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Security report for iau.ae

Islamic Azad University | Dubai Branch · Education · United Arab Emirates

High risk. 8 critical or high findings in Network security, Security headers and 2 other checks.

Security score

49/100

Risk levelHigh

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

Islamic Azad University Dubai Branch is an educational institution offering fourteen quality and cost-effective degree programs with English as the medium of instruction. The university aligns its curricula with nationally approved standards, targeting students in Dubai and the UAE region. The website is built on a WordPress platform using Elementor, indicating a modern and maintainable technical infrastructure. SEO practices are implemented, and the site is mobile optimized with good user experience. Security posture is adequate with HTTPS enabled, but lacks explicit security headers and incident response information. Privacy and cookie policies are not found, indicating compliance gaps. Overall, the site is professional and credible but would benefit from enhanced privacy and security disclosures.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
35/ 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

8 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Network security

    Services reachable from the internet are the first thing attackers probe. Anything open that does not need to be should be closed.

    • Critical

      Critical Service Exposed: MySQL

      Port 3306 (MySQL) is publicly accessible - MySQL - Database server

      What to do: Immediately restrict access to MySQL using firewall or VPN

      • 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

  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. 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

      No Cookie Policy found

      GDPR requires clear information about cookie usage

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

    • 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

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

Keep watching iau.ae

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.

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
62
Security headers
55
Email security
85
DNS health
60
Network security
0
GDPR outside view
35
Average
50
After the cap
49

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 · found on this site
  • 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 operates as a branch of the larger Islamic Azad University system, focusing on higher education in Dubai. Its market position is that of a recognized educational provider offering affordable degree programs. The business model is educational services targeting students seeking English-medium instruction in the UAE. Partnerships with research and LMS platforms are evident. The site content and structure support its educational mission, though contact information is minimal on the main page. Growth potential is tied to regional demand for quality education.

Security posture

The website uses HTTPS and modern web technologies, which is positive. However, the absence of security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and lack of visible incident response or vulnerability disclosure mechanisms indicate room for improvement. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the provided content. The security score is moderate, but the lack of privacy and cookie policies reduces compliance maturity. The site should implement security best practices and provide clear security contact channels to enhance trust and readiness.

Recommendations

  1. Publish and link a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie policy with GDPR compliance details.
  2. Implement security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  3. Add clear incident response and vulnerability disclosure information with dedicated contact emails.
  4. Enhance accessibility features to improve compliance and user experience.
  5. Regularly audit and update WordPress core and plugins to mitigate vulnerabilities.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Islamic Azad University | Dubai Branch
Description
Fourteen quality, cost-effective degree programs are being offered at the IAU-Dubai. The medium of instruction at IAU-Dubai is English, and the curricula and syllabi comply with the nationally-approved ones.
Key services
Degree programs, Educational services
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Elementor, PHP, jQuery, Font Awesome, Google Fonts
Frameworks
Elementor
Platforms
WordPress
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of security plugins (implied by WordPress ecosystem)

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
poor

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Buttonizer
Marketing tools
Rank Math SEO
Transparency
basic

Site quality

Design
good
User experience
good
Content relevance
good
Navigation
good
Professionalism
good
Trustworthiness
moderate

Key observations

  1. Website is a WordPress-based educational site for Islamic Azad University Dubai branch.
  2. No explicit privacy, cookie, or terms of service policies found in the provided content.
  3. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly found in the HTML content.
  4. Use of modern web technologies and SEO best practices evident.
  5. No visible security headers detected in the provided data; recommend adding.
  6. No evidence of incident response or vulnerability disclosure information.
  7. External links mostly related to university services and forms.
  8. No suspicious or malicious content detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress with Elementor page builder, using jQuery and Font Awesome libraries. It loads Google Fonts and uses Rank Math for SEO optimization. Hosting is via Etisalat, a reputable UAE provider. Performance is moderate with good mobile responsiveness. The site uses structured data (JSON-LD) for organization and article schema, aiding SEO. No major technical debt or outdated technologies were detected. Opportunities exist to improve security headers and accessibility compliance.
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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