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Security report for hu-berlin.de

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin · Education · Germany

Low risk. 1 critical or high finding in SSL/TLS.

Security score

79/100

Risk levelLow

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

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin is a prominent German university offering a wide range of academic programs and research initiatives. The website reflects its role as a leading educational institution with a strong emphasis on interdisciplinary research and social cohesion. It targets students, researchers, academic staff, and the general public interested in academic content. The university maintains a large-scale presence with consistent branding and professional content quality. Technically, the website is built on the Plone CMS platform, utilizing modern JavaScript libraries such as jQuery and bxSlider for interactive elements. It employs Matomo analytics with user consent mechanisms, indicating a mature approach to privacy. The site is hosted likely within academic networks in Germany, ensuring reliability and performance rated as moderate to good. Mobile optimization and accessibility features are well implemented. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and uses script integrity attributes, but lacks explicit security headers and published security policies or incident response contacts. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. Privacy compliance is strong with clear cookie consent and a comprehensive privacy policy. Business credibility is high, supported by certifications and trust signals. Overall, the website is professional, secure, and compliant, with minor recommendations to enhance security headers and publish vulnerability disclosure information to further strengthen trust and security posture.

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

1 finding rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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

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Keep watching hu-berlin.de

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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
80
Email security
70
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
83
Average
79

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 hu-berlin.de, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
5,464
Employees
60
Customers
4,914
Third parties
490
Weak passwords
12%

Latest record dated 2026-06-17 · 183 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 hu-berlin.de.

Select it in the checkout above.

Masked preview

  • –shib-idp.cms.hu-berlin.de2026-06-17
  • –hu-berlin.de2026-06-15
  • –webmail.cms.hu-berlin.de2026-06-13
  • –www.cms.hu-berlin.de2026-06-11
  • –elabftw.physik.hu-berlin.de2026-06-06

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

The Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin operates as a public university in the education sector, serving a large audience including students, researchers, and academic professionals. It holds a strong market position in Germany with international collaborations and partnerships, such as the Berlin University Alliance. The business model is primarily government-funded education and research services. The website supports this with extensive academic content, event information, and public engagement initiatives. The presence of certifications and social media channels indicates active community and stakeholder engagement. The university's digital presence is mature, leveraging modern CMS and analytics tools, and maintaining compliance with GDPR and cookie regulations.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a good security maturity level with HTTPS enforced and use of script integrity attributes. Cookie consent and privacy policies are well implemented, supporting GDPR compliance. However, the absence of key security headers like Content-Security-Policy and lack of published security or incident response policies represent gaps. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were found in the HTML content. The use of Matomo analytics with consent shows privacy-aware tracking. Overall, the security posture is solid but could be improved by adopting additional HTTP security headers and publishing a vulnerability disclosure policy.

Recommendations

  1. Implement HTTP security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to enhance protection against common web attacks.
  2. Publish a clear security policy and incident response contact information to improve transparency and readiness.
  3. Add a vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting of security issues.
  4. Continue to monitor and update third-party libraries to avoid vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance user privacy by providing detailed data retention policies and options for users to manage their data.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Description
A major German university providing education, research, and public services with a focus on interdisciplinary research and social cohesion.
Key services
Academic programs, Research initiatives, Public events and exhibitions, Information and support services
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Plone CMS, jQuery, bxSlider, Matomo Analytics, JavaScript, CSS
Frameworks
Plone
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent mechanism with opt-in/out
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of integrity attributes on scripts

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Matomo
Marketing tools
CleverReach (newsletter)
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 and no blocking detected
  2. Strong focus on academic and research content
  3. Good privacy and cookie compliance with consent mechanisms
  4. No explicit security policy or incident response contacts found
  5. Use of Matomo analytics with consent required
  6. Multiple social media channels linked
  7. Consistent branding and professional design
  8. No suspicious or malicious content detected
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on the Plone CMS platform, a robust and secure content management system widely used in academic institutions. It uses JavaScript libraries such as jQuery and bxSlider for UI components and Matomo for analytics, indicating a preference for open-source and privacy-respecting tools. The site is hosted on academic DNS servers, suggesting reliable infrastructure. Performance is moderate with good mobile optimization and accessibility features. The site uses modern web standards and includes meta tags for SEO and social media sharing. There is room for improvement in security headers and explicit documentation of security practices.
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. 77/100Low28 findingsView report
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