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Security report for msdconnect.be

MSD Belgium · Healthcare · Belgium

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and SSL/TLS.

Security score

71/100

Risk levelMedium

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

MSD Belgium operates a professional digital platform, MSD Connect, targeting healthcare professionals in Belgium and Luxembourg. The platform provides access to therapeutic area information, product details, clinical data, congress updates, and patient educational materials. The website is well-branded, consistent with MSD's corporate identity, and offers multilingual support (French and Dutch). The technical infrastructure is modern, leveraging WordPress VIP, Google Tag Manager, and third-party authentication and consent management tools. Security posture is strong with HTTPS enforced and cookie consent implemented, though some security headers could be improved. WHOIS data is privacy protected, which is typical for corporate domains in Belgium, and no suspicious patterns were detected. Overall, the website is professional, secure, and compliant with GDPR requirements.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
48/ 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

4 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. 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

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  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
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  • 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
85
Email security
70
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
48
Average
71

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 holds a strong market position as a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., providing pharmaceutical products and medical information services. The business model focuses on delivering scientific and educational content to healthcare professionals, enhancing collaboration with hospitals and patients. The platform supports multiple user roles and offers tailored content streams such as Medical Connect, Hospital Connect, and People Connect. The presence of official privacy and terms pages, along with accessibility commitments, indicates a mature compliance posture. The website's content and structure support MSD's reputation and trustworthiness in the healthcare sector.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with HTTPS enabled and integration of authentication mechanisms via Janrain. Cookie consent is managed through OneTrust, supporting GDPR compliance. However, explicit security headers like Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options were not detected in the provided data and should be implemented to enhance protection against common web attacks. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were identified. Forms for login and registration appear to be securely handled with multi-step processes and password management flows. Incident response and security policy information are not publicly disclosed on the site, which is common but could be improved for transparency.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  2. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response contact information to enhance transparency and trust.
  3. Regularly audit third-party scripts and plugins for vulnerabilities and update them promptly.
  4. Enhance accessibility features and conduct periodic audits to maintain compliance with WCAG standards.
  5. Consider publishing a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
MSD Belgium
Description
MSD Belgium provides healthcare professionals in Belgium and Luxembourg with access to therapeutic area information, product details, clinical data, congresses, and patient materials via the MSD Connect platform.
Key services
Medical Connect - scientific product information, Hospital Connect - collaboration platform for healthcare professionals and hospitals, People Connect - patient educational and promotional materials
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Yoast SEO plugin, Google Tag Manager, Janrain authentication widget, OneTrust cookie consent, Brightcove video integration, Screver survey embed
Platforms
WordPress VIP
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of authentication widget for user login
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics via Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Marketing tools
Janrain authentication, OneTrust cookie consent
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible and professionally designed
  2. Content is targeted at healthcare professionals in Belgium and Luxembourg
  3. Strong branding consistent with MSD corporate identity
  4. Use of modern web technologies and compliance tools
  5. No security blocking or WAF challenges detected
  6. WHOIS data is privacy protected but consistent with legitimate corporate use
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress VIP, leveraging a modern tech stack including Yoast SEO for optimization, Google Tag Manager for analytics, and Janrain for user authentication. The site uses asynchronous loading for scripts and integrates third-party services such as OneTrust for cookie consent and Brightcove for video content. Performance is moderate with good mobile optimization and accessibility considerations. The site structure is clear with semantic HTML and JSON-LD structured data for SEO. Some inline styles and multiple CSS files are used, which could be optimized for faster loading. Overall, the technical implementation supports a professional and scalable digital presence.
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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