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Security report for uva.nl

Universiteit van Amsterdam · Education · Netherlands

Low risk. 3 critical or high findings in Security headers and SSL/TLS.

Security score

78/100

Risk levelLow

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

The Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA) is a prominent European research university offering a broad spectrum of bachelor, master, and professional education programs. The website reflects a mature digital presence with comprehensive educational content, research highlights, and clear navigation targeting students, researchers, and professionals. The technical infrastructure employs modern web technologies including JavaScript frameworks, SVG icons, and analytics tools such as Matomo and Google Tag Manager, ensuring a responsive and accessible user experience. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforced and cookie consent mechanisms in place, though explicit security policies and incident response information are absent. Overall, the domain registration data aligns well with the university's identity, supporting legitimacy and trustworthiness.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
83/ 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. 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
    • High

      Weak SSL Key Length

      SSL certificate uses 384-bit key, which is considered weak

      What to do: Use at least 2048-bit RSA or 256-bit ECC key

      • CWE-326
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • Mozilla TLS: Mozilla Server Side TLS 6.0 intermediate: rsa_key_size 2048

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

Keep watching uva.nl

This scan found 18 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
57
Security headers
75
Email security
80
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
83
Average
78

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

UvA holds a strong market position as a leading research university in the Netherlands and Europe. Its business model centers on higher education and research services, catering to a diverse audience including students and professionals. The website showcases key services such as bachelor and master programs, summer schools, and professional courses. The institution maintains consistent branding and professional content quality, supported by a partner domain (uba.uva.nl) for library services. The presence of multiple analytics and tracking tools indicates an active approach to user engagement and marketing, though transparency could be improved with clearer privacy and terms documentation.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a good security baseline with HTTPS and cookie consent mechanisms. However, the absence of explicit security policies, incident response contacts, and vulnerability disclosure information limits transparency and preparedness perception. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected in the HTML content. Security headers were not explicitly identified, suggesting room for enhancement. The use of reputable analytics platforms is noted, but privacy compliance could be strengthened by publishing comprehensive privacy and cookie policies. Overall, the security posture is adequate but could benefit from formalized documentation and improved header configurations.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a comprehensive privacy policy and terms of service accessible from the homepage.
  2. Implement and disclose a formal security policy and incident response procedures with contact information.
  3. Add security headers such as Content Security Policy (CSP), HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS), and X-Frame-Options.
  4. Establish a vulnerability disclosure program and publish a security.txt file to enhance transparency.
  5. Enhance privacy compliance by detailing data retention policies and user rights related to analytics and tracking.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Universiteit van Amsterdam
Description
De Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA) is a leading research university in Europe offering a wide range of bachelor, master, and professional education programs. It conducts impactful research and connects science with society.
Key services
Bachelor programs, Master programs, Professional education, Research activities, Summer School, Open colleges
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, Google Tag Manager, Matomo Analytics, Siteimprove Analytics, SVG icons, Responsive design, CSS3
Performance
moderate
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of secure cookies consent mechanism

Analytics and tracking

Services
Matomo, Siteimprove, Google Analytics (via GTM)
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Matomo, Siteimprove
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 rich content.
  2. Strong branding and consistent design.
  3. Good use of modern web technologies and analytics.
  4. Lacks explicit privacy policy and terms of service links in the provided content.
  5. Cookie consent mechanism is implemented.
  6. No visible contact emails or phone numbers in the main HTML content.
  7. No explicit security or incident response policies found.
  8. WHOIS data supports legitimacy and consistency.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern tech stack including JavaScript, SVG icons, and analytics tools like Matomo and Google Tag Manager. The design is responsive and optimized for mobile devices, with good accessibility features. Performance is moderate, with room for optimization. The CMS is not explicitly identified, suggesting a custom or proprietary solution. External dependencies include analytics and tracking services hosted on trusted domains. The site lacks some security headers and formal privacy documentation, which are technical gaps to address. Overall, the infrastructure supports a professional and user-friendly experience but could be improved in security and privacy transparency.
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. 80/100Low26 findingsView report
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