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Security report for ifw-kiel.de

Kiel Institute for the World Economy · Education · Germany

Medium risk. 7 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, Security headers and 1 other check.

Security score

61/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Kiel Institute for the World Economy is a respected German research institute specializing in globalization and global economic affairs. It serves academics, policymakers, and the public by providing research publications, datasets, and hosting events. The website is built on TYPO3 CMS with Bootstrap and uses Matomo for analytics, reflecting a modern and professional digital infrastructure. Security posture is adequate with HTTPS and cookie consent mechanisms, though it lacks explicit security policies and vulnerability disclosure information. The domain WHOIS data is minimal but shows stable DNS configuration. Overall, the site is trustworthy, professional, and content-rich, suitable for its target audience.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
28/ 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

7 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • Critical

      EU business without adequate privacy measures

      EU businesses are subject to strict GDPR requirements

      What to do: Implement comprehensive GDPR compliance including privacy policy, cookie consent, and data protection measures

    • 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

  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 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"

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

Keep watching ifw-kiel.de

This scan found 26 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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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
52
Security headers
45
Email security
75
DNS health
65
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
28
Average
61

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 ifw-kiel.de, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
3
Employees
1
Customers
2
Third parties
0
Weak passwords
0%

Latest record dated 2025-08-16 · 3 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 ifw-kiel.de.

Select it in the checkout above.

Masked preview

  • –webmail.ifw-kiel.de2025-08-16

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)

Brand lookalikes

Add-on

Domains that imitate ifw-kiel.de and could be used for phishing or spoofed email, tracked in OffSeq Breach.

Tracked
5
Registered
5
Resolving
5
High or critical
0

Last checked 2026-06-19

Masked preview

  • if••••••.deMediumbitsquatting
  • fw•••••.deMediumomission
  • if••••••.deMediumreplacement

See the full lookalike list

A one-off add-on that lists up to 20 of the highest-risk lookalikes of ifw-kiel.de with registration, mail-server, certificate and DNS signals.

Select it in the checkout above.

Lookalike data refreshes continuously. Monitoring on Breach alerts you when a variant is registered, gains a mail server or starts serving HTTPS.

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 institute holds a strong market position as a leading German research entity in global economics. Its business model is non-profit and education-focused, offering research outputs, data hubs, and expert insights. The website's content and structure support its mission and audience well, with clear navigation and comprehensive expert and event information. Partnerships and related domains include specialized data portals. The absence of explicit privacy and security policies suggests room for compliance improvement.

Security posture

The site enforces HTTPS and uses consent management for cookies, indicating awareness of privacy and security. However, it lacks visible security headers and published security policies or incident response contacts. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the content. The use of Matomo analytics is privacy-friendly compared to other trackers. Overall, security maturity is moderate but could be enhanced by publishing formal policies and improving header configurations.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a comprehensive privacy policy and terms of service pages.
  2. Implement and disclose a formal security policy and incident response contacts.
  3. Add security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  4. Provide a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file.
  5. Enhance transparency on data retention and privacy compliance.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Kiel Institute for the World Economy
Description
The Kiel Institute for the World Economy is a German research institute focused on globalization issues, aiming to be Europe's preeminent research institute for global economic affairs with policy impact.
Key services
Research publications, Data hub with datasets and visualizations, Events and seminars, Expert analysis and statements
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
TYPO3 CMS, Bootstrap, Matomo Analytics
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • Consent management scripts for cookies
  • No exposed sensitive data detected

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Matomo
Marketing tools
Matomo Analytics
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich content.
  2. Uses TYPO3 CMS and Bootstrap framework.
  3. Has a consent mechanism for cookies.
  4. No explicit privacy policy or terms of service found in provided content.
  5. Contact information includes physical addresses but no explicit emails or phone numbers found in visible content.
  6. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure policy detected.
  7. Matomo analytics used for tracking.
  8. No signs of adult or questionable content.
  9. Events, experts, datasets, and research centers are well presented.
  10. No WAF or blocking detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses TYPO3 CMS and Bootstrap framework, ensuring responsive and accessible design. Matomo analytics is integrated for user tracking with consent management. The site loads with moderate performance and good SEO practices. No outdated or vulnerable libraries were detected. The technical stack is modern and suitable for an academic research institute, though hosting provider details are not explicit. Accessibility and mobile optimization are good, supporting a broad user base.
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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