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Security report for hsg.ch

University of St.Gallen · Education · Switzerland

Low risk. 3 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

83/100

Risk levelLow

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

The University of St.Gallen is a prestigious Swiss educational institution specializing in management, economics, law, social sciences, international affairs, and computer science. The website serves a diverse audience including students, academics, and business partners, offering comprehensive information about academic programs and research activities. The university holds a strong market position as a leading Swiss university with international recognition. Technically, the website is built on the TYPO3 CMS platform, leveraging modern web technologies such as Bootstrap and jQuery. It integrates multiple third-party analytics and marketing tools, including Google Analytics, Crazy Egg, and various advertising pixels, all managed through a GDPR-compliant cookie consent mechanism. The site demonstrates good mobile optimization, accessibility, and SEO practices. From a security perspective, the website enforces HTTPS, employs standard security headers, and avoids exposing sensitive data. However, explicit security policies and incident response contacts are not published, representing an area for improvement. The domain registration data aligns well with the website's identity, reinforcing its legitimacy. Overall, the website is professional, secure, and compliant with privacy regulations, with minor recommendations to enhance transparency around security policies and vulnerability disclosures.

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

3 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 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 Policy found

      GDPR requires clear information about cookie usage

      What to do: Add a dedicated cookie policy explaining cookie usage and purposes

  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 hsg.ch

This scan found 16 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
82
Security headers
70
Email security
80
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
80
Average
83

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

The University of St.Gallen operates as a large educational entity focused on higher education and research in business and social sciences. Its business model centers on academic program delivery and research output, targeting students, researchers, and corporate partners. The university leverages a strong brand and digital presence to maintain competitive advantage in the Swiss and international education markets. The integration of multiple marketing and analytics tools indicates a mature digital marketing strategy aimed at audience engagement and recruitment. No parent or subsidiary companies are identified, suggesting independent operation. The website content and structure reflect a well-established institution with consistent branding and high-quality content.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, comprehensive cookie consent management, and use of security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and Strict-Transport-Security. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive information were detected in the HTML content. The use of third-party analytics and marketing scripts is managed with user consent, aligning with GDPR requirements. However, the absence of a published security policy or incident response contact limits transparency and readiness perception. There is no evidence of a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file. Overall, the security posture is strong but could benefit from enhanced documentation and communication of security practices.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy page detailing security practices and controls.
  2. Add incident response contact information (e.g., security@unisg.ch or abuse@unisg.ch) to improve transparency.
  3. Implement and publish a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  4. Regularly audit third-party scripts and update CMS and libraries to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance accessibility features and conduct periodic security training to maintain a strong security culture.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
University of St.Gallen
Description
University of St.Gallen – School of Management, Economics, Law, Social Sciences, International Affairs and Computer Science.
Key services
Management education, Economics education, Law education, Social sciences education, International affairs education, Computer science education, Research and academic publications
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
TYPO3 CMS, JavaScript, jQuery, Bootstrap, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Yoast SEO for TYPO3
Frameworks
TYPO3 CMS, Bootstrap
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent management
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of security headers

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Crazy Egg
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Google Ads, Meta (Facebook) Pixel, LinkedIn Ads, TikTok Ads, Pinterest Ads
Tracking pixels
Crazy Egg, Meta Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, TikTok Pixel, Pinterest Pixel
Marketing tools
Google Marketing Platform, Crazy Egg
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website uses a modern CMS (TYPO3) with professional design and good SEO.
  2. Comprehensive cookie consent mechanism with detailed cookie categories and descriptions.
  3. Multiple third-party marketing and analytics tools integrated with user consent.
  4. No signs of malicious or suspicious content.
  5. Strong privacy and cookie policies aligned with GDPR requirements.
  6. No explicit security policy or incident response contact information found.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is powered by TYPO3 CMS, a robust and widely used open-source content management system, indicating a solid technical foundation. The use of Bootstrap and jQuery supports responsive design and interactive features. Integration with Google Tag Manager and multiple analytics and marketing tools demonstrates a sophisticated digital marketing infrastructure. Performance is moderate, with asynchronous loading of scripts and CSS optimizations observed. SEO is enhanced by Yoast SEO for TYPO3 and structured data (JSON-LD) implementation. No critical technical debt or outdated technologies were detected, though continuous updates and monitoring are recommended 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

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