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Security report for aarau.ch

Stadt Aarau · Government · Switzerland

Low risk. 3 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

78/100

Risk levelLow

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

Stadt Aarau operates as the official municipal government website for the city of Aarau, Switzerland, providing comprehensive public services, cultural information, and administrative resources to residents, businesses, and visitors. The site positions itself as a regional hub with a strong focus on urban development, social services, and citizen engagement, including innovative features like a live video chat for direct communication with city officials. The website's content is well-structured, professionally designed, and accessible, reflecting a mature digital presence appropriate for a government entity. Technically, the website employs modern JavaScript libraries such as jQuery and Font Awesome, alongside a cookie consent framework that ensures GDPR compliance and user privacy. The CMS appears to be custom or proprietary, supporting extensive navigation and content management. Performance and mobile optimization are good, with accessibility features implemented to support diverse user needs. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and employs cookie consent mechanisms that block third-party scripts until user approval. While explicit security headers are not fully visible in the provided data, the overall posture is strong with no evident vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive information. However, the absence of a security.txt file and explicit incident response policies suggests room for improvement in transparency and vulnerability management. Overall, Stadt Aarau's website demonstrates a high level of professionalism, trustworthiness, and compliance with privacy regulations. It effectively serves its target audience with relevant content and digital services, though it could enhance its security posture by publishing formal security policies and expanding security header usage.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
73/ 100 · Medium
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

3 findings 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 Content-Security-Policy header

      Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

      What to do: Implement a Content-Security-Policy appropriate for your application

      • ASVS V3.4.3
      • OWASP Secure Headers: OWASP Secure Headers Project recommends Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'; form-action 'self'; base-uri 'self'; object-src 'none';…

  2. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • High

      No Cookie Policy found

      GDPR requires clear information about cookie usage

      What to do: Add a dedicated cookie policy explaining cookie usage and purposes

  3. SSL/TLS

    TLS encrypts the connection and proves the site is really yours. Weak or expiring certificates trigger browser warnings and put traffic at risk.

    • High

      Weak Protocols Supported

      Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

      What to do: Disable TLS 1.0, TLS 1.1, and all SSL versions

      • CWE-327
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V12.1.1

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

Keep watching aarau.ch

This scan found 18 issues across 6 checks. Monitoring re-runs those checks daily, emails you when something material changes and records each fix, so you can show progress.

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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
62
Security headers
75
Email security
75
DNS health
85
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
73
Average
78

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

Breach exposure

Leaked credentials and lookalike domains from OffSeq Breach. The counts are free; the detailed lists are paid add-ons.

Dark web exposure

Add-on

Leaked records that mention aarau.ch, from OffSeq Breach.

No leaked records found

Breach holds no records for aarau.ch right now. New leaks arrive continuously, so monitoring on Breach alerts you if that changes.

Monitor on Breach (opens in a new tab)

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

Stadt Aarau holds a significant position as the cantonal capital's official municipal government, serving a medium-sized population with a broad spectrum of public services. Its business model centers on governance, urban planning, cultural promotion, and social welfare, supported by digital tools that facilitate citizen interaction and service delivery. The website's extensive content and partner ecosystem, including cultural institutions, volunteer organizations, and local service providers, indicate a well-integrated community presence. The lack of commercial advertising and affiliate programs aligns with its public service mandate. Growth indicators include digital service expansion such as live video chat and comprehensive online information portals. Strategic partnerships with local cultural and social entities strengthen its community engagement and service reach.

Security posture

The website exhibits a mature security posture with mandatory HTTPS encryption and a robust cookie consent mechanism that respects user privacy and blocks third-party scripts until consent is granted. The use of modern, versioned JavaScript libraries reduces the risk of known vulnerabilities. No signs of exposed credentials, malware, or phishing indicators were detected. However, the absence of a security.txt file and explicit incident response contact information limits transparency for vulnerability reporting. Security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options were not explicitly identified, suggesting potential areas for enhancement. Overall, the site maintains good security hygiene appropriate for a government website but should consider formalizing vulnerability disclosure and incident response processes.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a security.txt file to facilitate responsible vulnerability disclosure.
  2. Implement and explicitly declare comprehensive security headers including Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options.
  3. Provide clear incident response and security contact information on the website.
  4. Regularly audit and update third-party libraries to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
  5. Enhance transparency by publishing a dedicated security policy outlining practices and user guidance.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Stadt Aarau
Description
Die Stadt Aarau bietet höchste Lebensqualität und setzt Akzente in den unterschiedlichsten Bereichen. Als Zentrum einer facettenreichen Region ist Aarau heute interessanter Wirtschaftsstandort, plant umsichtig und steht im ständigen Dialog mit der Bevölkerung.
Key services
Public administration, Urban planning and development, Cultural and leisure activities, Social services, Online citizen services including live video chat
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery 3.7.1, Font Awesome 4.7.0, Balloon.css, Slick Carousel, localStorage JS library, c-consent cookie consent framework
Frameworks
c-consent (cookie consent management)
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Cookie consent with blocking of third-party scripts until consent
  • No visible exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of modern JS libraries with versioning

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
good

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

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

Key observations

  1. Official municipal website for the city of Aarau, Switzerland.
  2. Comprehensive navigation and content covering life, culture, economy, politics, and administration.
  3. Strong privacy and cookie consent implementation.
  4. Use of modern web technologies and accessibility features.
  5. No signs of malicious or suspicious content.
  6. No visible contact emails or phone numbers explicitly labeled in the provided HTML snippet.
  7. Live video chat service available for citizen engagement.
  8. No explicit terms of service page detected.
  9. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure information found.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a custom or proprietary CMS platform, leveraging modern frontend technologies such as jQuery 3.7.1, Font Awesome 4.7.0, and Slick Carousel for UI components. It employs a cookie consent framework (c-consent) to manage privacy compliance effectively. The site demonstrates good mobile responsiveness and accessibility features, including keyboard navigation aids and ARIA attributes. Performance is moderate, with some use of asynchronous loading for stylesheets and scripts. The presence of multiple external partner domains indicates a well-connected ecosystem. Technical risks are minimal, though the lack of explicit security headers and incident response mechanisms suggests opportunities for modernization and improved security posture. Overall, the infrastructure supports a professional and user-friendly digital experience aligned with government service 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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