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Security report for uni-giessen.de

Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen · Education · Germany

Medium risk. 7 critical or high findings in GDPR outside view, Security headers and 2 other checks.

Security score

56/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen (JLU) is a large, well-established public university in Germany, offering a broad range of academic programs and conducting internationally recognized research. The website reflects a professional and comprehensive digital presence, targeting students, researchers, and academic partners. It leverages the Plone CMS platform with modern web technologies and integrates Matomo analytics for user tracking. Security posture is solid with HTTPS and secure forms, though improvements in security headers and published policies are recommended. Privacy compliance is partially met with a comprehensive privacy policy but lacks explicit cookie consent mechanisms. Overall, the site is trustworthy and well-maintained, supporting the university's strong market position in education and research.

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

7 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. 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 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';…

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Keep watching uni-giessen.de

This scan found 29 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
67
Security headers
30
Email security
60
DNS health
50
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
28
Average
56

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 uni-giessen.de, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
3,884
Employees
19
Customers
3,237
Third parties
628
Weak passwords
12%

Latest record dated 2026-06-14 · 135 subdomains affected

See the 10 newest leaked credentials

A one-off add-on to this report that lists the most recent identifier and password pairs OffSeq Breach holds for uni-giessen.de.

Select it in the checkout above.

Masked preview

  • –studip.uni-giessen.de2026-06-14
  • –ahs-buchsys.sport.uni-giessen.de2026-06-12
  • –owa.uni-giessen.de2026-06-02
  • –owa.uni-giessen.de2026-05-26
  • –owa.uni-giessen.de2026-05-25

Breach keeps ingesting new leaks, so these numbers can grow between scans.

Open in Breach(opens in a new tab)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

JLU holds a prominent position in the German higher education sector, distinguished by multiple excellence clusters and a wide academic portfolio. Its business model is public education and research, serving diverse audiences including students, academics, and industry partners. The university maintains an active partnership ecosystem, including international information points and European university alliances. The website content and branding are consistent and professional, supporting recruitment, research dissemination, and community engagement. Growth indicators include active event calendars and news updates. The digital infrastructure supports academic collaboration and student services effectively.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, secure form handling, and no visible sensitive data exposure. However, the absence of explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options represents an area for enhancement. No vulnerability disclosures or incident response contacts are published, which could improve transparency and readiness. The use of Matomo analytics indicates moderate user tracking with privacy considerations. Overall, the security measures align with typical academic institution standards but could benefit from additional hardening and policy publication.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and enforce security headers including Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options.
  2. Introduce a visible cookie consent banner to comply fully with GDPR cookie regulations.
  3. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response contact information to enhance transparency and trust.
  4. Consider adding a vulnerability disclosure policy or security.txt file to facilitate responsible reporting.
  5. Regularly review and update third-party libraries and analytics configurations to minimize potential vulnerabilities.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
Description
Die Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen (JLU) ist eine Volluniversität mit international sichtbarer Spitzenforschung und einem breiten Studienangebot von Accounting bis Zahnmedizin. Sie ist eine der erfolgreichsten Universitäten in Deutschland mit Fokus auf Studium, Forschung und Exzellenzstrategie.
Key services
Studium, Forschung, Exzellenzcluster, Weiterbildung, Internationales
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
Plone CMS, jQuery, Bootstrap (offcanvas, buttons), EasySlider, FullCalendar, Matomo Analytics
Frameworks
Plone
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of secure forms with POST
  • No visible vulnerable libraries

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Matomo
Transparency
basic

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenge.
  2. Content is rich, professional, and targeted at students, researchers, and academic community.
  3. Strong branding and consistent design with official university logos and partner references.
  4. Use of Plone CMS and modern JavaScript libraries for UI and functionality.
  5. Presence of multiple social media links and official university channels.
  6. No explicit cookie consent mechanism detected despite GDPR relevance.
  7. No visible security.txt or vulnerability disclosure page.
  8. WHOIS data limited but domain appears legitimate and consistent with university identity.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on the Plone CMS, a robust and secure content management system favored in academic environments. It uses JavaScript libraries such as jQuery and EasySlider for interactive elements and FullCalendar for event management. The site is mobile-optimized with Bootstrap offcanvas components and responsive design. Performance is moderate, with asynchronous loading of analytics scripts. The technical stack is modern and well-maintained, though some CSS and JavaScript could be optimized for faster load times. Accessibility features are present, and SEO is supported by proper meta tags and Open Graph data. Hosting appears to be managed by the German Research Network (DFN), ensuring reliable infrastructure.
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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