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Security report for rathenau.nl

Rathenau Instituut · Government · Netherlands

Low risk. 1 critical or high finding in SSL/TLS.

Security score

83/100

Risk levelLow

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

The Rathenau Instituut is a well-established Dutch non-profit research institute focused on the societal impact of science, technology, and innovation. It supports democratic decision-making by providing research, publications, and facilitating public and political debates. The website reflects a mature digital presence built on Drupal 10, with good technical infrastructure and mobile optimization. Security posture is strong with HTTPS, cookie consent, and responsible disclosure practices, though formal security policies could be enhanced. Overall, the site is professional, trustworthy, and compliant with GDPR and privacy standards.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
83/ 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. 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

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

Keep watching rathenau.nl

This scan found 18 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

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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
72
Security headers
85
Email security
80
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
83
Average
83

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 rathenau.nl, from OffSeq Breach.

No leaked records found

Breach holds no records for rathenau.nl right now. New leaks arrive continuously, so monitoring on Breach alerts you if that changes.

Monitor on Breach (opens in a new tab)

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

The institute occupies a strong position in the government and non-profit sector in the Netherlands, targeting policymakers, researchers, and the public. Its business model centers on research and advisory services without commercial advertising. The website content and structure support its mission with thematic publications, events, and data-driven insights. The presence of social media and newsletter subscriptions indicates active engagement with stakeholders. No suspicious or unrelated domains are linked, reinforcing credibility.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a good security posture with enforced HTTPS, cookie consent mechanisms, and no visible vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data. The presence of a responsible disclosure page indicates awareness of security best practices. However, the absence of a security.txt file and explicit incident response information suggests room for improvement in transparency and readiness. Security headers appear to be implemented but could be explicitly confirmed and enhanced with reporting features.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a formal security policy and incident response plan on the website.
  2. Add a security.txt file to facilitate vulnerability reporting.
  3. Implement explicit HTTP security headers with reporting enabled.
  4. Regularly review and update third-party scripts to mitigate vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance transparency around data retention and privacy practices.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Rathenau Instituut
Description
Het Rathenau Instituut houdt zich al ruim 30 jaar bezig met onderzoek en debat over de impact van wetenschap, innovatie en technologie op de samenleving. Het versterkt de democratische besluitvorming door ethische en maatschappelijke kwesties in kaart te brengen en het politieke en publieke debat te stimuleren.
Key services
Research on science, technology and innovation, Publications and reports, Policy advice, Organizing debates and events
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Drupal 10, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, JavaScript, CSS3, HTML5
Frameworks
Drupal
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 in HTML
  • Use of responsible disclosure page

Analytics and tracking

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

Advertising

Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich content
  2. Strong focus on science, technology, innovation research and policy
  3. Good privacy and cookie compliance with consent mechanism
  4. No visible security issues or vulnerabilities
  5. Professional design and user experience
  6. Clear contact information and social media presence
  7. No suspicious or malicious external links
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on Drupal 10, leveraging modern web standards including responsive design, accessibility features, and SEO best practices. It uses Google Tag Manager and Analytics for tracking, with a cookie consent banner ensuring compliance. Performance is moderate, with room for optimization in loading speed. The technical stack is current and well-maintained, supporting a professional and user-friendly experience. No legacy or vulnerable libraries were detected in the provided content.
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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