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Security report for sc.edu

University of South Carolina · Education · United States

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

65/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The University of South Carolina website serves as the official digital presence of a large, established public research university in the United States. It offers comprehensive information about academic programs, research opportunities, student life, admissions, and community engagement. The site targets prospective and current students, faculty, staff, alumni, and families, providing a broad range of services and resources. The business model is centered on education and research, positioning the university as a leading institution in higher education. Technically, the website employs a modern technology stack including HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and the Foundation CSS framework. It integrates multiple analytics and marketing tools such as Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, Microsoft Clarity, and SiteImprove Analytics. The site is mobile-optimized, accessible, and demonstrates good SEO practices. The CMS appears to be OmniUpdate, a platform commonly used by educational institutions. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and uses secure external scripts. However, explicit security headers like Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options are not evident. There is no visible security policy or incident response contact information, and no vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file is present. Privacy compliance is partial, with a comprehensive privacy policy available but lacking a clear cookie consent mechanism. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and content-rich, with a high level of business credibility. The main areas for improvement include enhancing privacy compliance with cookie consent, publishing security policies, and implementing additional security headers to strengthen the security posture.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 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

6 findings 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 Strict-Transport-Security header

      Forces HTTPS connections

      What to do: Add "Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload"

      • CWE-319
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V3.4.1
    • High

      Missing X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

      What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"

    • 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';…

  2. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • 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

    • 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

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

Keep watching sc.edu

This scan found 25 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
67
Security headers
15
Email security
75
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
65

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

The University of South Carolina holds a strong market position as a large public research university offering over 350 degree programs across 15 colleges and schools. Its competitive advantages include a broad academic portfolio, extensive research opportunities, and a well-established brand. The university's revenue streams likely include tuition, government funding, research grants, and donations. The target customer segments encompass undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community partners. The institution maintains a robust partnership ecosystem, including academic collaborations and community engagement initiatives. Strategic observations highlight the university's focus on innovation, inclusivity, and comprehensive student support services, positioning it well for sustained growth and influence in higher education.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS and the use of reputable third-party analytics and marketing services. The absence of explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options represents a moderate risk that could be mitigated to prevent common web attacks like clickjacking and content injection. The lack of a published security policy and incident response contact limits transparency and readiness for security incidents. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. Privacy compliance is partial, with a privacy policy present but no cookie consent mechanism, which may pose compliance risks under regulations like GDPR. Overall, the security culture appears functional but could benefit from formalized policies and enhanced technical controls.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive cookie consent mechanisms to comply with privacy regulations and enhance user trust.
  2. Publish a clear security policy and provide dedicated incident response contact information to improve transparency and readiness.
  3. Add and enforce security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to strengthen defense against web attacks.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts to minimize vulnerabilities and ensure compliance with security best practices.
  5. Consider creating and publishing a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting and improve security posture.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
University of South Carolina
Description
Groundbreaking academics. World-changing research. Welcoming student life. Together we are The Remarkable We.
Key services
Undergraduate and Graduate Education, Research Opportunities, Student Life and Support Services, Admissions and Enrollment, Community Engagement
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, jQuery, Foundation CSS Framework, Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, Microsoft Clarity, SiteImprove Analytics, Capture Higher Ed (CBE), TwicPics (image optimization)
Frameworks
Foundation
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of secure external analytics and tracking scripts

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity, SiteImprove Analytics, Facebook Pixel
Tracking level
extensive
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Ad networks
AppNexus (secure.adnxs.com), The Trade Desk (insight.adsrvr.org)
Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel, Microsoft Clarity, Google Analytics (via GTM), SiteImprove Analytics, Capture Higher Ed (CBE)
Marketing tools
Capture Higher Ed
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professionally designed, large public university site
  2. Comprehensive navigation and content structure
  3. Multiple external analytics and marketing scripts used
  4. No explicit privacy cookie consent mechanism found
  5. No visible security.txt or vulnerability disclosure
  6. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found in HTML content
  7. Social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, and X (Twitter)
  8. Use of modern web fonts and responsive design
  9. No signs of adult or questionable content
  10. WHOIS data supports legitimacy and consistency
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a solid technical foundation using modern web standards and frameworks, including Foundation CSS and JavaScript libraries like jQuery. It integrates multiple analytics and marketing tools, indicating a mature digital marketing strategy. The site is mobile-responsive and accessible, with good SEO optimization evident from meta tags and structured navigation. The use of OmniUpdate CMS suggests a stable content management environment tailored for educational institutions. Performance is moderate, with some opportunities for optimization, particularly in image loading and script management. Technical risks are minimal but include reliance on multiple third-party scripts which require ongoing security monitoring.
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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