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Security report for umw.edu

University of Mary Washington · Education · United States

Medium risk. 7 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

58/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The University of Mary Washington website represents a well-established educational institution focused on providing undergraduate and graduate education with a strong emphasis on liberal arts and professional studies. The site targets prospective and current students, faculty, and community members, offering comprehensive academic, admissions, campus life, and athletics information. The branding and content quality are excellent, reflecting a professional and trustworthy online presence. Technically, the website is built on WordPress with modern frameworks such as React and includes a robust set of analytics and marketing tools including Google Analytics, TikTok Pixel, Microsoft Clarity, and others. The site demonstrates good mobile optimization, accessibility, and SEO practices, although performance is moderate, likely due to the extensive use of third-party scripts. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS, employs multiple security headers, and avoids exposing sensitive data. However, it lacks visible privacy and cookie policies and does not provide explicit security or incident response information, which are areas for improvement. The WHOIS data is unavailable, which is unusual but may be due to .edu domain registry policies. Overall, the site is legitimate and secure but could enhance transparency and compliance. The overall risk is low, but strategic recommendations include publishing clear privacy and cookie policies with consent mechanisms, adding security and incident response information, and maintaining vigilance on third-party scripts to ensure ongoing security and privacy 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

7 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 X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

      What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"

    • 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

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

Keep watching umw.edu

This scan found 27 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
27
Security headers
15
Email security
70
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
58

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 University of Mary Washington operates as a regional public university with a focus on liberal arts education and professional studies. Its business model centers on delivering quality higher education programs, including undergraduate, graduate, and continuing professional studies. The university targets students seeking a comprehensive college experience and maintains a strong presence in its regional market. The website reflects a mature digital ecosystem with partnerships across academic and student service domains. The extensive use of analytics and marketing tools indicates active engagement in recruitment and community outreach. The absence of detailed WHOIS data is a minor anomaly but does not detract from the institution's credibility. Growth indicators include active event listings and diverse academic offerings. The university's ecosystem includes multiple subdomains for specialized services, indicating organizational complexity and operational scale.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with HTTPS enforced and multiple security headers implemented, reducing common web vulnerabilities. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the HTML content. However, the lack of visible privacy and cookie policies, absence of a vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file, and no explicit incident response contact information represent compliance and transparency gaps. The extensive use of third-party tracking and marketing scripts increases the attack surface and privacy risk, necessitating regular audits. The WHOIS data unavailability is unusual but likely related to .edu domain policies rather than malicious intent. Overall, the security posture is strong but could be improved by enhancing privacy compliance and incident response readiness.

Recommendations

  1. Publish comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with clear consent mechanisms to improve GDPR and privacy compliance.
  2. Add a dedicated security policy and incident response page with contact channels for reporting security issues.
  3. Implement a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file to foster responsible vulnerability reporting.
  4. Regularly audit and minimize third-party scripts to reduce privacy risks and improve site performance.
  5. Enhance transparency by providing clear contact information including phone numbers and official emails for prospective students and security concerns.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
University of Mary Washington
Description
At the University of Mary Washington, we’re committed to a college experience that focuses on what matters most.
Key services
Undergraduate education, Graduate programs, Continuing and professional studies, Campus life and student services, Athletics
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Yoast SEO Premium, React, jQuery, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, TikTok Pixel, Microsoft Clarity, Snapchat Pixel, Hotjar, AdRoll, StackAdapt, Localist Events, MediaElement.js
Frameworks
React, WordPress
Platforms
WordPress CMS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
excellent

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of security headers
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure forms with proper labeling

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity, TikTok Analytics, Facebook Analytics, Hotjar
Tracking level
extensive
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Ad networks
AdRoll, StackAdapt, Bing Ads
Tracking pixels
TikTok Pixel, Microsoft Clarity, Snapchat Pixel, Facebook Pixel, Hotjar
Marketing tools
Localist Events
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professionally designed university site with comprehensive academic and campus information.
  2. Uses modern web technologies and multiple analytics/tracking tools.
  3. No visible contact emails or phone numbers explicitly labeled on the homepage HTML content.
  4. No visible privacy, cookie, or terms of service policies found in the provided HTML snapshot.
  5. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure found.
  6. No signs of WAF or content blocking.
  7. Extensive use of third-party marketing and analytics scripts.
  8. Strong SEO and accessibility features implemented.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress CMS enhanced with React and jQuery libraries, leveraging a modern tech stack that supports dynamic content and interactive features. SEO is optimized using Yoast SEO Premium, and accessibility features are well implemented. The site integrates multiple analytics and marketing tools such as Google Analytics, TikTok Pixel, Microsoft Clarity, Snapchat Pixel, Hotjar, AdRoll, and StackAdapt, indicating a sophisticated data collection and marketing strategy. Performance is moderate, likely impacted by the number of third-party scripts. Hosting provider details are not explicit, but the presence of .edu TLD and related subdomains suggests institutional hosting or managed services. The site is mobile-optimized and uses structured data (JSON-LD) for enhanced search engine understanding. Opportunities exist to streamline scripts and improve privacy compliance to reduce technical debt and enhance user trust.
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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