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Security report for tamus.edu

THE TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SYSTEM · Education · United States

Medium risk. 6 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 2 other checks.

Security score

66/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Texas A&M University System is a prominent public university system in Texas, offering higher education, research, and public service through its multiple member universities and agencies. The website reflects a well-structured and professionally designed platform targeting students, faculty, staff, researchers, and government stakeholders. It provides comprehensive information about its offices, research initiatives, and governance. Technically, the website is built on WordPress using modern themes and plugins such as Kadence and Elementor, with SEO optimization via Yoast. It employs Google Analytics and Tag Manager for analytics and tracking. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible, with good SEO practices and structured data implementation. From a security perspective, the site uses HTTPS and some security-related plugins but lacks explicit security headers and incident response information. Privacy and cookie policies are present but could improve with explicit consent mechanisms. The absence of WHOIS data is a concern but the website's content and external links strongly indicate legitimacy. Overall, the website is a reliable and professional digital presence for the Texas A&M University System, with recommendations to enhance security headers, incident response transparency, and privacy compliance for improved trust and compliance.

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 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

  3. 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 tamus.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

€25per month

  • 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
42
Security headers
65
Email security
72
DNS health
65
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
66

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 Texas A&M University System holds a strong market position as a large public university system in Texas, serving a broad audience including students, researchers, and government entities. Its business model focuses on education, research, and public service. The system benefits from a diverse portfolio of universities and agencies, enhancing its reach and influence. The website's integration with multiple partner domains and official social media channels supports a robust partnership ecosystem. Growth indicators include recent news about new member institutions and investments in research. The system's strategic communications and marketing efforts are evident through dedicated offices and resources.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate to good security posture with enforced HTTPS and use of security and accessibility plugins. However, it lacks visible security headers such as Content Security Policy, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options, which are recommended to mitigate common web vulnerabilities. There is no publicly visible incident response or security policy page, which could hinder rapid response to security incidents. Privacy policies are present but lack explicit cookie consent mechanisms, which may affect GDPR compliance. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. Overall, the security maturity is adequate but could be improved with enhanced headers, incident response transparency, and stronger privacy controls.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive security headers including CSP, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options to strengthen web security.
  2. Publish explicit incident response and security policy documentation accessible from the website.
  3. Introduce a cookie consent mechanism to comply fully with GDPR and other privacy regulations.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts and plugins to minimize vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance WHOIS registration transparency or verify domain registration details to improve trustworthiness.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
THE TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SYSTEM
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
THE TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY SYSTEM
Description
The Texas A&M University System is a state university system in Texas, providing education, research, and public service through its member universities and agencies.
Key services
Higher education, Research, Public service, Governmental relations, Law enforcement, Risk management, Marketing and communications
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Yoast SEO plugin, Elementor, Kadence Theme, Google Analytics, jQuery
Frameworks
Schema.org structured data
Platforms
WordPress CMS
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 security plugins (wp-accessibility, wp-hummingbird)

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Beehive Analytics Pro
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Marketing tools
Site Kit by Google
Transparency
basic

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 challenges.
  2. Content is professionally presented with clear navigation and comprehensive footer.
  3. Strong presence of official social media and government-related links.
  4. WHOIS data is missing, which is unusual and warrants caution.
  5. No explicit security policy or incident response contact information found.
  6. Privacy and cookie policies are present but lack explicit consent mechanisms.
  7. Use of modern web technologies and SEO best practices evident.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern WordPress CMS platform using the Kadence theme and Elementor page builder, supported by Yoast SEO for search optimization. It integrates Google Analytics and Tag Manager for data collection and marketing insights. The site is mobile responsive and includes accessibility enhancements via dedicated plugins. Performance is moderate, with some scope for optimization. The technical infrastructure is solid but could benefit from improved security headers and enhanced privacy controls. The absence of hosting provider details limits full infrastructure assessment. Overall, the technical implementation supports a professional and functional user experience.
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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