The progress of web security level related to European open access LIS repositories between 2016 and 2018

Abstract

This article focuses on the development of European institutional repositories web security in the field of Library and Information Science (LIS). Since the first analysis in June 2016, we have been still using the same three independent online tools to measure the web security score of these repositories. In case of data transfer, the qualitative aspects of the secured HTTPS protocol are as important as implementing the protocol itself. Our analysis is directly related to the previously published article where we examined the selected group of LIS repositories. Now, we are focusing on the summarization of improvements made between 2016-2018. These are based on periodical annual measurements. These may contribute to increasing the security level of repositories not only in Europe, but also with respect to the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) regulation which came into force a few months ago. It is significant because the GDPR focuses, inter alia, on the ways of sensitive data transfer over the internet networks.