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Security report for ie.edu

IE University · Education · Spain

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

Security score

70/100

Risk levelMedium

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

IE University is a prominent higher education institution based in Spain, offering a wide range of academic programs including undergraduate, master's, doctorate, lifelong learning, and summer school courses. The university emphasizes innovation, entrepreneurship, and a humanistic approach to education, positioning itself as a global leader in shaping future leaders. The website reflects a mature digital presence with a modern tech stack, including Gatsby and React, and integrates advanced tools such as OpenAI and Google Tag Manager for analytics and user engagement. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforcement and comprehensive security headers, although explicit security policies and incident response contacts are not publicly available. Privacy compliance is well addressed with GDPR-aligned policies and cookie consent mechanisms. Overall, the site demonstrates high professionalism, trustworthiness, and user experience quality.

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 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
    • High

      Weak SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

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

Keep watching ie.edu

This scan found 22 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

€25per month

  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
  • SPF, DKIM and DMARC
  • Security headers
  • GDPR and NIS2 posture
  • Exposed services
  • Third-party trackers
  • Security score drift

Email alerts on material changes and an exportable JSON history of every change.

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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
25
Email security
80
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
68
Average
70

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

IE University operates in the education sector, targeting prospective students, academics, and professionals worldwide. Its business model revolves around delivering diverse educational programs and fostering research and innovation. The institution maintains a strong brand presence with consistent messaging and official social media channels. The lack of publicly available WHOIS data is typical for .edu domains and does not detract from its credibility. The university's partnerships and external domains indicate a broad ecosystem supporting campus life, events, and learning platforms. The digital infrastructure supports scalability and modern user expectations, positioning IE University competitively in the global education market.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, robust security headers, and no visible vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data. The presence of cookie consent and privacy policies aligns with GDPR requirements, enhancing user trust. However, the absence of a dedicated security policy, incident response information, and vulnerability disclosure program suggests areas for improvement in transparency and readiness. No signs of WAF or blocking mechanisms were detected, indicating stable and accessible infrastructure. Overall, the security maturity is high but could benefit from enhanced policy disclosures.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security practices and commitments.
  2. Provide clear incident response contact information to facilitate reporting and response.
  3. Implement and publicize a vulnerability disclosure program to encourage responsible reporting.
  4. Consider publishing Data Protection Officer contact details to enhance GDPR transparency.
  5. Regularly review and update privacy and cookie policies to maintain compliance and user trust.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
IE University
Description
As one of the world's leading higher education institutions, IE shapes leaders with a global vision, humanistic approach, and entrepreneurial spirit.
Key services
Undergraduate programs, Master's programs, Doctorate programs, Lifelong learning, Summer school, Research and innovation
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React (Gatsby), JavaScript, CSS, Google Tag Manager, OneTrust Cookie Consent, OpenAI integration
Frameworks
Gatsby
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure external links with rel="noopener" and target="_blank"
  • Cookie consent implemented

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
OneTrust
Marketing tools
OneTrust Cookie Consent
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 rich content and professional design.
  2. Strong presence of official social media and educational resources.
  3. No signs of WAF or content blocking.
  4. WHOIS data for .edu domain is not publicly available, which is normal.
  5. Privacy and cookie policies are present and GDPR compliant.
  6. No explicit security or incident response policies found on the site.
  7. Use of modern web technologies and frameworks.
  8. Good SEO and accessibility practices observed.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built using modern web technologies, primarily Gatsby and React, ensuring fast performance and excellent mobile optimization. The use of Google Tag Manager and OneTrust indicates a sophisticated approach to analytics and privacy management. The site structure is well-organized with clear navigation and SEO-friendly metadata. Accessibility features are present, supporting a broad user base. Hosting details are not explicitly identified, but the performance and security headers suggest a professional hosting environment. Opportunities exist to further enhance technical documentation and security transparency.
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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