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Security report for tud.link

Technische Universität Dresden · Education · Germany

Medium risk. 4 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view and SSL/TLS.

Security score

68/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The website selfservice.tu-dresden.de/services/short-link/ is an official service provided by Technische Universität Dresden (TUD) offering a short URL generation platform tailored for university members. It supports URL shortening with additional features such as validity period restrictions and QR code generation, targeting employees, guests, and students. The service is free and emphasizes compliance with data protection requirements, reflecting the university's commitment to secure and privacy-conscious digital services. Technically, the site uses standard web technologies including JavaScript and CSS, hosted under the DFN network with official university branding. The site is mobile optimized and accessible, though it lacks visible advanced frameworks or CMS indicators. Security practices include CSRF protection on forms and HTTPS usage, but there is room for improvement in security headers and transparency of security policies. From a security perspective, the site shows a moderate security posture with no detected vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data. However, the absence of a cookie consent mechanism and explicit security or incident response policies suggests partial GDPR compliance. The WHOIS data confirms the domain's legitimacy as a university subdomain with consistent registration details. Overall, the website is a trustworthy, well-maintained educational service with good usability and privacy focus but could enhance its security and compliance transparency to further strengthen user trust and regulatory adherence.

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

4 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. 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

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

Keep watching tud.link

This scan found 22 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
72
Security headers
80
Email security
60
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
28
Average
68

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 tud.link, from OffSeq Breach.

No leaked records found

Breach holds no records for tud.link right now. New leaks arrive continuously, so monitoring on Breach alerts you if that changes.

Monitor on Breach (opens in a new tab)

Technical appendix

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

Business context

Business profile

Technische Universität Dresden operates this short URL service as part of its internal IT offerings to support its academic community. The service is positioned as a privacy-compliant alternative to generic URL shorteners, addressing the specific needs of university members. The business model is non-commercial, focusing on service provision rather than revenue generation. The target audience includes university employees, students, and guests, indicating a broad internal user base. The service leverages partnerships with affiliated domains such as bildungsportal.sachsen.de and videocampus.sachsen.de, enhancing its ecosystem integration. The lack of advertising and tracking tools aligns with the university's privacy-centric approach. Growth indicators are not explicit but the service supports multiple domains, suggesting scalability within the academic environment.

Security posture

The security maturity of the website is moderate. The use of HTTPS and CSRF tokens in forms demonstrates adherence to basic security best practices. However, the absence of explicit security headers such as Content Security Policy (CSP), HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS), and X-Frame-Options reduces the overall security robustness. No vulnerability disclosures or incident response contacts are published, which limits transparency and preparedness communication. GDPR compliance is partially evidenced by the presence of a privacy policy but lacks a cookie consent mechanism. No tracking or analytics scripts were detected, minimizing privacy risks. Overall, the security posture is adequate for an internal university service but could benefit from enhanced security controls and policy disclosures.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish a comprehensive security policy and incident response plan accessible to users.
  2. Add a cookie consent mechanism to comply fully with GDPR requirements.
  3. Deploy security headers such as CSP, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options to strengthen protection against common web attacks.
  4. Consider publishing a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  5. Increase transparency around data retention and processing practices to enhance user trust.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Technische Universität Dresden
Description
The website provides a short URL service for members of Technische Universität Dresden (TUD), enabling URL shortening with options such as validity period restriction and QR code generation. The service supports URLs from specific domains related to TUD and affiliated platforms.
Key services
Short URL generation, Validity period restriction, QR code generation
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, CSS, HTML5
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
70/100
Good practices seen
  • Use of CSRF tokens in forms
  • HTTPS implied by domain (https://selfservice.tu-dresden.de)

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is an official university service for URL shortening with data protection focus.
  2. No visible cookie consent mechanism despite GDPR relevance.
  3. No explicit security policy or incident response information published.
  4. No visible analytics or tracking scripts detected.
  5. Forms use CSRF tokens indicating secure form handling.
  6. No contact emails or phone numbers explicitly listed on this page.
  7. Content is well structured and accessible with language options.
  8. No advertising or marketing tools detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built with standard web technologies including HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript, with no detected use of major CMS or advanced frameworks. The hosting is managed under the DFN network, a reputable academic network provider in Germany. The site is mobile optimized and accessible, with a clear navigation structure and language selection feature. Performance is moderate, with no explicit indicators of slow loading or technical debt. The use of CSRF tokens in forms indicates attention to secure input handling. However, the absence of visible security headers and cookie consent mechanisms suggests areas for modernization and compliance improvement. Overall, the technical infrastructure is stable and suitable for the service's scope but could benefit from enhanced security and privacy features.
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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