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Security report for mdc-berlin.de

Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association · Healthcare · Germany

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

Security score

68/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine is a leading biomedical research institute in Germany, focusing on understanding molecular mechanisms of health and disease and translating these findings into clinical applications. It operates under the Helmholtz Association umbrella and offers extensive research, education, and innovation services. The website reflects a mature digital presence with comprehensive content targeting researchers, students, and the scientific community. Technically, the site is built on Drupal 10 with modern web technologies, responsive design, and accessibility features. Security posture is strong with HTTPS and cookie consent mechanisms, though some security headers could be improved. Privacy compliance is well addressed with clear policies and GDPR-aligned consent management. Overall, the site demonstrates high professionalism, trustworthiness, and business credibility.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
43/ 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

5 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

  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. 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

      SSL Certificate Expires Soon

      SSL certificate expires in 24 days

      What to do: Renew SSL certificate before expiration

      • NIS2 21(2)(h)
      • IR 2024/2690 9.2(c): Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690, Annex point 9.2(c): Cryptography
      • NIST SC-17: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SC-17: Public Key Infrastructure Certificates

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

Keep watching mdc-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
62
Security headers
55
Email security
70
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
43
Average
68

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 mdc-berlin.de, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
498
Employees
0
Customers
398
Third parties
100
Weak passwords
36%

17 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 mdc-berlin.de.

Select it in the checkout above.

Breach keeps ingesting new leaks, so these numbers can grow between scans.

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

The MDC holds a strong market position as a non-profit research center with a focus on healthcare and biomedical sciences. It benefits from its affiliation with the Helmholtz Association and has multiple specialized institutes as subsidiaries. The business model centers on research funding, grants, and education programs including PhD and postdoctoral training. The website supports recruitment and public outreach, indicating a well-rounded ecosystem. Partnerships and social media presence enhance its visibility and engagement with the scientific community.

Security posture

The website enforces HTTPS and uses a cookie consent manager (Klaro!) to comply with privacy regulations. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. However, explicit security policies and incident response contacts are not published, which could be improved. Security headers like CSP and X-Frame-Options are not explicitly found and should be implemented to enhance protection. Analytics are handled via Matomo, which is privacy-friendly. Overall, the security posture is good but can be strengthened with additional headers and transparency.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and verify comprehensive security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  2. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response contact information to improve transparency and readiness.
  3. Regularly audit third-party scripts and libraries for vulnerabilities and update them promptly.
  4. Enhance data retention and privacy policy details to explicitly state user data handling and retention periods.
  5. Maintain and monitor cookie consent mechanisms to ensure ongoing GDPR compliance and user trust.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association
Description
The Max Delbrück Center is devoted to biomedical research aiming to understand molecular basis of health and disease and translate findings into clinical applications.
Key services
Biomedical research, PhD and postdoctoral training, Innovation and technology transfer, Public outreach and education
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Drupal 10 CMS, Klaro! cookie consent manager, Swiper.js slider, SVG icons, Responsive images with picture element
Frameworks
Drupal
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented
  • No exposed sensitive data found in HTML
  • Use of deferred and async scripts

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Matomo
Marketing tools
Klaro! cookie consent manager
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professionally maintained biomedical research center site.
  2. Content is rich, well-structured, and targeted at scientific and academic audiences.
  3. Strong presence of research news, publications, and career opportunities.
  4. Good privacy and cookie consent implementations.
  5. No signs of malicious or suspicious activity.
  6. Social media presence is broad and consistent with institutional branding.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses Drupal 10 CMS with modern front-end technologies such as Swiper.js for sliders and Klaro! for cookie consent management. Responsive images and SVG icons are used for performance and scalability. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible with skip links and ARIA labels. Performance is moderate, likely due to rich media content. Hosting provider details are not explicit but domain name servers are managed under the mdc-berlin.eu domain. The technical infrastructure supports a professional and scalable web presence suitable for a large research institution.
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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