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Security report for staatsbibliothek-berlin.de

Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin · Education · Germany

Medium risk. 8 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, Security headers and 1 other check.

Security score

55/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin is a prominent public research library serving the humanities and social sciences community in Berlin. It operates two main locations and offers extensive collections, digital resources, and cultural programming. The website reflects a mature digital presence with a professional design, clear navigation, and multilingual support. Technically, it is built on TYPO3 CMS with modern frontend frameworks and privacy-conscious analytics via Matomo. Security posture is solid with HTTPS and no exposed sensitive data, though improvements in security headers and explicit policies are recommended. Overall, the site is trustworthy, well-maintained, and serves its audience effectively.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
28/ 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

8 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. 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';…

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Keep watching staatsbibliothek-berlin.de

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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
47
Security headers
25
Email security
70
DNS health
60
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
28
Average
55

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 staatsbibliothek-berlin.de, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
138
Employees
0
Customers
138
Third parties
0
Weak passwords
27%

5 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 staatsbibliothek-berlin.de.

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

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Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

The Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin holds a strong market position as a central academic and cultural institution in Berlin, affiliated with the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz. Its business model is non-profit and service-oriented, targeting researchers, students, and cultural enthusiasts. The institution leverages partnerships with related cultural and research organizations, enhancing its offerings and reach. The website supports its mission with comprehensive digital catalogs, booking systems, and event promotion, indicating a well-integrated digital ecosystem supporting its core services.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a good security baseline with enforced HTTPS and privacy-aware analytics configuration. However, the absence of key security headers and lack of publicly available security policies or incident response contacts suggest room for improvement. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the content. The site would benefit from implementing a vulnerability disclosure policy and publishing security contact information to enhance transparency and incident readiness.

Recommendations

  1. Implement standard security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to improve protection against common web attacks.
  2. Introduce a cookie consent banner or mechanism to comply fully with GDPR cookie requirements and enhance user privacy transparency.
  3. Publish a formal security policy and incident response contact details to improve trust and preparedness for security incidents.
  4. Consider adding a vulnerability disclosure policy and security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting of security issues.
  5. Regularly review and update third-party libraries and frameworks to mitigate potential vulnerabilities and maintain security hygiene.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin
Description
Die Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin ist die zentrale Bibliothek für geistes- und sozialwissenschaftliche Forschung in Berlin. Sie bietet einzigartige Sammlungen, Themenportale, ein Kulturprogramm, Workshops und kompetente Beratung. Die Bibliothek betreibt zwei Standorte in Berlin-Mitte und Potsdamer Platz mit umfangreichen Services für Nutzer.
Key services
Literaturrecherche (StabiKat), Arbeitsplatzreservierung (StabiBooking), Veranstaltungen und Workshops, Digitale Sammlungen, Beratung und Forschungsunterstützung
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
TYPO3 CMS, Bootstrap, jQuery, FontAwesome, Matomo Analytics, Photoswipe, Hammer.js
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No cookies tracked by Matomo (disableCookies set)
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo
Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Matomo
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 and no blocking detected.
  2. Uses a well-known CMS (TYPO3) and modern frontend frameworks.
  3. Strong focus on education, research, and cultural services.
  4. No explicit privacy or cookie consent banner found, but privacy policy is comprehensive and GDPR compliant.
  5. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found in the HTML; contact is via forms and service pages.
  6. Social media presence is active and linked to official channels.
  7. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure policy found.
  8. Matomo analytics used with cookies disabled, indicating privacy-conscious tracking.
  9. No advertising or third-party ad networks detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on TYPO3 CMS, a robust and widely used content management system, combined with Bootstrap for responsive design and jQuery for interactivity. It uses FontAwesome for icons and integrates Matomo for privacy-focused analytics. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible, with good SEO practices evident in meta tags and structured navigation. Performance is moderate, likely influenced by rich media content and carousel features. The technical stack is modern but could benefit from enhanced security configurations and performance optimizations.
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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