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Security report for hawtech.com

HAWtech · Education · Germany

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS, Network security and 2 other checks.

Security score

53/100

Risk levelMedium

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

HAWtech is a consortium of six leading German universities of applied sciences specializing in engineering sciences. Founded in 2009, it serves approximately 60,000 students across economically strong regions in Germany. The alliance focuses on applied teaching, learning, research, and academic cooperation, offering study programs, summer schools, and scholarships. The website reflects a professional academic presence with clear navigation and relevant content targeted at students and academic partners. Technically, the site is built on TYPO3 CMS with JavaScript enhancements and uses Piwik for analytics, indicating moderate digital maturity. Security posture is adequate with cookie consent implemented but lacks visible advanced security headers and explicit incident response or security policies. The absence of WHOIS registration data for the domain is a notable anomaly that reduces trustworthiness, though the website content and partner domains strongly suggest legitimacy. Overall, the site is well-maintained, content-rich, and serves its educational mission effectively.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
68/ 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

6 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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

  2. Network security

    Services reachable from the internet are the first thing attackers probe. Anything open that does not need to be should be closed.

    • High

      High-Risk Service Exposed: FTP

      Port 21 (FTP) is publicly accessible - FTP - Often unencrypted file transfer

      What to do: Consider restricting access to FTP or implementing strong authentication

      • NIS2 21(2)(e)
      • IR 2024/2690 6.7.2(f): Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690, Annex point 6.7.2(f): Network security
      • NIST CM-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CM-7: Least Functionality
      • NIST SC-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SC-7: Boundary Protection

  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 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 hawtech.com

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.

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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
62
Security headers
30
Email security
70
DNS health
70
Network security
20
GDPR outside view
68
Average
53

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 hawtech.com, from OffSeq Breach.

No leaked records found

Breach holds no records for hawtech.com right now. New leaks arrive continuously, so monitoring on Breach alerts you if that changes.

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

The alliance positions itself as a reputable academic consortium with a strong regional presence in Germany. Its business model revolves around collaboration among member universities to enhance applied sciences education and research. The target audience includes prospective students, academic researchers, and institutional partners. The alliance leverages its collective reputation and regional economic strengths to attract students and foster cooperation. The website supports this by providing detailed information on member universities, study programs, and press releases. The partnership ecosystem is robust, involving six well-known universities. Growth indicators include international cooperation such as study trips and academic exchanges. Revenue streams are likely derived from member contributions, academic funding, and program fees. Strategic observations suggest a focus on maintaining academic excellence and expanding international collaboration.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a baseline security posture with HTTPS enabled and a cookie consent mechanism in place, indicating awareness of privacy regulations like GDPR. However, no explicit security headers (e.g., Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options) were detected, which could expose the site to certain web-based attacks. There is no public incident response or vulnerability disclosure policy, which limits transparency and preparedness. No sensitive data or vulnerabilities were observed in the HTML content. The use of Piwik analytics suggests moderate user tracking, but privacy compliance appears basic. The missing WHOIS data for the domain is a significant concern from a trust perspective. Overall, the security maturity is moderate but could be improved by implementing stronger headers, publishing security policies, and verifying domain registration details.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive HTTP security headers including CSP, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options to enhance protection against common web attacks.
  2. Publish explicit security and incident response policies on the website to improve transparency and preparedness.
  3. Verify and update WHOIS domain registration information to align with the website's academic legitimacy and improve trust.
  4. Enhance accessibility features to comply with standards and improve user experience for all visitors.
  5. Regularly audit and update third-party libraries and analytics tools to mitigate potential vulnerabilities and privacy risks.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
HAWtech
Description
HAWtech is a German alliance of leading universities of applied sciences in engineering sciences, founded in 2009. It includes six member universities located in economically strong regions of Germany, collectively enrolling approximately 60,000 students. The alliance focuses on applied teaching, learning, and research.
Key services
Academic cooperation, Study programs, Summer school, Scholarships, Press and communication
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
TYPO3 CMS, JavaScript, RequireJS, Piwik Analytics
Frameworks
TYPO3 CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
60/100
Good practices seen
  • Cookie consent banner implemented
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Piwik
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Piwik
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich content about the academic alliance.
  2. No signs of WAF or security blocking.
  3. WHOIS data is missing or domain not registered in the queried database.
  4. Cookie consent and privacy policy are implemented.
  5. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found on the homepage; contact likely via form.
  6. Use of TYPO3 CMS and Piwik analytics indicates moderate technical maturity.
  7. No explicit security headers detected in provided data.
  8. No adult or questionable content detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on TYPO3 CMS, a mature and widely used content management system for academic and corporate sites. It uses RequireJS for JavaScript module loading and Piwik for analytics tracking. The site loads multiple CSS stylesheets and JavaScript assets asynchronously, indicating an effort to optimize performance. The design is responsive and mobile-friendly with clear navigation menus and dropdowns. However, no hosting provider information was found, and no advanced performance optimization indicators were detected. The site lacks visible security headers and explicit SEO meta tags beyond basic canonical and viewport settings. Overall, the technical infrastructure is solid but could benefit from modern security and performance enhancements.
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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