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Security report for esu-online.org

European Students' Union · Education · Belgium

High risk. 6 critical or high findings in Network security, Security headers and 1 other check.

Security score

49/100

Risk levelHigh

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

The European Students' Union (ESU) is a well-established non-profit umbrella organization representing 43 National Unions of Students across 40 European countries. Founded in 1982 and headquartered in Brussels, ESU advocates for the educational, social, economic, and cultural interests of nearly 20 million students at the European level. The organization maintains a strong presence with comprehensive content, active social media channels, and partnerships with major European institutions such as the European Commission, Council of Europe, and UNESCO. Technically, the website is built on WordPress with modern plugins including Yoast SEO and GDPR compliance tools, ensuring good SEO, accessibility, and privacy adherence. The site is mobile-optimized and features a professional design with clear navigation and user experience. Performance is moderate, with room for optimization. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and uses clientTransferProhibited domain status, but lacks DNSSEC and some advanced security headers. There is no published security policy or incident response contact, and no vulnerability disclosure mechanism is present. Privacy compliance is strong, with a clear privacy policy and cookie consent mechanism aligned with GDPR. Overall, the ESU website demonstrates a mature digital presence with solid business credibility and privacy compliance. Security posture is good but could be improved by enabling DNSSEC, adding security headers, and publishing security policies. The site is safe for general audiences and free from adult or questionable content.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
100/ 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

6 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Network security

    Services reachable from the internet are the first thing attackers probe. Anything open that does not need to be should be closed.

    • Critical

      Critical Service Exposed: MySQL

      Port 3306 (MySQL) is publicly accessible - MySQL - Database server

      What to do: Immediately restrict access to MySQL using firewall or VPN

      • NIS2 21(2)(e)
      • IR 2024/2690 6.7.2(f): Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690, Annex point 6.7.2(f): Network security
      • NIST CM-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CM-7: Least Functionality
      • NIST SC-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SC-7: Boundary Protection

  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';…

  3. 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

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

Keep watching esu-online.org

This scan found 25 issues across 5 checks. Monitoring re-runs those checks daily, emails you when something material changes and records each fix, so you can show progress.

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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
15
Email security
60
DNS health
80
Network security
0
GDPR outside view
100
Average
53
After the cap
49

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 · found on this site
  • 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

ESU holds a prominent position as the representative body for European students, leveraging its network of national unions to influence policy at EU and international levels. Its business model is non-profit advocacy and representation, supported by European Commission Erasmus+ funding and the Council of Europe. The organization targets students and student unions, providing services such as policy advocacy, expert pools, publications, and events. The website reflects a strong partnership ecosystem with European institutions and a commitment to transparency and GDPR compliance. Growth indicators include active project involvement and frequent news updates. The organization's operations are centralized in Belgium, with a medium-sized organizational footprint.

Security posture

The website's security maturity is moderate to good. HTTPS is enforced, and domain transfer protections are in place. However, the absence of DNSSEC and some recommended security headers (Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, etc.) represents areas for improvement. No explicit security policy or incident response information is published, which may limit transparency and readiness in case of incidents. The GDPR cookie compliance plugin and privacy policy indicate awareness of privacy regulations. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. Overall, the security posture is adequate for a non-profit organization but could benefit from enhanced DNS security and formalized security documentation.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to enhance DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement and publish a comprehensive security policy and incident response contact information.
  3. Add recommended security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to improve browser security.
  4. Consider publishing a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting.
  5. Optimize website performance and loading speed to improve user experience and SEO.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
European Students' Union
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
European Students' Union
Description
The European Students’ Union (ESU) is the umbrella organisation of 43 National Unions of Students from 40 countries, representing and promoting the educational, social, economic and cultural interests of students at the European level.
Key services
Advocacy for students' rights, Representation at European institutions, Organizing expert pools and consultative bodies, Publishing policy papers and reports, Running projects and initiatives
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress 6.8.3, Yoast SEO plugin, jQuery 3.7.1, Ultimate Blocks plugin, Mailchimp for WordPress, GDPR Cookie Compliance plugin, 3D Flipbook plugin, Elementor CDN
Frameworks
WordPress
Platforms
WordPress CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • ClientTransferProhibited domain status
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of GDPR cookie compliance plugin

Analytics and tracking

Services
WP Statistics (implied by comment)
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Mailchimp
Marketing tools
Mailchimp for WordPress
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is professionally designed and well maintained.
  2. Content is comprehensive and relevant to European student unions.
  3. Good accessibility features including WCAG contrast and font size toggles.
  4. Active social media presence with official accounts linked.
  5. Use of GDPR cookie compliance plugin and privacy policy indicates privacy awareness.
  6. No explicit terms of service page found.
  7. No explicit security policy or incident response information published.
  8. No DNSSEC enabled for domain.
  9. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure found.
  10. No signs of WAF or content blocking.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress 6.8.3 with a modern tech stack including Yoast SEO for search optimization, GDPR Cookie Compliance for privacy, and Mailchimp integration for newsletter management. jQuery is used for client-side scripting. The site is mobile responsive with accessibility features such as WCAG contrast and font size toggles. Hosting details are limited but the domain registrar is PDR Ltd. Performance is moderate, with potential improvements in caching and asset optimization. No critical technical debt or deprecated technologies were detected. The site uses multiple plugins that are up-to-date, indicating good maintenance practices.
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. 49/100High35 findingsView report
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