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Security report for sba-research.org

SBA Research gGmbH · Technology · Austria

Partial score · DNS & email only

30/100

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

SBA Research gGmbH is a well-established research center specializing in information security, funded partly by national and European initiatives such as the COMET Competence Centers for Excellent Technologies. The organization offers a broad range of services including research, professional security consulting, security trainings, and vulnerability disclosure. Their market position is strong within Austria and Europe, supported by partnerships with governmental and scientific bodies. The website reflects a professional and content-rich digital presence targeting researchers, security professionals, and industry partners. Technically, the site is built on WordPress with Apache server and uses jQuery for client-side scripting. While the site is mobile-optimized and accessible, performance data is unavailable. Security headers are well implemented, but the lack of a valid SSL certificate and proper HTTPS configuration is a significant weakness. Privacy compliance is strong with clear cookie consent mechanisms and a comprehensive privacy policy. Business credibility is supported by ISO 27001 certification and transparent partnership disclosures. Overall, the site is trustworthy but requires urgent SSL/TLS remediation to improve security posture and user trust.

Scanned

3 of 7 checks could not complete. The site may be unreachable or blocking automated scans, so the results below cover only what could be checked. Try a rescan later.

NIS2 and GDPR posture

NIS2 outside view
Not assessed
GDPR outside view
Not assessed

Both readouts depend on the site's pages, which could not be loaded in this scan.

Priority findings

2 findings 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.

    • Critical

      No HTTPS Encryption

      Website does not use HTTPS encryption, making all data transmission vulnerable to interception

      What to do: Implement SSL/TLS certificate and redirect all HTTP traffic to HTTPS

  2. Network security

    Services reachable from the internet are the first thing attackers probe. Anything open that does not need to be should be closed.

    • High

      High-Risk Service Exposed: FTP

      Port 21 (FTP) is publicly accessible - FTP - Often unencrypted file transfer

      What to do: Consider restricting access to FTP or implementing strong authentication

      • NIS2 21(2)(e)
      • IR 2024/2690 6.7.2(f): Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690, Annex point 6.7.2(f): Network security
      • NIST CM-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CM-7: Least Functionality
      • NIST SC-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SC-7: Boundary Protection

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

Keep watching sba-research.org

This scan found 4 issues across 4 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
0
Email security
50
DNS health
50
Network security
20
Average
30

Not counted

  • Security headers: did not complete in this scan.
  • GDPR outside view: did not complete in this scan.
  • 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 sba-research.org, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
10
Employees
1
Customers
2
Third parties
7
Weak passwords
0%

Latest record dated 2025-07-20 · 2 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 sba-research.org.

Select it in the checkout above.

Masked preview

  • –sso.sba-research.org2025-07-20

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

Open in Breach(opens in a new tab)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

SBA Research operates as an important entity in the technology sector, focusing on cybersecurity research and professional services. Their business model combines academic research with commercial consulting and training offerings. The organization benefits from strong funding sources and partnerships with government agencies and European institutions, enhancing their competitive advantage. Their target customers include academic institutions, industry clients requiring security audits and training, and the broader cybersecurity community. The presence of a vulnerability disclosure policy and security advisories indicates a mature security culture. Growth indicators include active event hosting, publications, and training programs. The partnership ecosystem is robust, involving multiple Austrian and European agencies. Strategic observations suggest SBA Research is positioned as a trusted knowledge and service provider in cybersecurity, with opportunities to strengthen technical infrastructure and SSL deployment.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate security maturity level with strong HTTP security headers and privacy controls. However, the absence of a valid SSL certificate and disabled TLS protocols represent critical vulnerabilities that undermine secure communications and user trust. The site does not currently implement OCSP stapling or session resumption, which could improve SSL performance and security. No evidence of exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries was found in the HTML content. The presence of a vulnerability disclosure policy and ISO 27001 certification reflects a commitment to security best practices. Compliance with GDPR is indicated by privacy policy and cookie consent mechanisms. Incident response contact channels are not explicitly found. Overall, the security posture is adequate but requires immediate SSL/TLS remediation and enhanced incident response visibility.

Recommendations

  1. Obtain and properly configure a valid SSL/TLS certificate to enable HTTPS across the entire site.
  2. Enable modern TLS protocols (TLS 1.2 and TLS 1.3) and disable legacy protocols.
  3. Implement OCSP stapling and session resumption to improve SSL performance and security.
  4. Enhance incident response readiness by publishing clear security contact channels (e.g., security@ or abuse@ emails).
  5. Regularly audit DNS records and ensure proper DNS configuration to avoid inconsistencies and improve domain trust.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
SBA Research gGmbH
Technical notes

Notes

The website is hosted on an Apache server and built on WordPress CMS, utilizing jQuery libraries for client-side scripting. The site includes modern security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and Strict-Transport-Security, although HSTS is not fully enabled. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible with good SEO meta tags and Open Graph data. Performance metrics are unavailable, but the site appears well-structured and professionally designed. DNS records appear incomplete or not publicly visible, which is unusual for an active domain. The SSL configuration is currently invalid, with no TLS protocols enabled, representing a critical technical risk. The site uses plausible.io for privacy-friendly analytics and includes a cookie consent banner. Overall, the technical infrastructure is solid but requires urgent SSL and DNS improvements to ensure secure and reliable operations.
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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