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Security report for dfg.de

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft · Government · Germany

Medium risk. 3 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS and DNS health.

Security score

73/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) is Germany's central research funding organization, supporting scientific research across disciplines. The website serves as a comprehensive portal for researchers, institutions, and stakeholders, offering detailed information on funding programs, scientific commissions, and international cooperation. It maintains a strong market position as a leading non-profit government entity in the research sector. Technically, the website is built on the CoreMedia Content Cloud CMS, leveraging modern JavaScript frameworks like Alpine.js and jQuery, and is delivered securely via HTTPS with a robust Content Security Policy. The site is well-structured, mobile-optimized, and integrates multiple official research portals and social media channels, reflecting a mature digital infrastructure. From a security perspective, the site demonstrates good practices including HTTPS enforcement, CSP headers, and secure form handling. However, explicit privacy and cookie policies are not detected in the provided content, indicating room for improvement in privacy compliance. No vulnerabilities or suspicious elements were found. Overall, the site is professional, trustworthy, and safe for general audiences, with recommendations to enhance privacy transparency and incident response contact availability.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
88/ 100 · Low
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. 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
    • High

      Weak SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

  2. DNS health

    DNS sends visitors and email to the right servers. Misconfigured records can cause outages or let someone redirect your traffic.

    • High

      Unregistered MX Record

      MX record points to unregistered domain: mx.dfg.de

      What to do: Remove or fix MX record pointing to unregistered domain

      • RFC 5321 §5.1
      • NIS2 21(2)(i)
      • IR 2024/2690 12.4: Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690, Annex point 12.4: Asset inventory
      • NIST CM-8: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CM-8: System Component Inventory

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

Keep watching dfg.de

This scan found 23 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

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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
42
Security headers
80
Email security
75
DNS health
50
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
88
Average
73

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

DFG operates as a government-affiliated non-profit entity focused on funding and promoting scientific research in Germany and internationally. Its business model revolves around grant distribution, scientific awards, and fostering research collaborations. The organization targets academic researchers, universities, and policy makers. The website reflects a well-established institution with a large operational scale and a comprehensive service offering. Partnerships with research portals like GEPRIS and GERiT enhance its ecosystem. The digital presence supports its authoritative market position and outreach efforts.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with HTTPS enabled and a strict Content Security Policy allowing trusted domains only. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected. Forms use autocomplete off to protect user input. However, the absence of a published security policy or incident response contact reduces transparency. The site would benefit from a dedicated vulnerability disclosure mechanism and clearer privacy compliance documentation. Overall, the security measures align well with the organization's profile, minimizing risk exposure.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie policy accessible from the homepage footer.
  2. Implement a security.txt file or dedicated vulnerability disclosure page to facilitate responsible reporting.
  3. Add clear contact information including security incident contacts (e.g., security@ or abuse@ email addresses).
  4. Regularly review and update third-party scripts and libraries to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance user privacy by integrating explicit cookie consent mechanisms compliant with GDPR.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Description
The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) is a German research funding organization that supports scientific research in all disciplines. It provides funding opportunities, promotes scientific cooperation, and supports researchers and projects across Germany and internationally.
Key services
Research funding programs, Scientific prizes and awards, Support for scientific careers, International cooperation, Information and resources for applicants
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
CoreMedia Content Cloud, Alpine.js, Cloudflare CDN, jQuery, Highcharts, Google Fonts, OneTrust Cookie Consent, Podigee Player
Frameworks
CoreMedia, Alpine.js
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • Use of HTTPS
  • Content Security Policy with multiple trusted domains
  • No visible exposed sensitive data
  • Secure form inputs with autocomplete off
  • Use of modern JavaScript frameworks

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Marketing tools
mailworx.marketingsuite.info
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenges.
  2. Content is in German with English alternate available.
  3. Extensive navigation structure covering About Us, Funding, Projects, and Research topics.
  4. Multiple official social media profiles linked.
  5. Use of modern web technologies and security headers.
  6. No explicit privacy or cookie policies found in the provided content.
  7. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found in the visible content.
  8. Strong branding and professional presentation.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses CoreMedia Content Cloud as its CMS, supported by Alpine.js and jQuery for frontend interactivity. It employs a detailed Content Security Policy referencing multiple trusted domains and CDNs. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and accessibility features. Performance is moderate, likely influenced by the extensive use of external resources and scripts. Hosting appears to be managed via DFN or Cloudflare infrastructure, ensuring reliable delivery and security. Opportunities exist to streamline external dependencies and improve privacy-related technical implementations.
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

Earlier scans of this domain

  1. 73/100Medium31 findingsView report
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