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Security report for washington.edu

University of Washington · Education · United States

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

Security score

60/100

Risk levelMedium

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

The University of Washington website serves as the official digital presence of a major public research university in the United States. It provides comprehensive information about academic programs, research initiatives, campus life, admissions, and community engagement. The site targets students, faculty, staff, alumni, and the general public, offering a wide range of resources and news updates. The university holds a strong market position as a leading educational institution with a large enterprise-scale operation and multiple campuses.

Scanned

This is an earlier scan of washington.edu. View the latest report

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 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

7 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 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

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

Keep watching washington.edu

This scan found 27 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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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
67
Security headers
15
Email security
60
DNS health
65
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
60

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 university operates primarily in the education sector, delivering academic and research services. Its business model is centered on public funding, tuition, research grants, and community partnerships. The website reflects a mature digital ecosystem with integration of multiple campuses and services such as MyUW and UW Medicine. The presence of extensive social media channels and marketing tools indicates a strategic approach to outreach and engagement. The institution's brand is consistent and professional, reinforcing its reputation and trustworthiness.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a strong security posture with HTTPS enforcement, modern security headers, and no visible vulnerabilities. It employs reputable analytics and marketing tools while maintaining privacy compliance through clear policies and consent mechanisms. However, explicit security policy and incident response information are not publicly available, and no vulnerability disclosure program is evident. The site would benefit from publishing these to enhance transparency and readiness. Overall, the security measures align well with the expectations for a large educational institution.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response page to improve transparency.
  2. Implement and publicize a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file.
  3. Regularly review and audit third-party scripts to mitigate potential security risks.
  4. Enhance accessibility features to meet or exceed standards for all users.
  5. Maintain and update privacy and cookie policies to reflect evolving regulations.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
University of Washington
Description
The University of Washington is a public research university providing education, research, and community services. The website highlights news, events, academic departments, admissions, research, campuses, and giving opportunities.
Key services
Academic programs, Research initiatives, Student services, Community engagement, Alumni relations
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Google Tag Manager, New Relic, Microsoft Clarity, Facebook Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Crazy Egg, jQuery, Backbone.js
Frameworks
WordPress CMS
Platforms
Web
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
90/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of security headers
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure forms with proper labels and inputs

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics (via GTM), Microsoft Clarity, Siteimprove Analytics, New Relic Browser
Tracking level
extensive
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
DoubleClick
Tracking pixels
Facebook Pixel, Microsoft Clarity, Crazy Egg, LinkedIn Insight Tag
Marketing tools
Microsoft Clarity, Crazy Egg
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a professionally maintained university homepage with extensive content and resources.
  2. No signs of phishing, malware, or suspicious activity detected.
  3. Strong use of analytics and marketing tools with privacy policies in place.
  4. WHOIS data unavailable but website legitimacy is high based on content and branding.
  5. No security policy or incident response page explicitly found.
  6. No vulnerability disclosure or security.txt file detected.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on WordPress CMS with a modern technology stack including jQuery, Backbone.js, and various analytics and marketing integrations such as Google Tag Manager, Microsoft Clarity, and New Relic. The site is well-optimized for performance and mobile responsiveness, with good SEO and accessibility practices. The use of multiple tracking and advertising tools is balanced with privacy compliance. Hosting details are not explicitly identified, but the infrastructure supports fast loading and reliable user experience. Opportunities exist to further modernize and streamline third-party dependencies.
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. 61/100Medium35 findingsView report
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