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Security report for nhlstenden.com

NHL Stenden Hogeschool · Education · Netherlands

Low risk. 1 critical or high finding in Security headers.

Security score

81/100

Risk levelLow

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

NHL Stenden Hogeschool is a well-established Dutch university of applied sciences offering a broad portfolio of bachelor and master degree programs. The institution targets prospective and international students seeking practical and applied education. The website reflects a professional and consistent brand presence with clear navigation and multilingual support. Technically, the site is built on Drupal 11 and integrates multiple marketing and analytics tools such as Google Tag Manager, VWO, Microsoft Clarity, and various social media pixels, indicating a mature digital marketing strategy. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced and standard security headers present, although no explicit security policy or incident response information is publicly available. Privacy compliance is well addressed with GDPR-aligned privacy and cookie policies and a consent mechanism. The absence of WHOIS data limits domain registration trust verification, but the overall site professionalism and content quality support legitimacy. Strategic recommendations include publishing a security policy, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure information to enhance trust and compliance.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
88/ 100 · Low
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

1 finding rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. 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';…

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Keep watching nhlstenden.com

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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
100
Security headers
50
Email security
70
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
88
Average
81

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

NHL Stenden operates in the education sector as a large higher education institution in the Netherlands. Its business model focuses on delivering applied sciences education to a diverse student body including international students. The website's content and structure support recruitment and information dissemination. The institution leverages a comprehensive marketing ecosystem with multiple ad networks and tracking tools to optimize student engagement and conversion. The presence of multilingual content and detailed program information indicates a strategic focus on accessibility and internationalization. No parent or subsidiary companies were identified. The business demonstrates consistent branding and trust signals such as official domain use, privacy policies, and contact transparency.

Security posture

The website enforces HTTPS and implements key security headers such as HSTS, CSP, and X-Frame-Options, reflecting adherence to security best practices. Cookie consent is managed via Cookiebot, supporting GDPR compliance. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the analysis. However, the lack of a publicly available security policy and incident response contact information represents a compliance gap and potential risk in incident handling transparency. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file was found, limiting external security researcher engagement. Overall, the security posture is good but could be improved by formalizing and publishing security governance documents and incident response procedures.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy page outlining security governance and controls.
  2. Provide clear incident response contact information to facilitate reporting and response.
  3. Implement and publicize a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts to mitigate supply chain risks.
  5. Enhance website accessibility to meet WCAG standards for broader inclusivity.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
NHL Stenden Hogeschool
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
NHL Stenden Hogeschool
Description
NHL Stenden Hogeschool is a Dutch university of applied sciences offering a wide range of bachelor and master programs. It focuses on practical education and challenges students to develop their talents.
Key services
Bachelor degree programs, Master degree programs, Professional courses, International education
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Drupal 11, Google Tag Manager, Visual Website Optimizer (VWO), Microsoft Clarity, Cookiebot, TikTok Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Facebook Pixel
Frameworks
Drupal CMS
Platforms
Web
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent mechanism
  • Use of security headers
  • No exposed sensitive data detected

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (via GTM), Microsoft Clarity, TikTok Analytics, Facebook Analytics, LinkedIn Analytics
Tracking level
extensive
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Facebook Ads, TikTok Ads, LinkedIn Ads
Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel, TikTok Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Microsoft Clarity
Marketing tools
Visual Website Optimizer (VWO), Cookiebot
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 with no blocking or WAF challenge detected.
  2. Content is primarily in Dutch with English and German alternate language versions.
  3. Uses modern web technologies and multiple marketing and analytics tools.
  4. Privacy and cookie policies are present and GDPR compliant.
  5. Contact information including email, phone, and physical address is available.
  6. No security policy or incident response information publicly disclosed.
  7. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file found.
  8. WHOIS data is missing or unavailable, limiting domain trust verification.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on Drupal 11 CMS, a modern and widely supported platform. It uses a variety of third-party marketing and analytics tools including Google Tag Manager, Visual Website Optimizer, Microsoft Clarity, TikTok Pixel, Facebook Pixel, and LinkedIn Insight Tag. The site is mobile optimized with responsive design and preloaded fonts for performance. Performance is moderate, with room for improvement in load times and accessibility features. The presence of multiple A/B testing campaigns indicates a data-driven approach to user experience optimization. No hosting provider details were identified from the content. The technical stack is mature but would benefit from continuous performance tuning and accessibility enhancements.
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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