Overview
Findings
Actions
Details
Related
AI-Generated Summary
What this means
stanford.edu scored 72/100, meeting baseline requirements but with 4 findings that require attention. The vendor can proceed with a remediation timeline agreement.
Positive signals: Known Breaches, DNS Configuration, Security Headers all passed.
4 action items identified, including 0 critical. The issues are configuration gaps, not architectural problems. A focused remediation effort of 2–5 days could address all findings.
How stanford.edu compares
Grade distribution across 2598 companies we've scanned. stanford.edu scores better than 47% of them.
83
A+
25
A
190
A-
196
B+
75
B
362
B-
129
C+
114
C
330
C-
119
D+
95
D
252
D-
628
F
stanford.edu — Grade C- (72/100)
2598 companies scanned
Security checks
Each check inspects a different part of stanford.edu's public security setup. Green means healthy, yellow needs attention, red is a problem.
DMARC / Email Security
Strengths: DMARC policy set to quarantine; DKIM configured (selectors: default, s2, k1, mail). Issues: No SPF record found.
TLS Configuration
TLSv1.2 negotiated. Issues: TLS 1.2 negotiated (1.3 preferred).
HSTS Header
HSTS present but max-age is low (0s). Recommended minimum: 15768000 (6 months).
Certificate Hygiene
Strengths: Certificate valid, 68 days remaining; Issued by Internet2. Issues: Wildcard certificate in use — broader attack surface if compromised.
Known Breaches
No known breaches found in public disclosure databases.
DNS Configuration
Strengths: 6 nameservers configured (atalante.stanford.edu., avallone.stanford.edu., ns7.dnsmadeeasy.com., ns5.dnsmadeeasy.com.); 2 MX records present; DNSSEC enabled; Zone transfers properly restricted.
Security Headers
All 5 recommended security headers present: CSP, X-Content-Type-Options, X-Frame-Options, Referrer-Policy, Permissions-Policy.
CVE Exposure
Detected technologies: nginx, Proxy/CDN. (Proxy/CDN detected but excluded from CVE matching — upstream infrastructure). No version information exposed — CVE matching not possible (this is good practice).
Recommended actions
4 items
Steps to improve stanford.edu's security grade, ranked by impact.
1
Strengthen email authentication configuration
Email authentication is partially configured for stanford.edu but has gaps. Actions needed: add SPF record. Until DMARC enforcement is active, spoofed emails may still reach recipients.
Compliance impact
NIST CSFPR.AC-7
Email authentication is a required access control
How to fix this
1
Add SPF record if missing: v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com -all
2
Verify with: nslookup -type=txt _dmarc.stanford.edu
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2
Increase HSTS max-age duration
HSTS is enabled but the max-age (0s) is below the recommended minimum of 15768000s (6 months). A short max-age means browsers forget the HTTPS-only policy quickly, reducing protection between visits.
Compliance impact
PCI-DSS 4.0Req 6.4.1
Application security header configuration
How to fix this
1
Update header: Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload
2
Verify: curl -sI https://stanford.edu | grep -i strict
3
Upgrade to TLS 1.3
stanford.edu negotiated TLSv1.2. TLS 1.2 is still compliant under all major security frameworks and is not a vulnerability. TLS 1.3 offers faster handshakes and removes legacy cipher negotiation. This is a best-practice improvement, not a compliance gap.
How to fix this
1
Update web server config to prefer TLS 1.3 (nginx: ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3)
2
Verify: openssl s_client -connect stanford.edu:443 -tls1_3
4
Review certificate configuration
Certificate issues found for stanford.edu: wildcard certificate in use. Wildcard certificates have a broader blast radius if compromised. These are operational hygiene items, not immediate security risks.
How to fix this
1
Consider replacing wildcard cert with individual certs for critical subdomains
2
Consolidate certificate issuance to 1–2 trusted CAs
At a glance
Key data points from the scan.
TLS Version
TLSv1.2
TLSv1.2 negotiated. Issues: TLS 1.2 negotiated (1.3 preferred).
DMARC Policy
p=quarantine
Strengths: DMARC policy set to quarantine; DKIM configured (selectors: default, s2, k1, mail). Issues: No SPF record found.
SPF Record
Missing
No SPF record found.
Security Headers
5/5 present
All headers configured.
HSTS
Not enabled
HSTS present but max-age is low (0s). Recommended minimum: 15768000 (6 months).
SSL Certificate
Issues
Strengths: Certificate valid, 68 days remaining; Issued by Internet2. Issues: Wildcard certificate in use — broader attack surface if compromised.
DNSSEC
Enabled
Strengths: 6 nameservers configured (atalante.stanford.edu., avallone.stanford.edu., ns7.dnsmadeeasy.com., ns5.dnsmadeeasy.com.); 2 MX records present; DNSSEC enabled; Zone transfers properly restricted.