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Security report for ugent.be

Universiteit Gent · Education · Belgium

Low risk. 3 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

76/100

Risk levelLow

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

Universiteit Gent (UGent) is a major educational institution in Belgium, recognized as one of the largest universities in the Dutch-speaking region. It offers a wide range of bachelor and master programs, lifelong learning opportunities, and extensive research services. The university targets students, researchers, alumni, companies, and employees, positioning itself as an open, socially engaged, and pluralistic institution. The website reflects a professional and consistent brand image with comprehensive content relevant to its audience. Technically, the UGent website is built on the Plone CMS platform, utilizing modern JavaScript libraries such as jQuery UI, Bootstrap, and Moment.js. It integrates Piwik PRO analytics with a robust cookie consent mechanism, demonstrating a mature approach to privacy compliance. The site is mobile-optimized, accessible, and SEO-friendly, although some security headers could be improved. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and employs cookie consent management, but lacks explicit security policies and incident response contacts. No vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. WHOIS data is restricted by the .be registry, limiting domain ownership transparency, but the overall trustworthiness remains high given the institutional nature and strong trust signals. Overall, UGent's website is a well-maintained, secure, and privacy-conscious platform that effectively serves its educational mission. Strategic improvements could include publishing security policies and enhancing HTTP security headers to further strengthen its security posture.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
80/ 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

3 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 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

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

Keep watching ugent.be

This scan found 20 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
72
Security headers
50
Email security
85
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
80
Average
76

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

UGent holds a strong market position as a leading university in Belgium, with a broad educational and research portfolio. Its business model centers on providing higher education and research services to a diverse audience including students, academics, and industry partners. The university benefits from a well-established brand, extensive partnerships (e.g., SharePoint intranet), and a comprehensive digital presence. Revenue streams likely include tuition, research grants, and partnerships. Growth indicators include active news, events, and academic calendar updates. The partnership ecosystem includes Microsoft SharePoint for intranet services and various analytics providers. The website's professional content and consistent branding support its authoritative market presence.

Security posture

The security maturity of UGent's website is solid, with mandatory HTTPS and cookie consent mechanisms in place. The use of Piwik PRO analytics with anonymization options indicates attention to privacy. However, the absence of explicit security policies, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms represents a compliance gap. Security headers such as Content Security Policy and HSTS are not explicitly detected, which could enhance protection against common web attacks. No vulnerabilities or sensitive data exposures were found in the HTML content. The restricted WHOIS data is a limitation but is due to registry policy rather than suspicious activity. Overall, the security posture is good but could be improved with formalized policies and enhanced HTTP headers.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and publish a formal security policy and incident response contact information on the website.
  2. Add and enforce HTTP security headers such as Content Security Policy (CSP), Strict-Transport-Security (HSTS), and X-Frame-Options.
  3. Establish a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  4. Enhance transparency by providing clear contact information for data protection officers or privacy inquiries.
  5. Regularly audit and update third-party libraries and analytics tools to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Universiteit Gent
Description
De UGent is een van de grootste universiteiten in het Nederlandse taalgebied en profileert zich als open, sociaal geëngageerd en pluralistisch.
Key services
Bacheloropleidingen, Masteropleidingen, Levenslang leren, Onderzoeksfinanciering, Doctoreren, Onderzoek en maatschappij, Partnerschappen Globale Zuiden, Core Facilities
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Plone CMS, jQuery UI, Bootstrap, Moment.js, Piwik PRO analytics, Flowbox, Modernizr, Picturefill
Frameworks
Plone
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of modern JS libraries

Analytics and tracking

Services
Piwik PRO, CrazyEgg, Google Analytics, Hotjar
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Piwik PRO, CrazyEgg, Google, Hotjar
Marketing tools
Piwik PRO, Flowbox
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with rich content and navigation.
  2. Strong institutional branding and consistent design.
  3. Comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with consent management.
  4. No direct contact emails or phone numbers found on homepage; likely available on subpages.
  5. No explicit security policy or incident response contacts published.
  6. Use of modern web technologies and analytics tools with privacy considerations.
  7. WHOIS data is restricted by registry policy, limiting domain ownership transparency.
Technical notes

Notes

The UGent website leverages a mature and stable CMS platform (Plone) combined with modern JavaScript libraries and frameworks to deliver a responsive and accessible user experience. The integration of Piwik PRO analytics with consent management reflects a strong commitment to privacy compliance. Performance is moderate, with room for optimization. The site is mobile-friendly and SEO-optimized, with well-structured metadata and Open Graph tags. Technical risks are minimal, but the absence of certain security headers and explicit hosting provider information suggests opportunities for infrastructure hardening and transparency improvements.
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. 75/100Medium2 findings · partial scanView report
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