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Security report for howest.be

Howest · Education · Belgium

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, Security headers and 1 other check.

Security score

62/100

Risk levelMedium

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

Howest is a prominent higher education institution based in Belgium, offering a wide range of bachelor, master, graduaat, and postgraduaat programs. The institution emphasizes innovation and entrepreneurship, targeting students, alumni, and professionals seeking education and training. The website reflects a mature digital presence with comprehensive content, clear navigation, and strong branding consistency. Technically, the site is built on Drupal CMS with modern libraries and includes cookie consent mechanisms and Google Tag Manager for analytics. Security posture is generally good with HTTPS enforced and no exposed sensitive data, though the absence of security headers and a published security policy are areas for improvement. WHOIS data is restricted due to registry policies, which slightly impacts trust but is common for .be domains. Overall, Howest presents a professional, trustworthy, and well-maintained online presence suitable for its educational mission.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
48/ 100 · High
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. 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

    • 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. 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 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';…

  3. 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

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

Keep watching howest.be

This scan found 18 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
95
Security headers
55
Email security
85
DNS health
70
Network security
20
GDPR outside view
48
Average
62

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

Howest holds a strong market position in the Belgian education sector, particularly in West Flanders. Its business model revolves around delivering accredited educational programs and research services, supported by student services and professional training. The institution leverages partnerships such as the Associatie Universiteit Gent to enhance its offerings. The website's content and social media presence indicate active engagement with its target audience. Revenue streams likely include tuition fees, government funding, and research grants. The digital infrastructure supports growth and outreach, though further transparency in security and compliance documentation could enhance stakeholder confidence.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate to good security maturity level with HTTPS enforced and cookie consent implemented, aligning with GDPR requirements. However, the lack of visible security headers such as Content Security Policy, X-Frame-Options, and HSTS reduces the overall security score. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure information is published, which could hinder rapid response to security events. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. The restricted WHOIS data is typical for .be domains but limits external verification of domain ownership. Overall, the security posture is adequate for an educational institution but could benefit from enhanced transparency and technical controls.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and configure standard security headers (CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options) to improve protection against common web attacks.
  2. Publish a clear security policy and incident response contact information to enhance trust and preparedness.
  3. Add a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting of security issues.
  4. Provide contact details for a Data Protection Officer to strengthen GDPR compliance visibility.
  5. Regularly audit third-party scripts and tracking tools to minimize privacy risks and improve user trust.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Howest
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Howest
Description
Howest is een innovatieve en ondernemende hogeschool met 32 future proof bachelors en 14 graduaten, waarvan er 12 uniek zijn in Vlaanderen.
Key services
Higher education programs, Research projects, Professional training, Student support services
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Drupal CMS, FontAwesome, Google Tag Manager, CookiesJSR, jQuery UI Autocomplete
Frameworks
Drupal
Performance
moderate
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Transparency
basic

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
  2. Strong focus on education and research
  3. Good cookie consent and privacy compliance
  4. No visible security headers detected in provided data
  5. WHOIS data is restricted, common for .be domains
  6. No evidence of phishing or malware
  7. Social media presence is strong and consistent
  8. No terms of service page found
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on Drupal CMS, utilizing modern front-end libraries such as FontAwesome and jQuery UI for enhanced user experience. Google Tag Manager is used for analytics and marketing tracking, integrated with a cookie consent mechanism to comply with privacy regulations. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and accessibility features. Performance is moderate, with room for optimization in loading speed. The absence of security headers and limited WHOIS data are technical risks that should be addressed. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports the institution's digital goals but requires incremental improvements to 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

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