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Security report for 20minuten.ch

20 Minuten · Media · Switzerland

Low risk. 1 critical or high finding in Security headers.

Security score

86/100

Risk levelLow

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

20 Minuten is the largest Swiss news portal offering 24/7 news coverage, videos, and community features primarily targeting the German-speaking Swiss audience. The website demonstrates a mature digital infrastructure using modern frameworks such as Next.js and React, supported by various third-party analytics and advertising technologies. Security posture is solid with HTTPS enforcement and standard security headers, although explicit security policies and incident response contacts are not publicly detailed. Privacy compliance is well addressed through cookie consent mechanisms and a comprehensive privacy policy. Overall, the website presents a professional, trustworthy, and user-friendly platform with extensive content and good technical implementation.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
100/ 100 · Low
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

1 finding 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 X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

      What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"

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

Keep watching 20minuten.ch

This scan found 14 issues across 5 checks. Monitoring re-runs those checks daily, emails you when something material changes and records each fix, so you can show progress.

Daily monitoring

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
95
Security headers
65
Email security
75
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
100
Average
86

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 website holds a strong market position as Switzerland's leading news portal, monetizing primarily through advertising and sponsored content. Its business model focuses on delivering timely news and multimedia content to a broad Swiss audience. The site leverages partnerships with major ad networks and tracking services to optimize revenue and user engagement. While the site does not explicitly disclose detailed business registration or parent company information, the WHOIS data confirms consistent domain registration aligned with its media role. The platform's extensive category structure and community features indicate a strategic approach to audience retention and content diversification.

Security posture

The site employs HTTPS with good SSL configuration and standard security headers, indicating a baseline secure environment. Use of Google reCAPTCHA and cookie consent tools reflects attention to bot mitigation and privacy compliance. However, the absence of a public security policy, incident response contacts, or vulnerability disclosure program suggests room for improvement in transparency and readiness. No vulnerabilities or suspicious scripts were detected in the provided content. The security score is solid but could be enhanced by publishing explicit security governance documents and providing direct security contact channels.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a dedicated security policy and incident response page to improve transparency and trust.
  2. Implement and publicize a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file.
  3. Provide clear contact information for security incidents, such as security@ or abuse@ email addresses.
  4. Enhance accessibility features to meet higher standards for inclusive user experience.
  5. Regularly audit and update third-party scripts to mitigate potential security risks.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
20 Minuten
Description
Grösstes Schweizer Nachrichtenportal mit 24/7 aktuellen Nachrichten, Bildern, Hintergründen und Videos aus der Schweiz und der Welt.
Key services
News publishing, Video content, Live TV, Community engagement
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, Next.js, Google reCAPTCHA, Facebook SDK, Visual Website Optimizer, Google Tag Manager, OneTrust Cookie Consent
Frameworks
Next.js
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
80/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Use of reCAPTCHA for bot protection
  • Cookie consent banner for GDPR compliance

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, ScorecardResearch
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Ad networks
Google Ad Manager, ScorecardResearch, Visual Website Optimizer
Tracking pixels
Google Analytics (via gtag), Facebook Pixel
Marketing tools
OneTrust Cookie Consent, Visual Website Optimizer
Transparency
good

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Website is a major Swiss news portal with extensive content and categories
  2. Complies with GDPR via cookie consent and privacy policy
  3. Uses modern web technologies and frameworks
  4. No signs of blocking or WAF interference
  5. No explicit security or incident response contact information found
  6. Strong branding and consistent user experience
  7. Extensive use of third-party advertising and analytics scripts
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern React/Next.js stack, leveraging server-side rendering and client-side hydration for performance. It integrates multiple third-party services including Google Analytics, Facebook SDK, Visual Website Optimizer, and OneTrust for cookie management. The site is mobile-optimized with responsive design and preloading of fonts and stylesheets. Performance is moderate, with potential improvements in script loading and caching strategies. The technical infrastructure supports a rich content experience but should continue evolving to maintain speed and security standards.
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

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