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Security report for startupbw.de

Start-up BW · Government · Germany

High risk. 5 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and Network security.

Security score

49/100

Risk levelHigh

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

Start-up BW is a government-backed initiative by the Ministry of Economic Affairs in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, aimed at fostering entrepreneurship and supporting startups within the region. The platform offers a comprehensive range of services including consulting, financing options, competitions, events, and media content such as podcasts. It serves as a central hub connecting founders with regional ecosystems and government resources. Technically, the website is built on TYPO3 CMS with PHP 8.1 and served via nginx, indicating a modern and maintainable infrastructure. However, the absence of a valid SSL certificate and lack of HTTPS enforcement represent critical security weaknesses that undermine user trust and data protection. The site implements good security headers and privacy compliance mechanisms, including a cookie consent manager and GDPR-aligned privacy policy. Analytics are handled via Matomo, respecting user consent and privacy. Overall, the website is professionally designed with clear navigation and consistent branding, targeting entrepreneurs and startups in Baden-Württemberg. Strategic improvements in SSL/TLS configuration and enhanced security practices are recommended to elevate the security posture and user trust.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of startupbw.de. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
18/ 100 · Critical
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

5 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

    • 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

  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.

    • Critical

      Critical Service Exposed: MySQL

      Port 3306 (MySQL) is publicly accessible - MySQL - Database server

      What to do: Immediately restrict access to MySQL using firewall or VPN

      • 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
    • 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 startupbw.de

This scan found 17 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.

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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
50
Security headers
70
Email security
50
DNS health
85
Network security
50
GDPR outside view
18
Average
54
After the cap
49

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 · found on this site
  • 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

Start-up BW occupies a unique position as an essential government entity promoting startup culture and innovation in Baden-Württemberg. Its business model revolves around providing state-funded support services, networking, and visibility for startups and founders. The platform leverages partnerships with regional ecosystems and ministries to deliver comprehensive resources. The target audience includes aspiring entrepreneurs, startups, and stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem. The presence of multiple social media channels and events indicates active engagement and outreach. While the platform does not generate direct revenue, its value lies in ecosystem development and fostering economic growth. The lack of explicit contact emails or phone numbers on the homepage suggests a controlled communication channel, likely centralized through a contact form. The website’s content and structure reflect a mature digital presence with good SEO and accessibility practices.

Security posture

The website demonstrates moderate security maturity with several best practices implemented such as security headers (CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options) and a privacy-compliant cookie consent mechanism. However, the critical absence of a valid SSL certificate and disabled TLS protocols severely impact the security posture, exposing users to potential interception and undermining trust. No vulnerabilities such as Heartbleed or POODLE were detected, and no sensitive data leakage was found. The site lacks a published security policy, incident response contacts, or vulnerability disclosure program, which are common in mature security frameworks. The use of Matomo analytics with consent indicates privacy awareness. Overall, the site requires urgent remediation of SSL/TLS issues and could benefit from formalizing security policies and incident response procedures.

Recommendations

  1. Obtain and deploy a valid SSL/TLS certificate to enable HTTPS and secure all user connections.
  2. Enable modern TLS protocols (TLS 1.2 or TLS 1.3) and configure strong cipher suites to protect data in transit.
  3. Implement OCSP stapling and session resumption mechanisms to improve SSL performance and security.
  4. Publish a formal security policy and incident response contact information to enhance transparency and trust.
  5. Maintain and regularly update the cookie consent mechanism and privacy policy to ensure ongoing GDPR compliance.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is powered by TYPO3 CMS running on PHP 8.1.32 with an nginx web server, hosted likely on IONOS infrastructure managed via Plesk. The frontend uses modern JavaScript libraries including Swiper.js for sliders and a custom cookie banner script. The site is mobile responsive and includes accessibility features such as ARIA labels and keyboard navigation support. SEO is well addressed with meta tags, Open Graph, and Twitter card metadata. Performance metrics were not available, but the site uses compressed CSS and JS assets indicating optimization efforts. The lack of a valid SSL certificate is a significant technical risk. DNS records are properly configured with multiple authoritative nameservers and SPF records for email. No DNSSEC or CAA records are present. Overall, the technical infrastructure is modern but requires urgent SSL/TLS remediation to meet security standards.
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

Earlier scans of this domain

  1. 49/100High34 findingsView report
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