performant, and aligned with best practices for academic and research organizations.
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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