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Security report for hi.no

Havforskningsinstituttet · Government · Norway

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

70/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Havforskningsinstituttet (HI) is the largest marine research institute in Europe, based in Norway, focusing on marine ecosystem research, advisory services, and monitoring. The website reflects a well-established government research entity with a strong market position in marine science and sustainability. It targets researchers, policymakers, and the general public interested in marine topics. The business model is primarily government-funded research and advisory services. Technically, the website employs modern web technologies including jQuery, Foundation CSS framework, and integrates analytics tools such as Google Analytics, Hotjar, and Monsido. It uses Cloudflare for security and bot management and CookieYes for cookie consent management, indicating a mature digital infrastructure. The site is mobile-optimized, accessible, and SEO-friendly. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforced, bot management, and a comprehensive cookie consent mechanism. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. However, explicit security headers like X-Frame-Options and security.txt for vulnerability disclosure are not evident and could be improved. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and compliant with GDPR and Norwegian regulations. The lack of WHOIS data is consistent with Norwegian domain privacy policies and does not detract from legitimacy. Strategic recommendations include enhancing security header implementation, publishing incident response policies, and adding vulnerability disclosure mechanisms.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
65/ 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. 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 Privacy Policy found

      GDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy

      What to do: Add a comprehensive privacy policy page and link to it prominently

    • High

      Third-party services without privacy policy

      Detected services: Google Analytics, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Cloudflare, Google APIs

      What to do: Document all third-party data sharing in your privacy policy

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

Keep watching hi.no

This scan found 22 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

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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
72
Security headers
15
Email security
80
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
65
Average
70

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 hi.no, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
5
Employees
0
Customers
5
Third parties
0
Weak passwords
40%

2 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 hi.no.

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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

HI holds a dominant position in marine research in Europe, supported by government funding. Its competitive advantage lies in its scale, expertise, and comprehensive advisory and monitoring services. The website content and linked partner domains indicate a strong ecosystem collaboration with marine data centers and environmental initiatives. Revenue streams are likely public funding and research grants. The target customers include government agencies, fisheries managers, academic researchers, and the public. Growth indicators include active publication of research, events, and outreach. The partnership ecosystem is robust with related marine and environmental organizations.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS, Cloudflare bot management, and cookie consent compliance. No critical security issues were found. The use of session cookies and secure cookie management is appropriate. However, some security headers are not explicitly visible and should be verified. There is no public incident response or security policy, which is a gap. GDPR compliance is well addressed through privacy and cookie policies. Overall, the security culture appears strong but could benefit from formalized public security documentation.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and verify all recommended security headers such as X-Frame-Options and X-Content-Type-Options.
  2. Publish a security policy and incident response plan accessible to users and partners.
  3. Add a security.txt file to facilitate vulnerability disclosure and improve transparency.
  4. Regularly update and audit third-party libraries and scripts to mitigate vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance user privacy controls and transparency around data retention and processing.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Havforskningsinstituttet
Registration number
971 349 077
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Havforskningsinstituttet
Description
Havforskningsinstituttet (HI) er det største marine forskningsinstituttet i Europa. Hovedaktivitetene våre er forskning, rådgivning og overvåkning.
Key services
marine research, advisory services, monitoring of marine ecosystems
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery, Select2, Foundation CSS, Font Awesome, Google Fonts, Google Analytics, Hotjar, Cloudflare (security and bot management), CookieYes (cookie consent management), Monsido (analytics and heatmaps)
Frameworks
Foundation
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cloudflare Bot Management cookies present
  • Cookie consent banner with granular controls
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of secure session cookies (PHPSESSID)

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Hotjar, Monsido
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Hotjar, Monsido
Marketing tools
CookieYes
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 no blocking detected.
  2. Comprehensive cookie consent mechanism implemented with detailed cookie categories.
  3. Strong presence of official contact information and social media links.
  4. Use of modern web technologies and analytics tools.
  5. No WHOIS data available publicly, likely due to Norwegian domain privacy policies.
  6. No signs of phishing, malware, or suspicious content.
  7. Content is in Norwegian with English version available.
  8. Website serves as an authoritative source for marine research in Norway.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern technology stack including jQuery, Select2, Foundation CSS, and Font Awesome. It integrates Google Fonts and multiple analytics and tracking tools such as Google Analytics, Hotjar, and Monsido. The CMS appears to be Lime CMS based on internal comments. Hosting and security are managed via Cloudflare. Performance is moderate with room for optimization. The site is mobile responsive and accessible with ARIA labels and keyboard navigation support. SEO is well implemented with meta tags and Open Graph data. Technical risks include reliance on multiple third-party scripts and the need for continuous updates to maintain security and performance.
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

Earlier scans of this domain

  1. 65/100Medium29 findingsView report
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