Skip to main content

Security report for ines-berlin.de

INES Berlin · Education · Germany

High risk. 8 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, Network security and 2 other checks.

Security score

42/100

Risk levelHigh

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

INES Berlin is an independent research institute based in Berlin-Mitte, specializing in empirical social and economic research with a focus on labor market policy, education, and personnel research in Germany and Europe. The website presents a professional and consistent brand image, targeting academic and policy audiences interested in social sciences. Key services include data analysis, survey design, and qualitative research. The market position is that of a specialized, small-sized research entity within the education sector. Technically, the website is built using AngularJS and FontAwesome, hosted likely on rzone.de servers. The site is moderately optimized for performance and mobile use, with basic accessibility and SEO features. No CMS or advanced analytics tools are detected, indicating a straightforward technical infrastructure. From a security perspective, the site uses HTTPS (assumed from standard practice though not explicitly confirmed), but lacks visible security headers and cookie consent mechanisms. No forms or contact emails are present on the homepage, limiting data collection risks but also reducing direct contact options. The WHOIS data is minimal but consistent with the hosting provider, with no suspicious patterns detected. Overall, the security posture is moderate with room for improvement in policy transparency and technical safeguards. The overall risk is low given the nature of the business and content, but strategic recommendations include implementing cookie consent, publishing security and incident response policies, and enhancing security headers to improve trust and compliance.

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

8 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. Network security

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

    • High

      High-Risk Service Exposed: FTP

      Port 21 (FTP) is publicly accessible - FTP - Often unencrypted file transfer

      What to do: Consider restricting access to FTP or implementing strong authentication

      • 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

  3. 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

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

Keep watching ines-berlin.de

This scan found 30 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.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. The full timeline opens with your unlock code.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

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
15
Email security
55
DNS health
65
Network security
20
GDPR outside view
28
Average
42

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

INES Berlin operates as a small, independent research institute focused on social and labor market research in Germany and Europe. Its competitive advantage lies in empirical research expertise and adherence to good scientific practice. The business model revolves around providing research services and data analysis to academic and policy stakeholders. The target customer segments include government agencies, academic institutions, and social science researchers. Growth indicators are not explicitly stated but the professional website and clear service offerings suggest a stable presence. No partnerships or subsidiaries are identified from the website or WHOIS data. The institute maintains a focused niche with a clear mission and consistent branding.

Security posture

The current security maturity level is moderate. The website uses modern web technologies but lacks advanced security headers and visible incident response or security policies. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. GDPR compliance is partially indicated through the presence of a privacy policy, but cookie consent mechanisms are missing. Incident response readiness and security culture indicators are not publicly documented. The absence of contact emails and forms reduces attack surface but also limits user engagement. Overall, the security posture is adequate for a research institute website but could benefit from enhanced transparency and technical controls.

Recommendations

  1. Implement a cookie consent banner to comply with GDPR and improve user privacy transparency.
  2. Add security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security to strengthen site security.
  3. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response contact information to improve trust and preparedness.
  4. Include clear contact information such as emails or phone numbers to facilitate communication and support.
  5. Consider modernizing the technology stack to a more current framework to improve performance and maintainability.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
INES Berlin
Description
Ein unabhängiges Forschungsinstitut mit den Schwerpunkten Arbeitsmarktpolitik, Bildungs- und Personalforschung. Das Institut für empirische Sozial- und Wirtschaftsforschung (INES Berlin) ist ein unabhängiges Forschungsinstitut mit Sitz in Berlin-Mitte. Das Team beschäftigt sich mit sozial-, arbeitsmarkt- und gesellschaftspolitischen Themen zu Deutschland und Europa. Es bietet empirisch basierte Sozial- und Wirtschaftsforschung, Datenanalyse, Umfragen und qualitative Untersuchungen an.
Key services
Empirical social and economic research, Data analysis of official and non-official statistics, Survey design and execution, Qualitative research
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
AngularJS, FontAwesome, CSS, JavaScript
Frameworks
AngularJS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
basic
Accessibility
basic
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
60/100
Good practices seen
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • No visible vulnerable libraries

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF detected.
  2. Content is in German and focused on social and economic research.
  3. No visible contact emails or phone numbers on the homepage or footer.
  4. Privacy policy is present but cookie consent is missing.
  5. No terms of service or security policy pages found.
  6. No forms detected in the HTML content.
  7. No social media links found.
  8. Uses AngularJS framework and FontAwesome icons.
  9. No analytics or tracking scripts detected.
  10. No advertising or marketing tools detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses AngularJS, an older but still functional JavaScript framework, combined with FontAwesome for icons. The CSS and JavaScript files are minified and versioned, indicating some level of build process. Hosting is likely provided by rzone.de based on nameservers. The site is moderately optimized for performance and mobile devices but lacks advanced SEO and accessibility features. No CMS or analytics platforms are detected, suggesting a simple static or single-page application architecture. Technical risks include reliance on an older framework and missing security headers. Opportunities exist to upgrade the tech stack, improve accessibility, and implement modern security best 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

Reviews of this site

Share your experience with ines-berlin.de. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review ines-berlin.de.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.