Skip to main content

Security report for fernwaerme.de

Fernwärme-Forschungsinstitut · Energy · Germany

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

Security score

58/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Fernwärme-Forschungsinstitut is a specialized German research institute focused on district heating technologies and related scientific research. The organization provides services including research projects, testing, certification, damage assessment, and consulting primarily targeting energy companies, municipal utilities, and industry professionals. The website is primarily in German with an English option, reflecting a regional and international audience in the energy sector. The business operates as a small entity with a niche market position in energy research. Technically, the website is built with basic HTML and CSS without advanced frameworks or CMS detected. The site is moderately performant but lacks modern optimizations such as mobile responsiveness and accessibility features. There are no visible analytics or tracking technologies, indicating minimal user tracking. The website lacks HTTPS information in the provided data, and no security headers or advanced security mechanisms are detected, which indicates room for improvement in security posture. From a security perspective, the site does not show evidence of security policies, incident response contacts, or vulnerability disclosure mechanisms. No cookie consent or privacy compliance features are present beyond a basic privacy policy page. The WHOIS data is consistent with the website content and domain legitimacy, showing professional DNS hosting and no privacy protection. Overall, the site is safe with no adult or questionable content but requires enhancements in security and privacy compliance to meet modern standards. The overall risk is moderate with no critical vulnerabilities detected but with notable gaps in security best practices and privacy compliance. Strategic recommendations include implementing HTTPS, adding security headers, deploying cookie consent mechanisms, and publishing incident response and vulnerability disclosure information to improve trust and compliance.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
28/ 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 fernwaerme.de

This scan found 27 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
77
Security headers
15
Email security
70
DNS health
60
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
28
Average
58

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 Fernwärme-Forschungsinstitut operates in the energy sector focusing on district heating research and testing. Its competitive advantage lies in specialized knowledge of standards (EN norms) and practical research services for energy distribution systems. The business model revolves around research projects, certification, and consulting services. Target customers include energy companies, municipal utilities, and research institutions. The company appears to have a stable niche presence with no visible parent or subsidiary relationships. Growth indicators are not explicit but the presence of multiple research projects and membership options suggests active engagement in the sector. The partnership ecosystem is not detailed on the site. The website content and structure indicate a professional but small-scale operation with limited digital marketing or analytics integration.

Security posture

The current security maturity level is basic. The absence of HTTPS (based on provided data), lack of security headers, and no visible incident response or vulnerability disclosure policies indicate low security maturity. There are no signs of exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries, which is positive. However, the lack of cookie consent and privacy compliance features is a compliance gap, especially under GDPR. The site does not provide contact channels for security incidents or abuse. Overall, the security culture appears minimal with no advanced security practices implemented. Business impact of these gaps could include reduced trust and potential compliance risks. Enhancing security posture is recommended to align with industry best practices.

Recommendations

  1. Implement HTTPS with a valid SSL/TLS certificate to secure all website traffic.
  2. Add standard security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-XSS-Protection to mitigate common web attacks.
  3. Deploy a cookie consent mechanism to comply with GDPR and improve user privacy transparency.
  4. Publish a security policy and incident response contact information to enhance trust and preparedness.
  5. Consider adding a vulnerability disclosure policy and security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Fernwärme-Forschungsinstitut
Description
Fernwärme-Forschungsinstitut is a research institute focused on district heating technologies and related scientific research, including standards, damage assessment, and energy optimization.
Key services
Research projects, Testing and certification, Damage assessment, Consulting and norm development
Content quality
basic
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
HTML5, CSS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
basic
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
40/100

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

Design
basic
User experience
basic
Content relevance
good
Navigation
good
Professionalism
basic
Trustworthiness
moderate

Key observations

  1. Website is in German language with English option available.
  2. No forms detected on the main page; contact is via email link.
  3. No social media links found.
  4. No scripts or external JavaScript libraries detected.
  5. No Open Graph or JSON-LD structured data present.
  6. WHOIS data shows multiple UI-DNS name servers, indicating professional DNS hosting.
  7. No visible security headers or HTTPS information provided in data.
  8. Contact information is clearly presented with phone, fax, email, and physical address.
  9. No cookie consent or tracking mechanisms detected.
  10. Website content is static and informational with focus on research and services.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses basic HTML5 and CSS without any detected JavaScript frameworks or CMS platforms. The site structure is simple with static pages and no dynamic forms or scripts. Performance is moderate but could benefit from optimization for mobile devices and accessibility improvements. No analytics or tracking scripts are present, indicating minimal data collection. The DNS is professionally managed with multiple UI-DNS name servers. Hosting provider details are not available. The lack of HTTPS and security headers represents technical debt and a risk vector. Modernization opportunities include adopting HTTPS, improving mobile responsiveness, and integrating accessibility standards to enhance user experience and compliance.
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 fernwaerme.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 fernwaerme.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.