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Security report for universityofgalway.ie

University of Galway · Education · Ireland

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

Security score

71/100

Risk levelMedium

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

University of Galway is a prominent Irish higher education institution with a strong focus on research-led teaching and sustainability. The website reflects a mature digital presence with comprehensive course offerings, research information, and community engagement. The institution is well-positioned in the education sector, holding notable rankings and certifications that enhance its credibility. Technically, the website employs modern JavaScript libraries and analytics tools, hosted on AWS, with good mobile optimization and accessibility features. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced and cookie consent mechanisms, though some improvements like enabling DNSSEC and publishing a security policy could enhance trust further. Overall, the website is professional, trustworthy, and compliant with GDPR requirements, serving a broad audience including prospective students, staff, and alumni.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
68/ 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

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 universityofgalway.ie

This scan found 24 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
62
Security headers
45
Email security
80
DNS health
70
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
68
Average
71

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 universityofgalway.ie, from OffSeq Breach.

Total records
200
Employees
0
Customers
13
Third parties
187
Weak passwords
7%

7 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 universityofgalway.ie.

Select it in the checkout above.

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

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 Galway operates as a large public educational entity in Ireland, targeting students at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, researchers, and the wider academic community. Its business model centers on education delivery, research innovation, and community partnerships. The university leverages its sustainability rankings and international recognition as competitive advantages. The website supports multiple user segments with dedicated navigation and services, including alumni relations and business industry collaborations. The presence of multiple certifications and awards signals a commitment to quality and social responsibility. The digital ecosystem includes partnerships with learning platforms and internal research portals, indicating a robust operational infrastructure.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a good security maturity level with HTTPS enforced and cookie consent mechanisms aligned with GDPR. No exposed sensitive data or vulnerable libraries were detected. However, the absence of DNSSEC and a publicly available security policy or incident response contact reduces transparency. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file was found, which could be improved to foster responsible vulnerability reporting. The use of multiple third-party analytics and marketing tools is balanced with user consent management, indicating a privacy-aware approach. Overall, the security posture is strong but could benefit from enhanced DNS security and formalized incident response communication.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to improve DNS integrity and security.
  2. Publish a clear security policy and incident response contact information on the website.
  3. Implement security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and Strict-Transport-Security if not already present.
  4. Create and publish a vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting.
  5. Continue to monitor and update third-party libraries to avoid vulnerabilities and maintain compliance.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
University of Galway
Description
University of Galway is a research-led university in Ireland, ranked #1 in Ireland for Sustainable Development and top 3 in Europe. It offers a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses and has a vibrant research community.
Key services
Undergraduate courses, Postgraduate courses, Research programs, Community engagement, Alumni services
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery, Dojo, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, TikTok Analytics, StackAdapt tracking, jQuery Cycle2 plugin, Fancybox, jCarousel
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
  • No vulnerable libraries detected from scripts

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, TikTok Analytics
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
StackAdapt
Tracking pixels
TikTok Analytics, StackAdapt
Marketing tools
TikTok Analytics
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 presence of privacy and cookie policies with consent management.
  3. Multiple official social media channels linked.
  4. Use of modern JavaScript libraries and analytics tools.
  5. No signs of phishing, malware, or suspicious content.
  6. WHOIS data supports legitimacy of the domain and organization.
  7. No explicit security policy or incident response contact found publicly.
  8. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure page detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a CMS platform likely T4 CMS, using a combination of jQuery, Dojo, and various plugins for UI components like carousels and fancybox. It integrates Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, TikTok Analytics, and StackAdapt for marketing and tracking purposes. Hosting appears to be on AWS infrastructure. The site is mobile optimized with responsive design and accessibility features such as keyboard navigation and ARIA labels. Performance is moderate with asynchronous loading of scripts and deferred JavaScript. The technical stack is modern but could be further enhanced by adopting newer frameworks and improving DNS security. Overall, the technical implementation supports a robust and user-friendly experience.
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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