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Security report for msd-belgium.be

MSD Belgium · Healthcare · Belgium

Low risk. 3 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and SSL/TLS.

Security score

76/100

Risk levelLow

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

MSD Belgium operates as the Belgian corporate site for MSD, a global pharmaceutical and vaccine company dedicated to scientific innovation to address major health threats. The website targets patients, healthcare professionals, researchers, and job seekers, providing comprehensive information about the company's mission, research areas, patient engagement, and corporate responsibility. The site is professionally designed with clear navigation and rich content, reflecting MSD's enterprise-level market position in the healthcare sector. Technically, the website is built on WordPress with modern plugins such as Yoast SEO and OneTrust for privacy compliance. It uses Google Tag Manager for analytics and tracking, and the site is optimized for mobile devices with good accessibility and SEO practices. The performance is moderate, with lazy loading images and responsive design elements. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS with strong SSL configuration and includes multiple security headers. Cookie consent mechanisms are implemented, and no critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. However, the site lacks a publicly accessible security policy and incident response information, which are recommended for enhanced transparency and trust. Overall, MSD Belgium's website demonstrates a high level of professionalism, security, and compliance suitable for a large multinational healthcare company. The restricted WHOIS data is consistent with .be domain policies and does not detract from the site's legitimacy. Strategic improvements include publishing security policies and vulnerability disclosure information to further strengthen trust and compliance.

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

3 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.

    • 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. 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 msd-belgium.be

This scan found 20 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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  • 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
80
Email security
85
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
68
Average
76

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

MSD Belgium is positioned as a key player in the pharmaceutical and vaccine market within Belgium, operating under the global MSD brand. The company leverages scientific research and innovation to develop medicines and vaccines addressing oncology, infectious diseases, diabetes, and anesthesia. The business model focuses on research and development, patient engagement, and corporate social responsibility. The website reflects a mature digital presence with strong branding consistency and trust signals. Partnerships with job portals and healthcare practitioner sites indicate a broad ecosystem engagement. Growth indicators include active content updates and community programs. The company targets healthcare professionals, patients, and potential employees, emphasizing education and empowerment.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and multiple security headers implemented, including HSTS, CSP, and X-Frame-Options. Cookie consent is managed via OneTrust, supporting GDPR compliance. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. However, the absence of a public security policy, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms represents a compliance gap. The WHOIS data is privacy-protected, which is typical for .be domains but limits transparency. Overall, the security maturity is high but can be improved by adding explicit security governance documentation and incident response information.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security practices and commitments.
  2. Provide clear incident response contact information or process for reporting security issues.
  3. Implement and publish a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and plugins to mitigate vulnerabilities.
  5. Consider enabling DNSSEC to enhance domain name system security.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
MSD Belgium
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
MSD Belgium
Description
MSD Belgium is the corporate Belgian site of MSD, a global healthcare company focused on scientific innovation to tackle health threats and improve lives.
Key services
Pharmaceutical research and development, Vaccine development and distribution, Patient engagement and education, Corporate social responsibility programs
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Yoast SEO plugin, Tiny Slider (tns), Google Tag Manager, OneTrust Cookie Consent
Platforms
WordPress
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
excellent

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent implemented
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of security headers

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (via GTM)
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

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 professionally designed and well maintained
  2. Comprehensive corporate and patient-focused content
  3. Strong privacy and cookie compliance with OneTrust integration
  4. Use of modern web technologies and SEO best practices
  5. No signs of phishing, malware, or suspicious activity
  6. WHOIS data is restricted but consistent with legitimate .be domain policies
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress CMS with a modern tech stack including Yoast SEO for search optimization, Tiny Slider for interactive content, and OneTrust for cookie consent management. Google Tag Manager is used for analytics and tracking. The site employs lazy loading for images and responsive design techniques for mobile optimization. Performance is moderate, with potential for improvement in load times. Accessibility features are present, and SEO is well implemented with proper meta tags and structured data. Hosting provider details are not explicitly identified. The technical infrastructure supports a professional and secure user experience but could benefit from performance tuning and enhanced DNS security.
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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