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Security report for fraunhofer.at

Fraunhofer Austria Research GmbH · Technology · Austria

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, SSL/TLS and 1 other check.

Security score

52/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Fraunhofer Austria Research GmbH is a well-established applied research partner for the Austrian industry, specializing in digital networking, automation, machine vision, artificial intelligence, factory planning, production management, supply chain management, and digital logistics. The company operates as part of the larger Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Europe's largest applied research organization, positioning itself as a key player in Industry 4.0 within Austria. Their business model focuses on applied research and development through industry collaborations and publicly funded projects. Technically, the website is built on an Apache server with Adobe Experience Manager CMS, utilizing RequireJS and standard web technologies. While the site is mobile-optimized and well-structured with good SEO practices, performance data is limited and suggests slow loading. Accessibility is basic but functional. From a security perspective, the site lacks a valid SSL certificate and does not support HTTPS, which is a critical vulnerability. Although some security headers like HSTS, X-Content-Type-Options, and X-XSS-Protection are present, the absence of HTTPS severely undermines the security posture. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure policies are evident, and cookie consent mechanisms are missing, indicating partial privacy compliance. Overall, the website is professional and credible with clear business information and social media presence. However, the critical lack of HTTPS and incomplete privacy mechanisms present significant risks. Strategic improvements in SSL deployment, security policies, and privacy compliance are recommended to enhance trust and security.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
0/ 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

6 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

    • Critical

      No HTTPS encryption

      GDPR requires appropriate security measures for personal data

      What to do: Implement SSL/TLS certificate for HTTPS

    • 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. 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.

    • Critical

      No HTTPS Encryption

      Website does not use HTTPS encryption, making all data transmission vulnerable to interception

      What to do: Implement SSL/TLS certificate and redirect all HTTP traffic to HTTPS

  3. 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 X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

      What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"

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

Keep watching fraunhofer.at

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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
0
Security headers
75
Email security
50
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
0
Average
52

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

Fraunhofer Austria holds a strong market position as an essential research entity within Austria's manufacturing and technology sectors, leveraging its affiliation with the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. Their competitive advantage lies in applied research expertise across Industry 4.0 domains, targeting Austrian industrial companies and research partners. The business model is based on contract research and public funding, with key services spanning automation, AI, logistics, and production management. The company maintains a moderate size and operates multiple locations in Austria. Partnerships with academic institutions like TU Wien and participation in EU projects are evident. Growth indicators include active event hosting, publications, and innovation campaigns. The website reflects a mature digital presence but lacks advanced technical and security maturity.

Security posture

The current security maturity level is low due to the absence of HTTPS and a valid SSL certificate, exposing users to potential data interception and man-in-the-middle attacks. Security headers are partially implemented, providing some protection against common web attacks. No known vulnerabilities like Heartbleed or POODLE are detected, but the lack of TLS support and weak cipher suites are critical issues. Compliance gaps exist regarding GDPR cookie consent and incident response readiness. Data protection practices are unclear, and no dedicated security contact channels are provided. The security culture appears limited on the public-facing site, suggesting room for improvement in transparency and user trust.

Recommendations

  1. Obtain and deploy a valid SSL/TLS certificate immediately to enable HTTPS and secure all user interactions.
  2. Implement a comprehensive cookie consent mechanism to comply with GDPR and enhance user privacy transparency.
  3. Publish a vulnerability disclosure policy and security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting and incident management.
  4. Enhance security headers configuration by enabling full HSTS with includeSubDomains and preload directives.
  5. Establish and publicize incident response contact channels (e.g., security@fraunhofer.at) to improve security communication and trust.
Technical notes

Notes

The website infrastructure is based on Apache web server and Adobe Experience Manager CMS, indicating a robust enterprise-grade platform. The use of RequireJS suggests modular JavaScript loading. However, the lack of HTTPS and modern TLS protocols is a significant technical debt and security risk. Performance metrics are missing, but the high age header indicates aggressive caching. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive images and accessible navigation. SEO is supported by proper meta tags and Open Graph data. Technical modernization should prioritize SSL/TLS deployment and performance monitoring to reduce latency and improve user 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

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