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Security report for gsi.de

GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung · Education · Germany

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

Security score

66/100

Risk levelMedium

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

GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung is a prominent German research institution specializing in ion accelerator technology and fundamental physics research. The organization operates a unique large-scale accelerator facility in Darmstadt, attracting researchers worldwide to conduct experiments on matter and the universe's development. Their work extends into medical applications, notably pioneering ion beam cancer therapies, and the synthesis of new chemical elements. The website reflects a mature, well-structured digital presence with comprehensive scientific content and strong affiliations with the Helmholtz Association and other German federal and state funding bodies. Technically, the website is built on TYPO3 CMS, leveraging privacy-conscious analytics via Matomo and employing a consent management system (Klaro). The site demonstrates good mobile optimization, accessibility, and SEO practices, hosted likely within a trusted German research network infrastructure. Security measures include HTTPS enforcement and standard security headers, though explicit security policies and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms are not publicly detailed. The security posture is solid with no detected vulnerabilities or blocking mechanisms. Privacy compliance is evident through clear privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms. The domain WHOIS data aligns with the institution's identity and location, reinforcing legitimacy and trustworthiness. Overall, the website is professional, secure, and compliant, serving its audience effectively. Strategic recommendations include publishing explicit security and incident response policies, implementing a security.txt file, and enhancing security headers such as CSP for further hardening.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
80/ 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

5 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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';…

  2. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • 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

  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 gsi.de

This scan found 25 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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Full report

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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
67
Security headers
25
Email security
60
DNS health
65
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
80
Average
66

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

Breach exposure

Leaked credentials and lookalike domains from OffSeq Breach. The counts are free; the detailed lists are paid add-ons.

Dark web exposure

Add-on

Leaked records that mention gsi.de, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
289
Employees
6
Customers
261
Third parties
22
Weak passwords
15%

Latest record dated 2026-05-27 · 38 subdomains affected

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

A one-off add-on to this report that lists the most recent identifier and password pairs OffSeq Breach holds for gsi.de.

Select it in the checkout above.

Masked preview

  • –repository.gsi.de2026-05-27
  • –git.cbm.gsi.de2025-11-13
  • –repository.gsi.de2025-08-20
  • –sf.gsi.de2025-07-23
  • –email.gsi.de2025-07-20

Breach keeps ingesting new leaks, so these numbers can grow between scans.

Open in Breach(opens in a new tab)Monitor on Breach(opens in a new tab)

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

GSI holds a strong market position as a leading research center in accelerator physics and related scientific fields. Its business model is primarily public research funded by federal and state agencies, with a focus on scientific discovery, technology development, and educational outreach. The institution benefits from a broad partnership ecosystem including Helmholtz Association membership and regional scientific branches. Growth indicators include ongoing large-scale projects like FAIR and active scientific collaborations. The website supports multiple user segments including researchers, students, industry partners, and the general public, reflecting a diversified stakeholder engagement strategy.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and use of privacy-respecting analytics. Security headers are present but could be enhanced with additional policies like CSP. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected. The absence of publicly available security or incident response policies and vulnerability disclosure channels suggests room for improvement in transparency and readiness. Overall, the security culture appears sound but could benefit from formalized documentation and communication of security practices.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response plan accessible on the website.
  2. Implement and publish a security.txt file to facilitate vulnerability reporting.
  3. Enhance HTTP security headers by adding Content Security Policy (CSP) and other relevant headers.
  4. Regularly audit third-party scripts and libraries for vulnerabilities and update them accordingly.
  5. Increase transparency on data retention policies related to analytics and user data.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung
Description
Das GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt betreibt eine große, weltweit einmalige Beschleunigeranlage für Ionen. Forschende aus aller Welt nutzen die Anlage für Experimente, um neue Erkenntnisse über den Aufbau der Materie und die Entwicklung des Universums zu gewinnen. Darüber hinaus entwickeln sie neuartige Anwendungen in Medizin und Technik.
Key services
Forschung mit Ionenbeschleunigern, Entwicklung von Krebstherapien mit Ionenstrahlen, Erzeugung neuer chemischer Elemente, Wissenschaftliche Kooperationen und Netzwerke, Bildung und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
TYPO3 CMS, Matomo Analytics, jQuery (implied by usage of $(window).scrollTo), Klaro Consent Manager
Frameworks
TYPO3 CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced (implied by canonical URLs)
  • Consent management via Klaro
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of Matomo for privacy-respecting analytics

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Matomo
Marketing tools
Matomo Analytics, Klaro Consent Manager
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a well-established German research center site with extensive scientific content.
  2. Uses TYPO3 CMS and privacy-respecting Matomo analytics.
  3. Clear navigation and multilingual support (German and English).
  4. No signs of blocking or WAF interference.
  5. Strong trust indicators including official memberships and funding acknowledgments.
  6. No visible security or privacy policy gaps.
  7. No suspicious or malicious content detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is powered by TYPO3 CMS, a robust and widely used open-source content management system suitable for complex institutional websites. It uses Matomo for analytics, which aligns with privacy best practices. The site includes responsive design and accessibility features, ensuring usability across devices and for diverse users. Hosting appears to be managed within a German academic/research network, enhancing reliability and security. Performance is moderate, with room for optimization. The site structure is comprehensive, supporting deep navigation into research topics, events, and organizational information. Technical risks are minimal but could be mitigated further by adopting advanced security headers and continuous monitoring.
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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