Skip to main content

Security report for eqar.eu

The European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR) · Education · Belgium

Medium risk. 9 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, Security headers and 1 other check.

Security score

57/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR) operates as the official register for quality assurance agencies within the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). It provides authoritative and reliable information on the quality assurance of higher education institutions and programs across Europe. The organization targets higher education institutions, quality assurance agencies, policymakers, and stakeholders interested in maintaining and promoting quality standards in European higher education. EQAR's business model is non-profit, focusing on transparency and trust in quality assurance processes. Technically, the website is built on WordPress 6.8.1 with SEO optimization via Yoast and analytics through a self-hosted Matomo instance. The site employs modern web technologies including JavaScript and CSS, and integrates hCaptcha for form security. The site demonstrates good mobile optimization and moderate performance, with a clean and professional design that supports excellent user experience and navigation clarity. From a security perspective, the site uses HTTPS and implements spam protection on forms. However, explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options are not detected, representing an area for improvement. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were found. Privacy compliance is partial; while a privacy policy is present and GDPR compliance is indicated, no cookie consent mechanism was detected, which may pose compliance risks. Overall, EQAR's website is trustworthy, professional, and well-aligned with its mission. The domain registration data supports the legitimacy of the organization. Strategic recommendations include enhancing security headers, implementing a cookie consent banner, and publishing a formal security policy and incident response contacts to strengthen compliance and security posture.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of eqar.eu. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
10/ 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

9 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 Privacy Policy found

      GDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy

      What to do: Add a comprehensive privacy policy page and link to it prominently

  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 eqar.eu

This scan found 26 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
62
Security headers
15
Email security
65
DNS health
90
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
10
Average
57

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

EQAR holds a strong market position as the official register for quality assurance agencies in the EHEA, serving a niche but critical role in European higher education quality assurance. Its non-profit model emphasizes transparency and trust, supported by partnerships with key European education organizations such as the Bologna Process and ENQA. The organization provides key services including a register, a comprehensive database of QA results, and a knowledge base, targeting higher education institutions and QA agencies. Growth indicators include ongoing projects, annual reports, and active communication channels. The partnership ecosystem includes recognized European education bodies, enhancing credibility and reach.

Security posture

EQAR demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enforcement and the use of hCaptcha to protect forms from spam and abuse. The absence of explicit security headers like CSP and X-Frame-Options is a notable gap that could expose the site to certain web-based attacks. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected, indicating good maintenance practices. The lack of a published security policy and incident response contact information suggests room for improvement in transparency and readiness. GDPR compliance is partially addressed but could be enhanced with a cookie consent mechanism. Overall, the security posture is solid but could benefit from implementing additional best practices.

Recommendations

  1. Implement explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to enhance protection against common web attacks.
  2. Add a visible cookie consent banner to comply fully with GDPR and inform users about cookie usage.
  3. Publish a formal security policy and provide clear incident response contact channels to improve transparency and readiness.
  4. Regularly audit and update WordPress core and plugins to mitigate risks from vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance accessibility features to improve compliance and user experience for all visitors.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
The European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR)
Description
EQAR is the official register of quality assurance agencies in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) that substantially comply with the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance (ESG). It provides reliable information on the quality of European higher education and its assurance.
Key services
Register of trustworthy quality assurance agencies, Database of external quality assurance results (DEQAR), Knowledge base with country information and QA frameworks, Guidance and documentation for agencies, News and updates on QA in Europe
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress 6.8.1, Yoast SEO plugin, Matomo Analytics, hCaptcha, JavaScript, CSS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • Use of HTTPS
  • Use of hCaptcha for form spam protection
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Matomo analytics with self-hosting

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Matomo
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is professionally designed and well-structured with comprehensive content on European higher education quality assurance.
  2. No signs of blocking or WAF challenges; content fully accessible.
  3. Uses WordPress CMS with SEO and analytics plugins.
  4. Includes multiple navigation menus with deep linking to detailed resources.
  5. Contact information is available with verified company email.
  6. No explicit cookie consent banner detected, which may be a GDPR compliance gap.
  7. Security headers could be improved for enhanced protection.
  8. No visible vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data.
  9. Social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
  10. WHOIS data supports the legitimacy of the domain and organization.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern WordPress platform with version 6.8.1, leveraging the Yoast SEO plugin for search engine optimization and Matomo for privacy-conscious analytics. The use of hCaptcha indicates attention to form security. The site loads CSS and JavaScript efficiently, though performance is moderate rather than fast. Mobile optimization is good, ensuring usability across devices. The site structure is well-organized with comprehensive navigation menus and deep linking to resources. Technical debt appears low, but the absence of some security headers and cookie consent mechanisms suggests areas for modernization and compliance enhancement.
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. 60/100Medium33 findingsView report
Reviews of this site

Share your experience with eqar.eu. 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 eqar.eu.

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.