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Security report for htw-dresden.de

Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Dresden · Education · Germany

Medium risk. 5 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

64/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Dresden (HTW Dresden) is a well-established public university of applied sciences in Germany, offering a broad range of study programs in engineering, computer science, economics, and design. The institution maintains a strong regional and international presence, supported by partnerships and a focus on applied research and technology transfer. The website reflects a mature digital infrastructure built on TYPO3 CMS, with privacy-conscious analytics and responsive design, providing an excellent user experience for prospective and current students, researchers, and partners. Security practices are solid with HTTPS enforcement and cookie-less analytics, though there is room for improvement in publishing explicit security policies and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms. Overall, the site is trustworthy, professional, and compliant with GDPR requirements.

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

5 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 Cookie Consent Banner found

      GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies

      What to do: Implement a cookie consent banner that appears on first visit

  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 htw-dresden.de

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
67
Security headers
20
Email security
70
DNS health
60
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
68
Average
64

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 htw-dresden.de, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
1,264
Employees
71
Customers
1,016
Third parties
177
Weak passwords
13%

Latest record dated 2026-06-04 · 61 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 htw-dresden.de.

Select it in the checkout above.

Masked preview

  • –groupware.htw-dresden.de2026-06-04
  • –webmail.htw-dresden.de2026-05-26
  • –idp2.htw-dresden.de2026-05-26
  • –groupware.htw-dresden.de2026-05-24
  • –webmail.htw-dresden.de2026-05-20

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

Open in Breach(opens in a new tab)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

HTW Dresden operates primarily in the education sector, targeting students, researchers, and industry partners. Its business model revolves around providing higher education, research services, and career support. The university's market position is stable within the German academic landscape, with a medium-sized footprint and a focus on applied sciences. The presence of international programs and partnerships indicates strategic growth and diversification. The website's content and structure support clear communication of services, events, and academic offerings, reinforcing its credibility and engagement with its audience.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a good security posture with HTTPS enabled and security headers in place. The use of Matomo analytics configured to disable cookies shows a commitment to privacy. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the content. However, the absence of a published security policy or incident response contact limits transparency. Implementing a security.txt file and a formal security policy would enhance the institution's security maturity and trustworthiness.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a formal security policy and incident response procedures on the website.
  2. Implement a security.txt file to facilitate vulnerability disclosures.
  3. Add or enhance Content-Security-Policy headers to mitigate XSS risks.
  4. Continue to monitor and update third-party libraries to avoid vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance transparency around data retention policies for analytics and user data.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Dresden
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Dresden
Description
Die HTWD hat ein vielfältiges Studienangebot von Ingenieurwesen, Informatik und Wirtschaftswissenschaften über Energie & Umwelt, Agrarwirtschaft und Gartenbau, Bauwesen, Geoinformation bis hin zu Produkt- und Kommunikationsdesign.
Key services
Bachelor and Master degree programs, Research and technology transfer, Career services, International exchange programs
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
TYPO3 CMS, Matomo Analytics, JavaScript ES5 bundles, Responsive images, Bootstrap CSS framework (implied by class names)
Frameworks
TYPO3 CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Matomo configured to disable cookies
  • No inline sensitive data exposure

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Matomo
Marketing tools
Matomo Analytics
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 no blocking or WAF challenges.
  2. Content is rich, well-structured, and professionally presented.
  3. Strong focus on education, research, and international cooperation.
  4. Use of open source CMS TYPO3 and privacy-respecting analytics Matomo.
  5. Clear contact and legal information available.
  6. No signs of suspicious or malicious activity.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on TYPO3 CMS, a robust and widely used open-source content management system. The front-end uses modern JavaScript bundles and responsive images to optimize performance and mobile experience. Hosting appears to be managed within academic or governmental infrastructure, indicated by the nameserver 'deneb.dfn.de'. The site loads moderately fast and includes accessibility features and SEO optimizations. The technical stack is modern and well-maintained, though performance could be further optimized by reducing bundle sizes or leveraging advanced caching strategies.
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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