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Security report for ethz.ch

ETH Zürich · Education · Switzerland

Low risk. 2 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view.

Security score

79/100

Risk levelLow

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

ETH Zürich is a prestigious Swiss university specializing in science, technology, and engineering education and research. It holds a top global position in academia and serves students, researchers, and industry partners. The website reflects a mature digital infrastructure with modern analytics and consent management, ensuring compliance with privacy regulations such as GDPR. Security posture is strong with HTTPS, security headers, and no visible vulnerabilities, although explicit security policy and incident response information are not publicly detailed. Overall, the site is professional, trustworthy, and well-maintained, supporting ETH Zürich's reputation as a leading educational institution.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of ethz.ch. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 100 · Medium
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

2 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.

    • 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

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Keep watching ethz.ch

This scan found 17 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.

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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
85
Security headers
70
Email security
85
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
79

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

ETH Zürich operates as a public university with a focus on education, research, and innovation. Its market position is strong globally, supported by government funding and research grants. The website targets academic audiences and industry collaborators, providing comprehensive information and services. The use of advanced analytics and consent tools indicates a commitment to data privacy and user experience. The absence of commercial advertising and affiliate programs aligns with its non-profit educational mission. Strategic partnerships and certifications like ISO 27001 enhance its credibility and operational maturity.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a solid security foundation with enforced HTTPS, appropriate security headers, and no exposed sensitive data. Privacy compliance is evident through cookie consent mechanisms and a comprehensive privacy policy. However, the lack of a public security policy or vulnerability disclosure program suggests room for improvement in transparency and incident readiness. No critical vulnerabilities or suspicious activities were detected. The security score is high, reflecting good practices but with potential to enhance incident response visibility.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security practices and commitments.
  2. Implement and publicize a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file.
  3. Provide clear incident response contact information for security issues.
  4. Enhance transparency around data retention policies related to analytics and tracking.
  5. Regularly audit third-party scripts and tracking tools to minimize privacy risks.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
ETH Zürich
Description
ETH Zürich is a leading science and technology university in Switzerland, offering education, research, and innovation services.
Key services
Higher education, Research, Innovation and technology transfer
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, XMLHttpRequest, Google Tag Manager, Piano Analytics, CookieLaw.org Consent SDK
Frameworks
Custom ETHZ CMS
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Consent management for cookies
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of security headers

Analytics and tracking

Services
Piano Analytics, Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Piano Analytics
Marketing tools
Piano Analytics
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 maintained by ETH Zürich.
  2. Strong focus on privacy and cookie consent compliance.
  3. Use of modern analytics and tag management tools.
  4. No signs of malicious or suspicious content.
  5. No explicit security or incident response pages found publicly.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a custom CMS platform with modern JavaScript and analytics integrations such as Google Tag Manager and Piano Analytics. Performance is moderate with good mobile optimization and accessibility features. SEO is well addressed with proper meta tags and Open Graph data. Hosting appears stable and likely managed internally or by Swiss academic infrastructure. The technical stack is robust but could benefit from more explicit documentation of frameworks and security configurations. Overall, the technical implementation supports a professional and user-friendly 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. 80/100 −6Low24 findingsView report
  2. 86/100 +8Low19 findingsView report
  3. 78/100Low23 findingsView report
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