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Security report for edu.nl

SURF B.V. · Education · Netherlands

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

Security score

66/100

Risk levelMedium

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

edu.nl is a specialized URL shortening service tailored for the Dutch education and research sector, operated by SURF B.V. The service emphasizes privacy and security by restricting link creation to verified users authenticated via SURFconext. The website content is professionally presented, with clear messaging about privacy and educational focus, and is available in multiple languages. The technical infrastructure leverages modern frontend technologies such as Bootstrap and jQuery, ensuring a responsive and user-friendly experience. No tracking or analytics scripts are present, aligning with the privacy-first approach. Security posture is solid with DNSSEC enabled and controlled access, though visible security headers and explicit security policies are absent. The domain registration is consistent with the business purpose and ownership, indicating high legitimacy.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
18/ 100 · Critical
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 edu.nl

This scan found 22 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

€25per month

  • 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
50
Email security
70
DNS health
60
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
18
Average
66

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

The business operates in a niche market providing a privacy-respecting URL shortening service exclusively for Dutch educational and research institutions. Its competitive advantage lies in the integration with SURFconext for secure authentication and the strong privacy stance by avoiding user tracking. The business model is service-oriented, likely funded or supported by SURF B.V., a known entity in the Dutch education sector. The target audience is clearly defined as verified users from educational and research institutions in the Netherlands. The partnership ecosystem includes SURFconext as a critical authentication provider. Growth potential is tied to the expansion of SURFconext adoption and the increasing demand for privacy-compliant digital tools in education.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate to good security maturity level. Key strengths include DNSSEC implementation, use of SURFconext for secure user authentication, and a strict policy against visitor tracking. However, the absence of explicit security headers, published security policies, and incident response contacts indicates room for improvement. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the provided content. Compliance with GDPR is implied but not explicitly documented on the site. Incident response readiness and security culture indicators are not visible, suggesting these areas could be enhanced to improve trust and resilience.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish a comprehensive security policy and incident response plan accessible on the website.
  2. Add visible security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security to enhance protection.
  3. Introduce a cookie consent mechanism to comply fully with EU cookie regulations despite minimal tracking.
  4. Provide clear contact information for security incidents, including dedicated security or abuse email addresses.
  5. Enhance accessibility features to improve compliance with accessibility standards and broaden user inclusivity.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
SURF B.V.
Description
edu.nl is a URL shortener service designed specifically for the Dutch education and research sector, emphasizing privacy and security.
Key services
URL shortening for education and research, Secure and privacy-friendly link creation, Access control via SURFconext authentication
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Bootstrap, FontAwesome, jQuery, Clipboard.js
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • DNSSEC enabled
  • Use of SURFconext for authentication
  • No tracking or visitor profiling

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
excellent

Advertising

Transparency
excellent

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenges.
  2. Content is focused on a niche educational URL shortening service emphasizing privacy.
  3. No visible contact emails or phone numbers on the main page.
  4. No cookie consent mechanism detected despite privacy focus.
  5. No terms of service or explicit security policy pages found.
  6. Use of SURFconext authentication indicates strong access control.
  7. No analytics or tracking scripts detected, supporting privacy claims.
  8. No social media or external marketing links present.
  9. Footer provides language options and links to about and support pages.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern and lightweight frontend technology stack including Bootstrap for responsive design, FontAwesome for icons, jQuery for DOM manipulation, and Clipboard.js for clipboard interactions. The site is mobile-optimized and structured with clear navigation and language options. No CMS or backend technologies are detectable from the HTML content. Performance is likely moderate given the minimal external dependencies and static content. There is no evidence of technical debt or deprecated libraries. Hosting provider details are not disclosed. SEO optimization is basic but adequate for the niche audience. Opportunities exist to improve accessibility and implement advanced security headers to reduce technical risks.
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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