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Security report for univercity-bochum.de

UniverCity Bochum e.V. · Education · Germany

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

Security score

53/100

Risk levelMedium

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

UniverCity Bochum e.V. is a non-profit interdisciplinary knowledge network focused on fostering collaboration between scientific institutions, municipal administration, economic actors, and the wider city society in Bochum, Germany. The organization facilitates knowledge exchange, organizes events, and offers certification programs to strengthen the knowledge city concept. The website is professionally designed using WordPress with modern plugins such as Yoast SEO and Complianz for GDPR compliance. It features a clear navigation structure, multilingual support (German and English), and integrates social media channels for broader engagement. Security measures include HTTPS enforcement and hCaptcha integration for form protection, although some technical improvements are recommended such as fixing broken lazy loading images and implementing security headers. Overall, the site demonstrates a good security posture and strong privacy compliance, with comprehensive cookie and privacy policies in place. Contact information is available via email and a contact form with explicit consent mechanisms, but no phone number is provided. The domain registration data aligns well with the organization's regional and business focus, supporting legitimacy and trustworthiness.

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

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 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 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 univercity-bochum.de

This scan found 26 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
15
Email security
70
DNS health
60
Network security
20
GDPR outside view
80
Average
53

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 univercity-bochum.de, from OffSeq Breach.

No leaked records found

Breach holds no records for univercity-bochum.de 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

UniverCity Bochum operates as a regional knowledge and innovation network primarily serving the education, government, and non-profit sectors. Its business model centers on fostering partnerships and collaborative projects that bridge academia, administration, and civil society. The organization leverages a broad partner ecosystem including universities, research institutes, municipal bodies, and economic development agencies. This networked approach enhances its market position as a key facilitator of knowledge transfer and innovation in Bochum. The website content and event offerings indicate active engagement with target audiences such as researchers, municipal employees, students, and community members. The presence of certification programs and structured events suggests diversified revenue or funding streams typical for non-profits, including grants and membership fees. Strategic partnerships and transparent communication reinforce its credibility and growth potential within the regional innovation ecosystem.

Security posture

The website exhibits a moderate to good security maturity level. HTTPS is properly implemented, ensuring encrypted communication. The use of hCaptcha on forms mitigates spam and automated abuse risks. Cookie consent management via Complianz demonstrates compliance with GDPR requirements. However, the absence of explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options represents a gap that could expose the site to certain web-based attacks. Broken lazy loading images may indirectly affect security perception and user trust. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected in the provided content. Incident response and security policy documentation are not publicly available, which could limit preparedness and transparency in case of security incidents. Overall, the security posture is adequate for the organization's scope but could be enhanced by adopting additional best practices and formal policies.

Recommendations

  1. Implement and enforce security headers (CSP, X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options) to strengthen web security.
  2. Fix broken lazy loading images to improve user experience and reduce potential attack surface.
  3. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response contact information to enhance transparency and preparedness.
  4. Consider adding a clearly labeled company phone number to improve contact options and trust.
  5. Maintain regular updates of WordPress core and plugins to mitigate vulnerabilities and ensure compliance.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
UniverCity Bochum e.V.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
UniverCity Bochum e.V.
Description
UniverCity Bochum is an interdisciplinary and cross-institutional knowledge network that develops and shapes the knowledge city Bochum through collaboration with actors from science, administration, economy, and civil society.
Key services
Organizing events and workshops, Facilitating collaboration between science and municipality, Providing certification programs, Knowledge transfer and innovation promotion
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress 6.8.3, Yoast SEO plugin, Contact Form 7, Complianz GDPR Cookie Consent, jQuery 3.7.1, Splide.js (slider), hCaptcha
Platforms
WordPress
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent mechanism implemented
  • Use of hCaptcha for form spam protection
  • No exposed sensitive data found

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Marketing tools
Complianz GDPR Cookie Consent
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 rich content in German language.
  2. Strong focus on knowledge exchange and community events in Bochum region.
  3. Comprehensive cookie consent and privacy mechanisms implemented.
  4. Use of modern WordPress plugins and SEO optimizations.
  5. Contact form includes explicit consent checkbox and hCaptcha for spam protection.
  6. Multiple partner organizations linked, indicating a broad network.
  7. No explicit terms of service or security policy pages found.
  8. No phone number explicitly provided in footer or contact sections.
  9. Some images fail to load due to lazy loading errors.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress 6.8.3, utilizing popular plugins such as Yoast SEO for search engine optimization, Contact Form 7 for form management, and Complianz for GDPR cookie consent. The front-end uses jQuery 3.7.1 and Splide.js for interactive sliders. The site is multilingual with German as the primary language and English as an alternate. Performance is moderate with some lazy loading images failing to load, which should be addressed. Mobile optimization is good, with responsive navigation and layout. SEO is well implemented with meta tags, Open Graph, and JSON-LD structured data. Accessibility is basic but present. No hosting provider details were found in the data. Overall, the technical infrastructure is modern and suitable for the organization's needs, with room for minor improvements in image handling and security headers.
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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