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Security report for studentenwerke.de

Deutsches Studentenwerk · Education · Germany

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in Security headers and SSL/TLS.

Security score

69/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Deutsches Studentenwerk (DSW) website serves as the central portal for student services in Germany, offering comprehensive information on financing, housing, counseling, and cultural activities for students. The site targets students, educational institutions, and stakeholders within the German higher education system. The organization operates as a large non-profit entity with a strong market position in the education sector. Technically, the website is built on TYPO3 CMS with modern front-end technologies and is hosted behind Cloudflare for performance and security. Privacy compliance is demonstrated through the use of Cookiebot for cookie consent and Matomo for analytics, reflecting a privacy-conscious approach. However, explicit privacy policies and terms of service are not clearly found in the provided content, which could be improved. Security posture is good with HTTPS enforced, but additional security headers and a published security policy would enhance trust. Overall, the website is professional, accessible, and trustworthy, with moderate tracking and good user experience.

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

4 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 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. 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
    • High

      Weak SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

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

Keep watching studentenwerke.de

This scan found 23 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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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
57
Security headers
35
Email security
75
DNS health
65
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
83
Average
69

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

DSW holds a leading position in the German student services market, providing essential support in financing, housing, and counseling. Its business model is non-profit, focusing on service provision rather than commercial revenue. The website reflects a mature digital presence with extensive content and navigation tailored to diverse student needs, including international and disabled students. Partnerships with related domains like dswconnect.de and jobs-studentenwerke.de indicate a broad ecosystem supporting student welfare. The organization’s use of privacy-focused analytics and cookie consent tools aligns with GDPR requirements, enhancing its credibility. Growth indicators include comprehensive topic coverage and active engagement with student communities through events and publications.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a solid security foundation with HTTPS and Cloudflare DNS/CDN protection. Cookie consent is actively managed via Cookiebot with blocking mode enabled, ensuring compliance with privacy regulations. The use of Matomo analytics suggests a preference for privacy-friendly tracking. However, the absence of explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and lack of a published security or incident response policy represent areas for improvement. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. The WHOIS data shows privacy protection via Cloudflare, which is justified for this type of organization. Overall, the security posture is good but could benefit from enhanced transparency and additional technical controls.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish a comprehensive privacy policy and terms of service accessible from the homepage.
  2. Add security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to strengthen browser security.
  3. Publish a security policy or incident response contact information to improve transparency and readiness.
  4. Consider adding a security.txt file to facilitate vulnerability disclosures and improve security communication.
  5. Enhance contact information visibility by including verified company emails and phone numbers for user support and inquiries.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Deutsches Studentenwerk
Description
The Deutsches Studentenwerk (DSW) is a central organization representing student services in Germany, providing support in areas such as student financing, housing, counseling, cultural activities, and services for international and disabled students.
Key services
Student financing information and support, Student housing and dormitories, Counseling and social services, Cultural programs and events, Support for international and disabled students
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
TYPO3 CMS, jQuery, UIkit, Slick Carousel, Cookiebot, Matomo Analytics
Frameworks
TYPO3 CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent with blocking mode
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Cookiebot, Matomo
Marketing tools
Cookiebot
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenge.
  2. Uses TYPO3 CMS with modern front-end libraries.
  3. Cookie consent implemented with Cookiebot, showing GDPR compliance efforts.
  4. No explicit privacy policy or terms of service found in the provided content.
  5. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found in the HTML content.
  6. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure found.
  7. Matomo analytics used, indicating privacy-conscious tracking.
  8. Content is in German language, targeting German students and educational institutions.
  9. Navigation is comprehensive with multi-level menus covering various student-related topics.
  10. No suspicious or malicious content detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is powered by TYPO3 CMS, a robust and widely used open-source content management system, supported by front-end libraries such as UIkit and Slick Carousel for UI components and responsiveness. Cookiebot is integrated for cookie consent management, and Matomo Analytics is used for privacy-conscious visitor tracking. Hosting is managed via Cloudflare, providing DNS and CDN services that enhance security and performance. The site shows good mobile optimization and accessibility features. Performance is moderate, with potential for improvement through optimization of assets and caching strategies. The technical stack is modern and well-maintained, with no obvious technical debt or deprecated technologies detected in the HTML 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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