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Security report for vdeh.de

Stahlinstitut VDEh · Manufacturing · Germany

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

Security score

49/100

Risk levelHigh

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

Stahlinstitut VDEh is a German-based institute specializing in steel technology, offering services such as seminars, standardization, membership, and publications. The website targets industry professionals and members within the steel manufacturing sector. The business model revolves around providing educational and industry services to its members and stakeholders. Technically, the website is built on PHP 7.4.33 with nginx and uses common frontend libraries like Bootstrap and jQuery. However, the site lacks a valid SSL certificate, resulting in no HTTPS support, which is a critical security shortfall. The site is moderately optimized for mobile and has a good design and navigation structure but suffers from slow DNS resolution and no caching headers that could improve performance. Security posture is weak due to missing HTTPS, lack of advanced security headers, and no cookie consent mechanism. Privacy compliance is minimal with a privacy policy present but no explicit GDPR compliance or cookie consent. Business credibility is moderate with clear branding and professional content but lacks direct contact information and certifications. Overall, the site scores low on security and privacy compliance, which should be prioritized to improve trust and user safety.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
18/ 100 · Critical
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

  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 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';…

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  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
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  • 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
50
Security headers
15
Email security
50
DNS health
85
Network security
75
GDPR outside view
18
Average
49

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 Stahlinstitut VDEh holds an important position in the manufacturing sector, specifically steel technology and metallurgy. Its competitive advantage lies in its specialized seminars, membership services, and standardization efforts. The business model is membership-driven with revenue streams from seminars, publications, and event hosting. The target customers are industry professionals and companies involved in steel production and related fields. Growth indicators include active seminar programs and a structured membership offering. The partnership ecosystem is not explicitly detailed but includes hosting providers and mail protection services. Strategic observations suggest a need to modernize security and privacy practices to align with industry standards and regulatory requirements.

Security posture

The current security maturity level is low due to the absence of HTTPS and an invalid SSL certificate, which exposes users to potential interception risks. No advanced security headers are implemented, and there is no cookie consent mechanism, which is a compliance gap under GDPR. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure policies are found, indicating limited readiness for security incidents. The site uses PHP 7.4.33, which is nearing end-of-life, suggesting a need for platform updates. While no known vulnerabilities like Heartbleed or POODLE are detected, the lack of encryption is a critical vulnerability. Data protection practices are minimal, and no data protection officer contact is provided. Overall, the security culture appears basic and reactive rather than proactive.

Recommendations

  1. Install and configure a valid SSL/TLS certificate to enable HTTPS across the entire site.
  2. Implement HTTP security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Content-Type-Options, and X-Frame-Options.
  3. Add a cookie consent banner/mechanism to comply with GDPR and inform users about cookie usage.
  4. Update PHP version to a supported and secure release to reduce platform vulnerabilities.
  5. Develop and publish a vulnerability disclosure policy and incident response contact information to improve security transparency and readiness.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is hosted on nginx with PHP 7.4.33 and managed via Plesk. It uses Bootstrap and jQuery for frontend UI components and includes plugins like MasterSlider and FontAwesome icons. DNS resolution is moderate but could be improved. The site lacks HTTPS, which is a major technical and security deficiency. Performance metrics are missing but inferred as slow due to DNS resolution time and lack of caching. Mobile optimization is good with responsive design elements. Accessibility is basic with some ARIA and screen reader support. SEO is basic with meta tags but no Open Graph or structured data. The site does not use a known CMS or platform, indicating a custom or proprietary solution. Technical debt includes outdated PHP, missing SSL, and lack of modern 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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