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Security report for hertie-school.org

Hertie School · Education · Germany

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in Security headers and SSL/TLS.

Security score

73/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Hertie School is a well-established educational institution based in Berlin, Germany, specializing in governance, public policy, and related social sciences. Founded in 2004 and supported by the Hertie Foundation, it offers a range of graduate and doctoral programs, executive education, and conducts interdisciplinary research. The school is recognized and accredited by reputable bodies, positioning itself as a top-ranked university in its field in Europe. The website reflects a professional and consistent brand image, targeting students, researchers, and professionals seeking advanced education and knowledge in governance and public affairs. Technically, the website is built on the TYPO3 CMS platform, utilizing modern JavaScript libraries such as Flickity, Slick Carousel, and Selectize to enhance user experience. It integrates Google Tag Manager for analytics and employs a cookie consent mechanism to comply with privacy regulations. The site is mobile-optimized, accessible, and SEO-friendly, providing a smooth user experience. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and implements privacy and cookie policies aligned with GDPR requirements. However, it lacks explicit security headers and a public security policy or incident response contact, which are recommended for enhanced security posture. No vulnerabilities or suspicious activities were detected in the content or technical setup. Overall, the Hertie School's website demonstrates a strong digital presence with high content quality, good technical implementation, and solid privacy compliance. The absence of WHOIS data limits domain registration insights, but the professional nature of the site and its consistent branding support its legitimacy. Strategic recommendations include improving security headers and publishing a security policy to further strengthen trust and security.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
83/ 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

4 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. 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 SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

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

Keep watching hertie-school.org

This scan found 21 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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Recommended

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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
75
Security headers
25
Email security
75
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
83
Average
73

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 hertie-school.org, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
980
Employees
0
Customers
980
Third parties
0
Weak passwords
6%

13 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 hertie-school.org.

Select it in the checkout above.

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

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

The Hertie School operates in the education and non-profit sectors, focusing on governance and public policy education. Its business model revolves around offering academic degrees, executive education, and research services. The school targets a global audience of students and professionals interested in public affairs and governance. It maintains partnerships with research centers and has a merchandise store for brand engagement. The institution's market position is strong within Europe, supported by accreditations and a reputable foundation. Growth indicators include active research, public events, and a comprehensive digital presence. The partnership ecosystem includes academic and philanthropic organizations, enhancing its reach and influence.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS and privacy compliance mechanisms such as cookie consent. It avoids exposing sensitive data and uses trusted third-party services like Google Tag Manager responsibly. However, the absence of key security headers (e.g., Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options) and a public security policy or incident response contact reduces its security maturity. No vulnerabilities or suspicious patterns were found. The site would benefit from publishing a vulnerability disclosure policy and implementing additional HTTP security headers to mitigate risks and improve trustworthiness.

Recommendations

  1. Implement HTTP security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  2. Publish a clear security policy and incident response contact information on the website.
  3. Consider adding a vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  4. Regularly audit third-party libraries and dependencies to ensure no vulnerabilities are introduced.
  5. Enhance transparency around data retention policies related to analytics and user data.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Hertie School
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Hertie School
Description
The Hertie School teaches, researches, and debates good governance and public affairs in the heart of Berlin and Europe. The social science university offers master's degrees, doctoral programmes, and executive education to train change-makers in government, business, and civil society.
Key services
Master's degree programs (MPP, MIA, MDS), PhD programs, Executive education, Research and public policy debate, Events and public discussions
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
TYPO3 CMS, jQuery, Flickity, Slick Carousel, Selectize, Fancybox, Select2, Google Tag Manager
Frameworks
TYPO3 CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of Google Tag Manager with consent
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich content and navigation
  2. Uses modern CMS TYPO3 and multiple JS libraries for UI
  3. Strong presence of social media and external trusted domains
  4. Clear contact information and multiple communication channels
  5. No signs of malicious or suspicious content
  6. Good privacy and cookie policy implementation
  7. WHOIS data unavailable, but no negative indicators from website content
Technical notes

Notes

The website is powered by TYPO3 CMS, a robust and widely used content management system, indicating a stable and scalable infrastructure. It employs modern JavaScript libraries for interactive elements and user interface enhancements. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible, with good SEO practices evident in meta tags and structured navigation. Performance is moderate, likely influenced by rich media content and third-party integrations. There is no explicit hosting provider information, but the use of HTTPS and Google Tag Manager suggests a professionally managed environment. Opportunities exist to improve technical security and performance optimization further.
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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