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Is sae.edu a Scam? Security Check Results - SAE Institute

sae.edu Security Report Summary

sae.edu received a security score of 62 out of 100 in Guard's comprehensive security analysis, classified as "Moderate Risk". This report covers SAE Institute's website security posture. SAE Institute operates in the Education industry in N/a.

SAE Institute is a global education provider specializing in creative media courses with multiple regional campuses worldwide. The website analyzed serves as a regional selector landing page directing users to localized campus sites. The business model focuses on delivering specialized education in creative media to students internationally, positioning itself as a large, established educational institution. Technically, the site uses a lightweight design with jQuery and Matomo analytics, hosted on Amazon AWS infrastructure. However, the site lacks a valid SSL certificate, which severely impacts its security posture and user trust. Security configurations such as DNSSEC, HSTS, and CAA records are missing, and no privacy or cookie policies are present on this landing page. The use of Matomo indicates some level of user tracking without explicit consent mechanisms, raising privacy concerns. Overall, the site demonstrates moderate digital maturity but requires significant improvements in security and compliance to meet modern standards.

The security scan identified 28 findings across security headers, SSL/TLS, DNS health, email security, GDPR compliance, and NIS2 compliance analysis modules.

Technologies detected: jQuery 3.6.0 slim, Matomo Analytics, Amazon S3 (for media hosting).

About this security scan

Guard performs automated security assessments of websites by analyzing SSL/TLS certificates, HTTP security headers, DNS configuration, email authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), GDPR compliance indicators, NIS2 directive compliance, network exposure, and AI-powered business intelligence. Each report provides domain-specific findings, risk scores, and actionable recommendations.

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Is sae.edu Safe? Security Analysis for SAE Institute

https://sae.edu

Check if sae.edu is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.

EducationN/alarge
jQuery 3.6.0 slimMatomo AnalyticsAmazon S3 (for media hosting)
Analyzed 6/14/2025Completed 6:46:50 PM9mo ago
62
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

Above Education avg (55)

10,000+

Domains scanned

500+

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Domainsae.edu
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SEQ SIA

Lastadijas 12 k-3, Riga, Latvia, LV-1050

Reg. No. 40203410806 • VAT LV40203410806

Support: guard@offseq.com+371 2256 5353

AI Summary

SAE Institute is a global education provider specializing in creative media courses with multiple regional campuses worldwide. The website analyzed serves as a regional selector landing page directing users to localized campus sites. The business model focuses on delivering specialized education in creative media to students internationally, positioning itself as a large, established educational institution. Technically, the site uses a lightweight design with jQuery and Matomo analytics, hosted on Amazon AWS infrastructure. However, the site lacks a valid SSL certificate, which severely impacts its security posture and user trust. Security configurations such as DNSSEC, HSTS, and CAA records are missing, and no privacy or cookie policies are present on this landing page. The use of Matomo indicates some level of user tracking without explicit consent mechanisms, raising privacy concerns. Overall, the site demonstrates moderate digital maturity but requires significant improvements in security and compliance to meet modern standards.

Detected Technologies

jQuery 3.6.0 slimMatomo AnalyticsAmazon S3 (for media hosting)

10 urgent findings need attention

10 high

  • + 2 more findings in the full report below
Continuous monitoring

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Security drift alerts

Risk score drops, new high-severity issues, and header hardening gaps

Compliance watch

GDPR / NIS2 posture changes with governance evidence snapshots

Infrastructure surface

Unexpected open services, SSL expiry, DNS & email authentication changes

Content & tracker intelligence

Marketing tech shifts, analytics drift, and AI recommendation updates

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Security Headers

8 findings

15/100

GDPR Compliance

4 findings

40/100

NIS2 Compliance

8 findings

17/100

Email Security

4 findings

75/100

🧠AI Business Intelligence

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

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

SAE Institute operates a network of regional campuses, each with dedicated domains, indicating a decentralized but branded global presence. The business targets students interested in creative media education, leveraging localized content and language support. The absence of visible contact information or policies on this landing page suggests that detailed business and compliance information is likely hosted on regional sites. The use of Amazon AWS for hosting and S3 for media delivery reflects a scalable infrastructure. The presence of SPF and DMARC records shows some email security awareness, though these rely on external redirection. The lack of GDPR compliance indicators and cookie consent mechanisms on this page may expose the organization to regulatory risks in certain jurisdictions.

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The current security posture is weak due to the absence of a valid SSL certificate, lack of HTTPS enforcement, and missing security headers such as HSTS. DNS security features like DNSSEC and CAA are not implemented, increasing risk of DNS spoofing and unauthorized certificate issuance. While SPF and DMARC are configured, they redirect to external domains, which may complicate email security management. No public security policy or incident response contacts are found, limiting transparency and preparedness. The use of Matomo analytics without consent mechanisms suggests moderate user tracking but poor privacy compliance. Overall, the security maturity is low, with critical vulnerabilities that could impact user trust and regulatory compliance.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Obtain and deploy a valid SSL/TLS certificate supporting TLS 1.2 or 1.3 to secure all site traffic.

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🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

15/100
Score

Missing Strict-Transport-Security header

HIGH

Forces HTTPS connections

Missing X-Frame-Options header

HIGH

Prevents clickjacking attacks

Missing X-Content-Type-Options header

MEDIUM

Prevents MIME type sniffing

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

40/100
Score

No Privacy Policy found

HIGH

GDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy

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

Insufficient contact information

MEDIUM

GDPR requires organizations to provide clear contact details

GDPR Compliance Analysis

Privacy Policy0% confidence
Cookie Policy0% confidence

🛡️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

Software version information exposed

MEDIUM

Server headers reveal software versions which could aid attackers

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 NIS2 reference found

LOW

Consider explicitly mentioning NIS2 compliance efforts

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📧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 redirect=_svnq80noq.sdmarc.net
DNS Lookups:0/10
DKIM Selectors Found
Selector:google(1416-bit rsa)
Selector:s1(1440-bit rsa)
DMARC Details
Policy:none
Aggregate Reports:a.vnq80noq@sdmarc.net

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

100/100
Score
No issues found

OCSP Status

OCSP Stapling Disabled

📊DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment.

DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment

80/100
Score

DNSSEC Not Enabled

MEDIUM

DNSSEC is not configured for this domain

CAA Records Not Configured

LOW

Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA) records not found

DMARC Policy Set to None

LOW

DMARC is configured but not enforcing any policy

DNS Records

A Records:52.28.25.153
Name Servers:
ns-1209.awsdns-23.orgDNS only
ns-1804.awsdns-33.co.ukDNS only
ns-398.awsdns-49.comDNS only
ns-639.awsdns-15.netDNS only
MX Records:
30: aspmx5.googlemail.com
30: aspmx2.googlemail.com
20: alt2.aspmx.l.google.com
20: alt1.aspmx.l.google.com
30: aspmx4.googlemail.com
30: aspmx3.googlemail.com
10: aspmx.l.google.com
SOA:Serial: 1, TTL: 86400s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:114ms

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 redirect=_svnq80noq.sdmarc.net

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis.

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis

90/100
Score

Service Exposed: SSH

MEDIUM

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

How does sae.edu compare?

See how sae.edu stacks up against similar websites in the same industry.

🔧Technical Analysis

Detailed technical findings and analysis from AI assessment.

Technical Analysis

Comprehensive security assessment findings

Additional Findings

The website uses a minimal tech stack with jQuery 3.6.0 slim and Matomo analytics scripts loaded asynchronously. Media assets are hosted on Amazon S3, and DNS is managed via AWS Route53 with multiple geographically distributed nameservers. The site lacks a CMS identification but appears to be a custom or static site. Performance is moderate with a page load time of approximately 3.7 seconds and a page size of about 70 KB. Mobile optimization and accessibility are basic, with simple responsive design and limited ARIA or semantic markup. SEO optimization is basic, with meta description and viewport tags present but no Open Graph or Twitter Card metadata. The absence of modern security protocols and headers indicates technical debt and potential risks to business continuity and user trust.
Professional PDF & Marketing Data

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PDF Report & Export

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Marketing Intelligence

Contact emails, phone numbers & warm leads

49.90 €one-time • Incl. 21% VAT

Plan Comparison

FeaturePDF ReportMarketing+
Full security analysis
Professional PDF export
Email delivery
Lifetime access + unlock code
Contact emails & phones
Marketing outreach data

Already purchased?

Order summary

Domainsae.edu
Access tierFull report or marketing add-on

Digital reports are delivered immediately after payment. By continuing you acknowledge the withdrawal waiver described in our Returns & Refunds policy.

VisaMastercardApple PayGoogle Pay

Secure payments processed via EveryPay. Prices in EUR; Incl. 21% VAT.

SEQ SIA

Lastadijas 12 k-3, Riga, Latvia, LV-1050

Reg. No. 40203410806 • VAT LV40203410806

Support: guard@offseq.com+371 2256 5353

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