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Is hrk.de a Scam? Security Check Results - Hochschulrektorenkonferenz Reviews

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Is hrk.de Safe? Security Analysis for Hochschulrektorenkonferenz

Check if hrk.de is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.

EducationGermanylarge
TYPO3 CMSJavaScriptPiwik Analytics
Analyzed 9/5/2025Completed 9:53:48 AM
49
Security Score
HIGH RISK

AI Summary

The Hochschulrektorenkonferenz (HRK) is a voluntary association representing 268 state and state-recognized higher education institutions in Germany, encompassing approximately 94% of all students in the country. The organization serves as a central voice and coordination body for German universities, providing information, policy positions, and services such as publications, events, and research resources. The website is professionally designed, well-structured, and targets academic institutions, students, and policymakers within the German higher education sector. Technically, the website is built on TYPO3 CMS, employs JavaScript for interactivity, and uses Piwik analytics with cookies disabled, indicating a moderate level of digital maturity and privacy awareness. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible, with good SEO practices and clear navigation. However, it lacks a visible cookie consent mechanism and explicit security headers, which are areas for improvement. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and does not expose sensitive data or vulnerable libraries. There is no publicly available security policy or incident response contact information, which could be enhanced to improve trust and compliance. The WHOIS data is minimal but consistent with a legitimate educational organization domain. Overall, the HRK website presents a secure, professional, and trustworthy platform for its audience, with recommendations to strengthen privacy compliance and security transparency to further enhance its posture.

Detected Technologies

TYPO3 CMSJavaScriptPiwik Analytics

🧠AI Business Intelligence

Technology stack, business insights, and market analysis powered by AI.

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

HRK holds a leading position as the umbrella organization for German universities, focusing on advocacy, coordination, and information dissemination. Its non-profit business model centers on serving member institutions and influencing higher education policy. The organization benefits from a broad partnership ecosystem including governmental bodies and scientific organizations. The website reflects a mature digital presence supporting its mission with comprehensive content and resources. Growth indicators include active news updates, event announcements, and strategic projects. The absence of commercial advertising aligns with its non-profit status, emphasizing credibility and focus on academic stakeholders.

Extracted Contact Information

Marketing Intelligence Data

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The website demonstrates a solid security baseline with HTTPS enforced and no visible exposure of sensitive information. The use of Piwik analytics with disabled cookies suggests privacy-conscious tracking. However, the lack of security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and absence of published security policies or incident response contacts indicate room for improvement. No vulnerabilities or suspicious patterns were detected in the content or WHOIS data. Compliance with GDPR is supported by a comprehensive privacy policy. Incident response readiness and vulnerability disclosure mechanisms are not evident, which could be addressed to enhance security culture and transparency.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Implement a cookie consent banner to comply fully with GDPR and inform users about tracking.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

Hochschulrektorenkonferenz

Description:

Die Hochschulrektorenkonferenz (HRK) ist der freiwillige Zusammenschluss der staatlichen und staatlich anerkannten Hochschulen in Deutschland. Die HRK hat gegenwärtig 268 Mitgliedshochschulen, in denen rund 94 Prozent aller Studierenden in Deutschland immatrikuliert sind.

Key Services:
Representation of member universitiesInformation and coordination on higher education policiesPublication of news and position papersOrganization of conferences and eventsProvision of resources such as library and research maps
Content Quality:

excellent

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
TYPO3 CMSJavaScriptPiwik Analytics
Frameworks:
TYPO3 CMS
Performance:

moderate

Mobile:

good

Accessibility:

good

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
80/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • No visible vulnerable libraries
  • Use of analytics with disabled cookies

Analytics & Tracking

Services:
Piwik
Tracking Level:minimal
Privacy Compliance:good

Advertising & Marketing

Tracking Pixels:
Piwik
Transparency Level:basic

Website Quality Assessment

Design Quality:excellent
User Experience:excellent
Content Relevance:excellent
Navigation Clarity:excellent
Professionalism:excellent
Trustworthiness:high

Key Observations

1

Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenges.

🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

40/100
Score

Missing Strict-Transport-Security header

HIGH

Forces HTTPS connections

Missing Content-Security-Policy header

HIGH

Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

Missing X-XSS-Protection header

MEDIUM

Legacy XSS protection (deprecated but still recommended)

Missing Referrer-Policy header

LOW

Controls referrer information sent with requests

Missing Permissions-Policy header

MEDIUM

Controls browser features and APIs

Sensitive data may be cached

LOW

Cache-Control header should include "no-store" for sensitive pages

👤GDPR Compliance

Privacy and data protection assessment under GDPR regulations.

GDPR Compliance

Privacy and data protection assessment

28/100
Score

No Cookie Policy found

HIGH

GDPR requires clear information about cookie usage

No Cookie Consent Banner found

HIGH

GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies

No Data Protection Officer mentioned

LOW

Large organizations may need to designate a DPO under GDPR

Privacy policy may not be GDPR compliant

MEDIUM

Privacy policy lacks explicit GDPR compliance elements

EU business without adequate privacy measures

CRITICAL

EU businesses are subject to strict GDPR requirements

GDPR Compliance Analysis

Privacy Policy85% confidence
Cookie Policy0% confidence
Contact Information Found90% confidence
phone

🛡️NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive compliance assessment.

NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive

17/100
Score

No information security framework found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity and information security measures

No vulnerability disclosure policy

MEDIUM

NIS2 encourages coordinated vulnerability disclosure

No security policy documentation found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity governance and risk management

No incident response procedures found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented incident response and business continuity plans

No business continuity planning found

MEDIUM

NIS2 emphasizes operational resilience and business continuity

No security contact information

HIGH

NIS2 requires clear incident reporting channels

No vulnerability reporting mechanism

MEDIUM

Clear vulnerability reporting supports coordinated disclosure

No NIS2 reference found

LOW

Consider explicitly mentioning NIS2 compliance efforts

📧Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation and email security assessment.

Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation

75/100
Score

DMARC not enforcing

MEDIUM

DMARC policy is set to "none"

No BIMI Record

LOW

BIMI displays brand logos in email clients

No MTA-STS Policy

MEDIUM

MTA-STS enforces TLS for email delivery

No TLS-RPT Record

LOW

TLS-RPT provides reporting for email TLS issues

SPF
Sender Policy Framework
DKIM
DomainKeys Identified Mail
DMARC
Domain-based Message Authentication
MX Records
Mail Exchange Records
BIMI
Brand Indicators
MTA-STS
Mail Transfer Agent Security
TLS-RPT
TLS Reporting
DNSSEC
DNS Security
SPF Details
Record:
v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com a:mail.babiel.com ip4:212.79.163.243 ip4:85.14.251.194 ip6:2001:1b60:0:1:0:1:0:3 ip4:87.118.84.190 ip4:159.255.171.13 ip4:159.255.171.1 ip4:159.255.171.9 ip4:159.255.171.17 include:spf.crsend.com -all
DNS Lookups:3/10
Policy:-all
DKIM Selectors Found
Selector:selector1(1296-bit rsa)
DMARC Details
Policy:none
Subdomain Policy:none
Aggregate Reports:rua@hrk.de

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

67/100
Score

Weak Protocols Supported

HIGH

Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

OCSP Stapling Not Enabled

LOW

OCSP stapling improves performance and privacy

Certificate Transparency Not Implemented

LOW

Certificate is not logged in Certificate Transparency logs

Mixed Content Detected

MEDIUM

7 resources loaded over insecure HTTP

Partial SSL/TLS Assessment

LOW

Completed 3 of 4 security checks due to time constraints

Protocol Support

TLSv1.3TLSv1.2TLSv1.1

OCSP Status

OCSP Stapling Disabled

📊DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment.

DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment

65/100
Score

DNSSEC Not Enabled

MEDIUM

DNSSEC is not configured for this domain

CAA Records Not Configured

LOW

Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA) records not found

Domain Transfer Lock Not Enabled

MEDIUM

Domain can be transferred without authorization

Domain Delete Lock Not Enabled

LOW

Domain can be deleted without additional verification

DMARC Policy Set to None

LOW

DMARC is configured but not enforcing any policy

Domain Registration Details

Protection Level
none
Suspicious Indicators Detected
  • No domain protection locks enabled

DNS Records

A Records:212.79.163.243
Name Servers:
dns.tops.net
ns2.tops.net
MX Records:
5: hrk-de.mail.eo.outlook.com
1: hrk-de.mail.protection.outlook.com
SOA:Serial: 2025040900, TTL: 86400s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:144ms

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com a:mail.babiel.com ip4:212.79.163.243 ip4:85.14.251.194 ip6:2001:1b60:0:1:0:1:0:3 ip4:87.118.84.190 ip4:159.255.171.13 ip4:159.255.171.1 ip4:159.255.171.9 ip4:159.255.171.17 include:spf.crsend.com -all

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis.

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis

20/100
Score

High-Risk Service Exposed: FTP

HIGH

Port 21 (FTP) is publicly accessible - FTP - Often unencrypted file transfer

Service Exposed: SSH

MEDIUM

Port 22 (SSH) is publicly accessible - SSH - Secure but can be brute-forced

🔧Technical Analysis

Detailed technical findings and analysis from AI assessment.

Technical Analysis

Comprehensive security assessment findings

Additional Findings

The HRK website is powered by TYPO3 CMS, a mature and widely used open-source content management system, indicating a stable and scalable infrastructure. The site uses JavaScript for UI enhancements and Piwik for analytics, configured to disable cookies, reflecting privacy considerations. The website is responsive and accessible, with well-structured navigation and SEO-friendly metadata. Performance is moderate, with compressed CSS and JavaScript assets. There is no indication of modern frontend frameworks beyond TYPO3's ecosystem. Hosting details are not explicit, but the domain uses custom name servers. Technical debt appears low, though improvements in security headers and cookie management are recommended to modernize the security posture.
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