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Security report for forthem-alliance.eu

FORTHEM Alliance · Education · N/a

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, Security headers and 1 other check.

Security score

65/100

Risk levelMedium

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

FORTHEM Alliance is a European network of nine multidisciplinary public research universities focused on fostering cooperation across languages, borders, and disciplines to address societal challenges and skills shortages in Europe. The alliance provides various mobility programs, digital learning platforms, research innovation services, and collaborative labs targeting students, staff, researchers, and public organizations. The website reflects a well-structured and content-rich platform that supports the alliance's educational and research mission. Technically, the website leverages modern web technologies including React and Next.js, delivering a responsive and moderately performant user experience. The site is accessible and SEO optimized, though accessibility features could be enhanced. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced, but lacks explicit security headers and a cookie consent mechanism, which are recommended for improved compliance and protection. The domain WHOIS data is privacy protected by EURid, which is common for .eu domains and justified for this non-profit educational alliance. No suspicious patterns or vulnerabilities were detected. Overall, the website demonstrates a trustworthy and professional presence with room for improvement in privacy compliance and security best practices. Strategic recommendations include implementing security headers, adding a cookie consent banner, publishing a security policy and incident response information, and enhancing accessibility features to further strengthen the website's security and compliance posture.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
55/ 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

5 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 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 forthem-alliance.eu

This scan found 23 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

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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
57
Security headers
30
Email security
70
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
55
Average
65

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

FORTHEM Alliance operates as a non-profit educational and research network connecting universities across multiple European countries. Its market positioning is strong within the European higher education sector, focusing on multidisciplinary collaboration and societal impact. The alliance's business model centers on providing mobility programs, digital education, and research innovation services. Revenue streams likely derive from EU funding and member contributions. The target customer segments include students, academic staff, researchers, public organizations, and lifelong learners. The alliance benefits from a broad partnership ecosystem across nine countries, enhancing its strategic reach and collaborative potential. Growth indicators include expanding digital platforms and innovation portfolios. The website content and structure support the alliance's mission and partnership ecosystem effectively.

Security posture

The website exhibits a moderate security maturity level with HTTPS enabled and no visible exposure of sensitive data. However, the absence of key security headers such as Content Security Policy (CSP), HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS), and X-Frame-Options reduces its defense-in-depth. There is no publicly available security policy or incident response information, which limits transparency and preparedness communication. GDPR compliance is indicated by a detailed privacy notice, but the lack of a cookie consent mechanism is a compliance gap. No vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file was found, which could hinder responsible vulnerability reporting. Overall, the security culture appears basic with opportunities to enhance compliance and incident readiness.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive security headers including CSP, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options to strengthen protection against common web attacks.
  2. Add a cookie consent banner/mechanism to ensure GDPR compliance and user privacy transparency.
  3. Publish a clear security policy and incident response plan accessible to users and stakeholders.
  4. Establish a vulnerability disclosure policy and security.txt file to facilitate responsible security reporting.
  5. Enhance website accessibility features to improve inclusivity and compliance with accessibility standards.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
FORTHEM Alliance
Description
FORTHEM Alliance aims to bring together a new generation of creative Europeans able to cooperate across languages, borders and disciplines to address societal challenges and skills shortages faced in Europe. It is a network of nine multidisciplinary public research universities with strong regional anchoring in Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Romania and Spain.
Key services
Erasmus+ exchange programme, Individual and collective short-term mobility, Blended Intensive Programmes, PhD studies, Digital Academy, Research and Innovation Services, Labs and Co-creation, Innovation Portfolio
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, Next.js, JavaScript, CSS, SVG
Frameworks
Next.js
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of modern JavaScript frameworks

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a multilingual educational alliance platform
  2. Content is rich and well-structured with extensive navigation
  3. No direct contact emails or phone numbers publicly listed, only contact form
  4. No visible cookie consent banner despite GDPR notice presence
  5. No explicit security.txt or vulnerability disclosure policy found
  6. No social media links detected in provided HTML snippet
  7. WHOIS data is privacy protected, limiting domain ownership visibility
  8. No advertising or tracking scripts detected
  9. Site uses modern web technologies and frameworks
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built using modern JavaScript frameworks, primarily React and Next.js, enabling server-side rendering and improved SEO. The use of SVG graphics and responsive design indicates attention to visual quality and mobile optimization. Performance is moderate, with deferred loading of scripts and preloading of CSS assets. However, no CMS or hosting provider information was detected. The site lacks some accessibility features and security headers, which are technical debts that should be addressed. The absence of analytics or tracking scripts suggests minimal user tracking, aligning with privacy-conscious design. Overall, the technical infrastructure is solid but can benefit from enhancements in security and accessibility.
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

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