Skip to main content

Security report for elan-ev.de

ELAN e.V. · Education · Germany

Medium risk. 7 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, Security headers and 1 other check.

Security score

50/100

Risk levelMedium

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

ELAN e.V. is a German non-profit organization specializing in the development and support of open source software tailored for higher education institutions. With over 15 years of active involvement in open source communities, ELAN e.V. empowers universities by providing flexible, secure digital teaching and learning tools. Their market position is strengthened by their community engagement and recognized certifications such as the Open EdTech Associate Membership. The organization offers services including software development, consulting, hosting, and support, targeting educators and students in the academic sector. Technically, the website is built on a modern WordPress platform enhanced with plugins like Rank Math PRO for SEO, Matomo for privacy-conscious analytics, and Oxygen Builder for design flexibility. Hosting and DNS services are managed via Cloudflare, ensuring robust performance and security. The site demonstrates good mobile optimization and accessibility, with a professional and consistent branding approach. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and employs privacy-respecting analytics. However, it lacks visible cookie consent mechanisms and explicit security or incident response policies. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt files are present, which could be improved to enhance transparency and trust. Overall, the security posture is solid but could benefit from additional compliance features. The overall risk assessment is low, with the website presenting a trustworthy and professional front for ELAN e.V. Strategic recommendations include implementing cookie consent, publishing security policies, and adding vulnerability disclosure information to further strengthen compliance and user trust.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
40/ 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

7 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

  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 Strict-Transport-Security header

      Forces HTTPS connections

      What to do: Add "Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload"

      • CWE-319
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V3.4.1
    • 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 elan-ev.de

This scan found 24 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

Email alerts on material changes and an exportable JSON history of every change.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. The full timeline opens with your unlock code.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

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
85
Security headers
15
Email security
75
DNS health
65
Network security
20
GDPR outside view
40
Average
50

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

ELAN e.V. operates in the education technology sector, focusing on open source solutions for universities. Their competitive advantage lies in their long-standing community involvement and expertise in open source software development. The business model revolves around providing development, support, consulting, and hosting services without licensing fees, appealing to cost-conscious academic institutions. Their target customers are universities, educators, and students seeking flexible and secure digital learning tools. Growth indicators include active blog content, partnerships like Open EdTech, and a clear service portfolio. The partnership ecosystem includes recognized industry bodies, enhancing credibility and market reach.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, use of Matomo analytics configured to disable cookies, and no visible exposure of sensitive data. However, the absence of explicit security policies, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms indicates room for improvement in transparency and preparedness. Compliance with GDPR is evident through the privacy policy, but cookie consent mechanisms are missing. The security culture appears positive but could be enhanced by formalizing incident response and disclosure practices.

Recommendations

  1. Implement a visible cookie consent banner/mechanism to ensure GDPR cookie compliance.
  2. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response information on the website.
  3. Create and host a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  4. Add security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Content-Type-Options, and X-Frame-Options to improve defense in depth.
  5. Regularly audit and update WordPress plugins and themes to mitigate vulnerabilities.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
ELAN e.V.
Description
Der elan e.V. entwickelt und teilt Expertise für die digitale Lehre, um Wissen zu teilen und Teilen zu ermöglichen. Begeistert Lehrende und Studierende mit flexiblen und sicheren Open Source Tools zum digitalen Lehren und Lernen.
Key services
Softwareentwicklung, Support & Betrieb, Consulting, Hosting, Open Source Communityarbeit
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress 6.8.3, PHP (implied by WordPress), Matomo Analytics, jQuery, Oxygen Builder, Ghostkit plugin, Contact Form 7, Ultimate Addons for Contact Form 7, Rank Math PRO SEO
Frameworks
WordPress CMS
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Matomo analytics configured with disabled cookies
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of security plugins (implied by WordPress ecosystem)

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Matomo
Marketing tools
Rank Math PRO SEO
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 well structured, professional, and targeted at higher education institutions.
  3. Strong emphasis on open source software and community collaboration.
  4. Use of modern WordPress plugins and SEO tools.
  5. Contact information is clearly provided with company domain email and phone number.
  6. No explicit cookie consent mechanism found despite GDPR compliance claims.
  7. No visible security.txt or vulnerability disclosure policy.
  8. Matomo analytics configured with privacy in mind (cookies disabled).
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress 6.8.3 with a modern tech stack including Oxygen Builder for layout, Ghostkit for Gutenberg enhancements, and Rank Math PRO for SEO optimization. Matomo is used for privacy-focused analytics. Hosting is supported by Cloudflare DNS and nameservers, providing performance and security benefits. The site is mobile optimized and uses lazy loading for video content. Performance is moderate with room for improvement in caching and asset optimization. Accessibility is basic but present. The technical infrastructure is stable and well-maintained, supporting the organization's digital presence effectively.
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

Reviews of this site

Share your experience with elan-ev.de. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review elan-ev.de.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.