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Security report for dzl.de

Deutsches Zentrum für Lungenforschung e. V. · Healthcare · Germany

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, Security headers and 1 other check.

Security score

65/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Deutsches Zentrum für Lungenforschung (DZL) is a prominent German non-profit consortium comprising 29 leading academic and non-academic institutions dedicated to lung and respiratory disease research. The organization focuses on translational research, bridging laboratory findings to clinical applications, and supports career development through its DZL Academy. The website reflects a strong market position in healthcare research with a clear mission and comprehensive services including clinical studies, data management, and patient information. The target audience includes medical researchers, healthcare professionals, and patients interested in lung health. Technically, the website is built on WordPress with the Oxygen Builder framework, leveraging modern JavaScript libraries like jQuery and AOS for animations. Hosting is managed via EuroDNS nameservers. The site demonstrates good mobile optimization, SEO practices, and moderate performance. Analytics are implemented using Google Analytics with user consent mechanisms in place, reflecting a mature digital infrastructure. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and implements cookie consent, but lacks explicit security policy pages, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. The WHOIS data aligns well with the website's professional nature, indicating a trustworthy domain registration. Overall, the DZL website is a well-maintained, professional platform supporting a reputable healthcare research entity. Strategic improvements include publishing security policies, enhancing accessibility, and adding vulnerability disclosure information to strengthen trust and compliance.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
28/ 100 · High
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

6 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.

    • 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

    • 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. 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 X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

      What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"

    • High

      Missing Content-Security-Policy header

      Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

      What to do: Implement a Content-Security-Policy appropriate for your application

      • ASVS V3.4.3
      • OWASP Secure Headers: OWASP Secure Headers Project recommends Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'; form-action 'self'; base-uri 'self'; object-src 'none';…

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

Keep watching dzl.de

This scan found 25 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
62
Security headers
50
Email security
80
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
28
Average
65

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

DZL holds a leading position in the German lung research sector, operating as a collaborative non-profit entity. Its competitive advantage lies in its network of 29 institutions and focus on translational medicine. The business model centers on research funding, clinical trials, and educational programs. Revenue streams likely include grants and donations, supported by a visible donation section. The target customers are researchers, clinicians, and patients. Growth indicators include active news updates, events, and a dedicated academy. Partnerships with organizations like deutschezentren.de and tmf-ev.de enhance its ecosystem. The website's multilingual support and social media presence indicate a strategic approach to outreach and engagement.

Security posture

The website exhibits a solid security posture with HTTPS enforced and cookie consent implemented, aligning with GDPR requirements. However, the absence of a published security policy, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure reduces transparency. No security headers were detected in the provided data, suggesting room for improvement. The use of up-to-date WordPress and plugins reduces vulnerability risk, but continuous monitoring is advised. The site does not expose sensitive data or show signs of vulnerabilities. Overall, the security maturity is moderate to good, with recommendations to formalize policies and enhance header configurations.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security practices and user guidance.
  2. Provide clear incident response contact channels such as security@ or abuse@ email addresses.
  3. Implement and publish a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  4. Add security HTTP headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  5. Enhance website accessibility features to improve compliance and user experience for all visitors.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Deutsches Zentrum für Lungenforschung e. V.
Description
Das DZL ist ein Zusammenschluss aus 29 führenden universitären und außeruniversitären Einrichtungen, die sich der Erforschung von Atemwegserkrankungen widmen.
Key services
lung disease research, translational research, clinical studies, education and career development via DZL Academy, data management and biobanking, patient information services
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress 6.8.3, Oxygen Builder, jQuery 3.7.1, Google Fonts, AOS (Animate On Scroll), Unslider
Frameworks
WordPress, Oxygen
Platforms
WordPress CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Cookie consent implemented

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Google Analytics (gtag)
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is professionally designed and content-rich.
  2. Strong focus on lung disease research and translational medicine.
  3. Good multilingual support (German and English).
  4. Social media presence on major platforms.
  5. Cookie consent and privacy policy implemented.
  6. No visible security or privacy red flags.
  7. No terms of service or explicit security policy pages found.
  8. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt found.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern WordPress CMS platform using Oxygen Builder, which allows for flexible and responsive design. It incorporates Google Fonts, jQuery, AOS for animations, and Unslider for sliders, indicating a contemporary tech stack. Hosting is managed through EuroDNS nameservers, suggesting a reliable DNS provider. Performance is moderate, with good mobile optimization and SEO meta tags present. The site uses Google Analytics with consent management, reflecting compliance with privacy regulations. Technical debt appears low, but improvements in security headers and accessibility could further enhance robustness and user experience.
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. 69/100Medium31 findingsView report
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