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Security report for surf.nl

SURF · Education · Netherlands

Low risk. 1 critical or high finding in GDPR outside view.

Security score

85/100

Risk levelLow

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

SURF is a Dutch ICT cooperative serving over 100 educational and research institutions, focusing on enabling digital transformation in education and research. The website presents a professional and comprehensive overview of their services, including identity management, security, network connectivity, data management, and cloud computing. The technical infrastructure is modern, leveraging Drupal 10 CMS, and integrates analytics and optimization tools such as Piwik PRO and Visual Website Optimizer. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced and accessibility features implemented, though explicit security policies and incident response details are not publicly disclosed. Privacy compliance is basic, lacking visible privacy and cookie policies or consent mechanisms. Overall, SURF demonstrates a mature digital presence aligned with its cooperative mission in the education sector.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of surf.nl. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
73/ 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

1 finding 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.

    • 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 surf.nl

This scan found 13 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
100
Security headers
80
Email security
82
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
73
Average
85

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

SURF holds a strong market position as a key ICT cooperative in the Dutch education and research sector, offering a broad portfolio of services that support digital innovation and infrastructure. Their business model centers on cooperative service delivery to educational institutions, emphasizing collaboration and shared resources. The website content and structure reflect a focus on institutional clients rather than individual consumers. The presence of advanced services like national supercomputing and research cloud indicates a high level of technical capability. Partnerships and integrations with analytics and optimization platforms suggest a data-driven approach to service improvement.

Security posture

The website enforces HTTPS and uses modern web technologies, indicating a baseline of security best practices. However, the absence of explicit security headers, published security policies, and incident response contacts limits transparency and may hinder trust from security-conscious stakeholders. The use of third-party analytics and optimization tools introduces moderate tracking but no overt vulnerabilities were detected in the content. No signs of exposed sensitive data or vulnerabilities were found. Overall, the security posture is adequate but could be enhanced by publishing formal security and incident response documentation.

Recommendations

  1. Publish clear and accessible privacy and cookie policies with GDPR compliance details.
  2. Implement and display a cookie consent mechanism to inform users and obtain consent.
  3. Add security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security.
  4. Provide explicit security policy and incident response contact information on the website.
  5. Enhance transparency around data retention and analytics data usage to improve privacy compliance.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
SURF
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
SURF
Description
Meer dan 100 onderwijs- en onderzoeksinstellingen in Nederland werken in de coöperatie SURF samen om de kansen van digitalisering ten volle benutten. Met als doel: beter en flexibeler onderwijs en onderzoek.
Key services
Identiteits- en toegangsbeheer, Inkoop en distributie, Beveiliging, Netwerkconnectiviteit, Wendbaar onderwijs, Opslag en datamanagement, Publiceren, Rekenen
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Drupal 10, JavaScript, Piwik PRO analytics, Visual Website Optimizer (VWO)
Frameworks
Drupal
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No visible exposed sensitive data
  • Use of accessibility preferences

Analytics and tracking

Services
Piwik PRO, Visual Website Optimizer (VWO)
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Visual Website Optimizer (VWO), Piwik PRO
Marketing tools
VWO, Piwik PRO
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is professionally designed and well-structured
  2. Content is focused on ICT services for education and research
  3. No signs of malicious or suspicious activity
  4. No explicit privacy or cookie policies found on homepage
  5. Use of modern analytics and A/B testing tools
  6. Accessibility features are implemented
  7. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly found in provided content
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on Drupal 10, a modern and widely supported CMS, ensuring maintainability and security updates. It uses JavaScript-based analytics and A/B testing tools (Piwik PRO and VWO) for performance and user experience optimization. The site is mobile responsive and includes accessibility preferences, indicating attention to inclusive design. Performance is moderate, with video content and rich media elements that may impact load times. No critical technical debt or outdated libraries were detected in the provided content. Hosting details are not explicit, but no issues with SSL or domain configuration were observed.
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. 63/100Medium18 findingsView report
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